From my next book Find Your Purpose, Master Your Path… Pay attention to what we call ourselves: human beings. Often we are so wrapped up in what we are doing that we forget or maybe never stop and ask, “Who am I meant to be?” The words human being absolutely point to where our priority needs to be.
By the way, I don’t even think we begin as human doings. We’re human havings, as far as I’m concerned. Our focus has become: “If I just have this, then I can be that.” We live in a world that is materialistic – and that’s how it is supposed to be.
Personally, I own an iPhone and thank goodness I do! I have a computer. I have a car. I fully enjoy the physical world. The physical world is not evil, dirty or nasty, something to deny or make wrong. I’m not going to get deeply into what the physical world is or is not. But I’d like to see us move away from focusing on the physical to reclaim the aspect that is called individuation, connection with higher self. Having more stuff doesn’t make us more authentic or less authentic. But our relationship to stuff, the importance we give it, can lead us off the path.
In our last two ANLP events, so many people have asked me how do a I find the purpose and being in my life? How do I take something that is at a certain level and bring it up to the next level?
How to get to purpose and being? Here is a simple thing you can do: Figure out what you are doing in a specific area and ask yourself why you are doing that. For example, when I go home, I am going to play with my kids because I’ve been away for weeks teaching classes. Ok, now I ask myself, “Why do I want to do this?” Answer: To be a great father!
Yes! It is that simple! My purpose in the area of family is to be a great father. I could get specific on what that means and write pages; however, my purpose for being in my family is to be a great father.
What about health and fitness? “Why am I working out today?” Answer: To promote health and well-being in my life. Again, yes, it is that simple.
Your purpose is not meant to be a lengthy response to these questions; it is meant to be a simple statement that captures so much in a few words. That is a statement of being.
Now the next step is important: Your purpose of being in each area should be written as a SMART goal. There are two types of goals – aim goals and end goals. An aim is related to direction and flows from your purpose. An end, once achieved, is over, and you should set your next one.
Using health as an example, I have an end goal of weight, pants size, and body fat percentage. Once I have achieved that, I set my next goal and keep going. There are many books on this topic. Yet few address the fact that an end goal is easier to achieve and more desirable when it flows from an aim goal.
So I have an aim to live a healthy life and promote well-being. I believe in health promotion, and this aim/purpose is also written as a SMART goal. This written goal is what I do first, and it creates the desire for specific end goals that flow from this purpose.
When you have both, you are compelled to move forward, and the goal is so much more desirable.
The process of being will be covered in my upcoming book, and in a future book, I will discuss the lessons of mastery manifestation through positive goal setting.
Mahalo, Matt James
