The Success Principles Workbook

ARE YOU THINKING, I CAN’T LIVE MY PURPOSE, GIVEN MY SITUATION?

Do you see obstacles in your life situation preventing you from fully living your purpose? Is it finances, family circumstances, your job, or something else?

If this is what you see, then take 100% responsibility for it, and change your situation! Your happiness, fulfillment, and success are at stake. Here are two approaches.

APPROACH #1: BE RESOURCEFUL AND CREATE YOUR OWN FUTURE

Brainstorm and then research ways that you can live in alignment with your purpose and incorporate those into your life, here and now—or at least very soon.

Here is how one woman solved this problem for herself.

When Julie Marie Carrier was a child, she loved animals. Adults around her would say, “Julie, you should be a vet!” When it came time for college, she enrolled in the pre-vet program at Ohio State University. She was lucky enough to spend her senior year in England, away from family and faculty. As she studied more of the sciences, she came to a stunning realization: I’m totally miserable. I don’t want to be a vet!

She began to reflect on this, and finally asked herself, What is a job I would love so much that I’d do it for free but that I could actually get paid for? Julie thought back over all the things she’d done in her life and what had made her the most happy. Then it hit her—it was the youth leadership conferences that she had volunteered at, and the communications and leadership courses she had taken. With decisive action, she changed her major, and upon graduation, became a senior management consultant in leadership training and development for the Pentagon—all by the time she was 23! But that’s not the end. She started speaking at events for kids all across her home state, and then went on to launch a new career as a public speaker on leadership and character. She had found her joy, and then created a life—and a livelihood—around her purpose.

APPROACH #2: MAKE YOUR PURPOSE MORE INCLUSIVE

Until you see yourself as able to change your circumstances, state your purpose in a more inclusive way such that you can do it almost anytime or anywhere. Remember, you can bring joy, inspire others, create beauty, or make whatever contribution you want based on your purpose—no matter where you are and no matter what you are doing.

That’s why I wrote my purpose statement as to inspire and empower people to live their highest vision in a context of love and joy in harmony with the highest good of all concerned. I can do that anywhere—and I have. For example, I can be on purpose while I’m on my way to the airport, speaking with a complete stranger, the Lyft driver. I didn’t state that my purpose was only to write books, give talks, or conduct trainings. I do those activities as a way of expressing and living my purpose, but I can live my purpose of inspiring and empowering people no matter where I am and no matter whom I am with.

FIREWORKS

When determining one’s life purpose, some people expect fireworks to go off and their knees to weaken. This rarely happens. For many, it’s a feeling of subtle satisfaction rather than one of explosive ecstasy. It may be a calm feeling of settling into something that seems right. It can be like looking for a pair of jeans that fit well. They may not feel perfect at first, but long-term they work well. Or you may immediately feel a sense of recognition of something that has always been there for you. The difference is that now you have put these feelings into words.

WHAT IF YOU CAN’T DETERMINE YOUR PURPOSE?

Some people can have a difficult time landing on a single life purpose statement, even after completing these exercises. In that case, consider what you come up with as a first draft, and start using it. Then revisit these exercises after a couple of weeks.

Wherever you are with your life purpose statement, I recommend you simply accept what you have for now. You can always revise it later. But just for now, drive a stake in the ground and declare to yourself that, yes, this is your life purpose statement.

Allow yourself to feel satisfied. You have determined (or begun to determine) your life purpose! You now know so much more about the true source of joy and fulfillment in your life. You now know what to focus on in order to have success come more easily to you with fewer struggles.

KEEP YOUR PERSONAL NORTH STAR VISIBLE

When sailors use the North Star for navigation, they have to actually look at it! To use your life purpose for guidance, you have to look at that, too. Keep your purpose visible, as I do. Right now, I look up and my purpose statement is written and posted right in front of me, on my desk.

HOW FULLY ARE YOU LIVING YOUR LIFE PURPOSE?

Answer the following question in the space below. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being highest), how fully are you living your life purpose on a day-to-day basis? If the answer is not a 10, write down what you could do to live your purpose more fully.

CONCLUSION

Sometimes our experience of life can seem like we are a small boat in the vast ocean. There are so many currents and winds trying to push us this way or that. There are so many directions we could follow, and so many choices we could make. Yet, something feels different once you’re clear about your life purpose. You have identified your own North Star, your own Rock of Gibraltar. You now know what gives you joy and fulfillment in life. The more you do things aligned with that purpose, the more satisfying your life will be, and the easier it will be to achieve the success you want. You are now ready to experience all the fulfillment and passion and rewards you deserve from a life well lived.

LIVE YOUR PURPOSE

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

Nobel Prize–Winning Playwright

MAKE-IT-A-HABIT WORKSHEET

Keep Your Purpose Alive

Below are practical and easy action steps with which you can keep your purpose visible and alive each day.

Select the ones you will do and place a check mark

next to them.

After you have checked off the ones you will do, put them on your calendar or add them to your to-do list so that you’re reminded later to actually do them.

1 □ Memorize your life purpose. Use whatever technique you use when you have to memorize something critical, such as writing it down several times or creating a word association. Instead of posting your life purpose statement on your bathroom mirror, post only this prompt: My purpose is . . . By verbally filling in the blank a few times, you will have it fully memorized.

2 □ Read your life purpose statement every morning and every night.

3 □ Create a document on your computer with your life purpose statement that also includes a picture of you, then frame it and keep it on your desk or bedside table.

4 □ Take a picture of your life purpose statement with your smartphone and use the picture as the home screen on your phone or computer.

5 □ Type up your life purpose in a creative and attractive style. Print multiple copies and post it where you will see it, such as your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, and your car dashboard.

6 □ Make this a part of your morning routine: Each morning, set your smartphone timer for two minutes. During that time, reflect on your life purpose. Think about how you can live it more fully—remembering the joy you feel when you’re participating in those activities that are aligned with your purpose.

7 □ Meditate about your purpose regularly. We’ll cover meditation in Chapter 12, but for now, follow these simple instructions: Spend a few quiet minutes alone, where you won’t be disturbed. Take a few deep breaths, allow yourself to become relaxed, and enter a state of self-love and peacefulness. Reflect on what your purpose means to you, and what your life will be like as you live even more fully on purpose. Allow any images and ideas to come to you. Let this visual journey be as expansive as you can imagine.

8 □ Tell the world! Talk about your life purpose with those special friends who understand or want to know what you’re about.

9 □ If you’re artistic, draw or paint a symbol or picture that represents your life purpose.

10 □ Clip pictures from magazines and create an image of you living your life on purpose.

11 □ Add your life purpose statement to the bottom of your email signature.

12 □ Write down your own idea. Other ways you can keep your purpose alive for you:

13 □ Write down your own idea. Other ways you can keep your purpose alive for you:

14 □ Write down your own idea. Other ways you can keep your purpose alive for you:

Great! Now put the ideas you checked above on your calendar or add them to your to-do list so that you’re reminded later to do them.

Add to Your Life Success Journal

Turn to Your Life Success Journal. You will see several questions to answer about your purpose statement. Go ahead and do this now.

*Read Principle 2: Be Clear Why You’re Here in the book The Success Principles for more explanation, stories, and examples.

*I will guide you through creating your life vision in Chapter 3: Decide What You Want.

*We will cover goals in Chapter 4: Use the Power of Goal-Setting to Achieve Your Vision.

*This meditation, and others, is also available on the audio program Awakening Power: Guided Visualizations & Meditations for Success at JackCanfield.com.

*There are several ways to approach defining your purpose. We learned this version of the life purpose exercise from Arnold M. Patent, ArnoldPatent.com.

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