December 12, 2011
8 Days of Action: Finding Your Purpose and Getting Your Dream Job
Your life is your vehicle to design, drive and maintain. Unfortunately, a lot of people end up backseat driving through life or driving other people’s vehicles.
In these times, your purpose is your personal GPS system that continuously guides you in the right direction and helps you successfully navigate change in your self, family, career, community, country and the world.
We challenge you, beginning in the next eight days, to get in the driver’s seat of your life so that you can direct it where you want it to go. This series, based on The 8 Cylinders of Success,â„¢ will help you discover ways to align those cylinders and thus create the most powerful vehicle possible from your life. The more cylinders you are able to align, the more powerful your personal movement.
DAY ONE: Principles = Your Dashboard
Imagine driving a car without a dashboard. You would never know how close your gas tank is to being empty and therefore could get stuck along your journey. You would never know how fast you were going and as a result you may get a costly speeding ticket. You would never know how hot your engine is and the car could overheat causing major mechanical damage that could have easily been avoided. A dashboard is necessary for any extended journey such as life or careers.
Your car dashboard immediately lets you know how fast you’re traveling, how many miles you have traveled, how full your tank is, and how warm your engine is. These indicators help you gauge your journey’s success. Car manufacturers strategically placed these metrics on the dashboard because they believed that these were the four most important metrics for any driver to be aware of at all times. In the same way, your principles co-create the dashboard that allows you to measure your personal formula for success.
Whether you are conscious or unconscious of your definition of success, it is driving your short-term and long-term choices. Oxford and Webster’s definition of success may not align with your definition. In general, society defines success as having wealth, power, beauty, and fame. While some of these may be included on your dashboard, it may also contain other criteria such as how many lives you touch, how many days you go to sleep knowing you gave your best, how close you feel to your spiritual source, how many people you make smile, or how much time you give to causes you care about.
Activity: Take a moment to write your one-sentence definition of success and then come up with three ways that you can measure it in your life.
Example: Success is the ability to be who I want to be (my purpose), do what I want to do (my passion), and make enough of what I need (my profit). I measure that by:
1. How aligned do I feel with my purpose in every given moment?
2. How many lives do I touch through my speaking, books, and other work?
3. How many people do I break bread with–food and financial?
DAY THREE: Problems = Your Fuel
DAY FIVE: Positioning = Your Lane
DAY SIX: Pioneers = Your Direction
DAY SEVEN: Picture = Your Road Map
Jullien “Purpose Finder†Gordon is founder of The Department of Motivated Vehicles, a personal and professional development company that specializes in motivating individuals, employees and teams. In addition to The 8 Cylinders of Success featured in this series, he has written four books on career advancement, goal-setting and procrastination, and maximizing college. He serves as consultant and speaker to companies, colleges and other organizations across the nation.