Futile, hopeless, discouraged? The way out...

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” ~Seneca.

So many people I encounter on a daily basis are living lives of quiet desperation.

They had thought their jobs would fulfill them, that making a living was the best way to make a life for themselves. That maintaining a lifestyle matters more than living a full,rich satisfying life. And after accumulating enough stuff to fill a house, garage, and all their closets, they're still miserable.

Let's face it, in the great big scheme of things, "stuff" is the booby prize. No one on their deathbed ever said, "I should have spent more time at work and less time doing what I love with the people I love". That's because the "dying" have a much clearer sense of what is really important than most of us who are "living".

So, what's important? It varies from person to person, but there are some consistent themes that appear when they are asked. Here are some of the most common:

Love
Meaningful work
Making a difference
Service
Family
Connection
Spirit

What I have come to know is that, in order to live a rich fulfilling life, we must dare to take action on the things that are most important to us at the core of our being.

This is risky. There's not a lot of buy-in from our society around authentic living. There IS a lot of buy-in around looking good, accumulating possessions, getting ahead, and there's a LOT of buy-in around scarcity and competition.

It is a radical act to live according to one's inner guidance. It is risky to act on your dreams when the easy money only requires that you sell yourself out.

So, what to do, what to do?

Well, if you're at all like me and so many others, you come to realize that the trappings of success as measured by our culture is not the way you wish to measure your own life.

Then the question becomes, "what the heck do I do NOW?".

I have some answers (you knew that, right?). The first thing you need to do is get clear about your Life's Purpose, the conscious context of your life from which your unlimited wellspring of internal motivation and satisfaction originates.

After you're clear, a game plan is needed. It can be as simple as following the attractive energy of purpose, as creative as making vision boards, or as elaborate as a detailed plan/outline for creating business and pleasure that reflects your passions, skills, talents and purpose.

The most important thing you can do to change your experience of your circumstances is to change your perspective to a purposeful one. Everything, and I do mean everything, shifts when viewed from a place of lucid purpose.

So, if you feel that your efforts are futile, that your outlook is hopeless, and if you're discouraged, there is an easy way out.

I'll be talking more about how to live a purposeful life in later blog entries.

NEWS!!! I finished the first draft of the new Life Purpose Discovery Journal/Workbook yesterday. It will be ready for distribution very soon, and then you'll be able to figure out your own unique Life Purpose for yourself. 'Til then I am still doing private Life Purpose Discovery sessions both in person and over the phone.