“I want to live my life in such a way that when

I get out of bed in the morning,

the devil says, ‘aw crap, he’s up!’. ”

Steve Maraboli

One of the curiosities of life is why some fail and others succeed. Even more curious is how we define success. Money, prestige, notoriety? One thoughtful definition of success penned by Earl Nightingale is,

“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.”

Another way of saying worthy ideal is:     Purpose.

Your success is measured by the extent that you progressively realize your life purpose.

Nightingale has written in-depth and breadth showing that, “you become what you think about”. Defining and stating your purpose puts you in a lifetime process of  “becoming what you think about.”

Your purpose is about discovering and nurturing who you truly are, to know yourself at the deepest level and to guide yourself back home when you lose your way.

Do you know exactly why you get up each day?  Have you determined and verbalized your life’s purpose. If you have, you understand the amazing power and possibility. If you still are somewhat fuzzy and not intentional about your purpose you may experience a bit of an energy-leak and vision-myopia.

Take time to discover and verbalize your purpose. You will find that it is your foundation upon which to build a meaningful life.

Purpose is what provides a daily justification to your actions and motivation, taking you from potential to kinetic activity. From your life purpose flows a commitment that knows no bounds—A commitment that creates and demands energy— commitment with a dynamic force of strength, power and direction.

According to John C. Maxwell, people who know their purpose,

“…know why they’re here. Knowing their purpose in life gives them stability. And when others around them start abandoning their causes and jumping ship when life gets tough, these people use this assurance to steady the boat, to ride out the storm because they have a true North Star. It becomes an anchor in their life—a confidence based upon knowledge of purpose.

Someone once said there are two great days in life—the day you are born and the day you discover why. I’m here to tell you, highly successful people have discovered why. “

Discovering your purpose isn’t something that magically occurs. It requires that you take intentional action. All don’t find it easy to discover and determine their purpose. I know that in attempts to define and verbalize my purpose I struggled through an introspective examination that unfolded layers of need, confusion, desire, spirituality, values, compassion, longing, fear, security, helplessness, confidence, insignificance and passion. For me, defining life’s purpose involved examining my very soul.

But once realized, the power of purpose puts you in a place of uncompromisable commitment—a commitment wary of excuses, and strengthened by a freedom to achieve. Your purpose is no less than your reason for being…it is the verbalization of your life’s value.

Upon discovery and acknowledgment of this purpose a mission statement can be formed, goals can be established and action determined and taken—actions which support the tangible evidence of your commitment and ultimately your driving purpose.

One must establish ones purpose to create a framework for living—vision, mission, goals, objectives, actions. Without acknowledgment of purpose, life is lived in a fog and stagnation marked by capricious achievement punctuated by sloven inactivity and waste.

For just one moment, imagine that you could do anything in the world you want to do. So, if that were possible, what would you do?

If you were going to do that one thing, what is the first step that you would need to take to make it happen?

Now, take that first step.

Click on the video below to view an out take from Earl Nightingales’s The Strangest Secret. Then take some time to contemplate your life purpose.