There are eight steps in the process for you to discover yourself. Some of you can get through them in a few days, and for some others it may take weeks, or even months.If you have never really thought about your life as having mission and purpose, it will take you longer. No matter where you are in terms of self- awareness, and whether or not you know your true purpose in life,these eight steps will prove invaluable in your search for a better life and a better you: Let’stake a closer look at those eight steps now.
Step 1: Find your passion – What would you do if you had all the money and all the time in the world? What parts ofyour previous jobs and your current life are consistent with your passion?
Step 2: Define success – in the only terms that matter, yours.
Step 3: Know your personality style – Use this knowledge to better understand why you are here, and what you should do with the rest of your life.
Step 4: Set goals – Set SMART goals around every area of your life, and write them down. Create personal goals for the following areas of your life:
- Physical
- Spiritual
- Family
- Friends
- Financial/Work
Step 5: Think! – Engage your wonderful, powerful portable super computer brain. Post your goals, and read them daily. Your defined and positive thoughts will begin to shape your daily actions, which in turn, will lead to your successful future.
Step 6: Operate with integrity – Know that your personal and professional lives are intertwined and that you cannot live these two aspects of your life separately. Choose to operate with character and then, also surround yourself with people and professional endeavors that aim to do the same. Know that every word you speak has an impact on your life and plan to spend your time in ways that have a positive impact on yourself and others.
Step 7: Execute – Lay out a plan that helps move you toward your goals. Remember that your passion and goals will sustain you through the hard times, and understand that failure and quitting are not options. Execution is not the hardest part of this program, however, knowing what to execute is actually where most people fail.
Step 8: Give back – Success, when measured by what you alone achieve will never sustain you long term, nor will it enable you to give back. Start now by giving out a smile when you can, a helping hand, and realize you are planting the seeds of giving in your life, which will enable you to look back on a long life, and feel it was well lived. We all have something to give, no matter what our present circumstances may be.
Will thoughtfully walking through these eight steps help you Discover Yourself? Yes. I say this from my own personal experience, and also because I have heard from thousands of others who have been through this program reporting that it worked for them, too.
I am living proof that the formula works, because I used it to find my wife of 25 years; used it to raise three wonderful children; to find my way into acareer that engages me every single day of my life and to meet friends whom I love and with whom I share the same values and interests. This formula helped me to stay connected to my extended family, live a healthy life and spiritually know that I am part of something much bigger than myself. It wasn’t always this way.
Growing up, I never gave much thought to the questions: “Who am I?”or“Why am I here?” I didn’t know what I was good at, and I had never made note of any specific life goals. I attended church, butnever fully understood my place in things much bigger than the world I lived in. I was drifting through life, often“following the followers,”as Earl Nightingale famously said in his epic recording, “The Strangest Secret”, in 1956. As a result, I drifted into college at the University of Minnesota, and failed miserably. I wrongly studied engineering, having done well in math in high school, but had no real interest in that field of study. I wasn’t ready to be on my own, and did not have the discipline to do what needed to be done.
In short, I had no direction, no passion and no plan. Luckily for me, a good friend gave me a cassette tape of “The Strangest Secret”when I was 22 years old, and within 30 days everything in my life started to make sense. I began to live on purpose, with passion and a plan. I graduated, met my wife Linda, started three different companies over the next 20 years, and sold each for more than a million dollars.
Scott Schwefel is a speaker and author who works with organizations that want to leverage new communication strategies that will increase sales, profits and productivity. This article is an excerpt from his new book, “Discover Yourself.”
