He
who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. - Friedrich Nietzsche
If
you have a strong purpose in life, you don't have to be pushed. Your passion
will drive you there. - Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
Your
purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to
it. - Gautama Buddha
When
I moved back to Texas in 2006, I had no dreams, goals or a vision for my
life. A couple months after I moved
back, the church I was attending had a lady’s conference and the speaker was
Lynette Lewis who had graduated from the same college I did. During that conference, she told her personal
story of waiting until 42 to marry the man of her dreams and how she used her
personal purpose statement to remind herself to press forward in life and not
“fret” over the fact that she had not met the “right one”. Listening to her, I was energized. I read her book Climbing the Ladder in Stilettos: ten strategies for stepping up to
success and satisfaction at work and then wrote my own personal purpose
statement. After contemplating the direction
I wanted my life to head towards, I started learning about goals and decided I
wanted to get involved in politics (look where that took me!). Through the years, I have continued to follow
Lynette Lewis by reading her blog, listening to podcasts, etc.
Fast
forward to November 30, 2017. As I was
going through email, I saw one from her announcing a quarterly event in New
York City called Love Your Life where the topic was going to be “Turning Your
Passion into Your Profession”. At first,
I ignored the email and went on doing various things. However, I kept seeing this email in my Inbox
for a couple days and thought about attending. After a week of contemplating, I decided to
go. One of my “40 Before 40” ideas had
been to see New York at Christmas, so I decided I could two things with one
trip. (I posted my Christmas in New York
pictures on Facebook in my 40 Before 40 albums!
I still love Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue.)
Back
to my story…I drove to New York City on Sunday December 10th and did
sightseeing that Sunday night and on Monday December 11th. Around 4pm on Monday, I started questioning
my sanity because I drove to New York City to attend an event where I would
know absolutely NO ONE! After receiving
a text from my sister, I left my hotel and walked the half mile to the
location. Walking in, I was still
questioning myself, but within 10 minutes of arriving, I met the nicest lady
named Teri and we had a great conversation.
Additionally, I met a dance student who is originally from Washington,
D.C. and is attending school in New York City.
She was fun to talk with because she could completely relate to my
frustration with traffic.
The
program consisted of two women who found their passion and incorporated it into
their professions. After the program, I
waited to talk to Lynette. I asked her
if she remembered speaking at the church in Austin, Texas and she said she
did. When I told her what an impact on
my life she had, she gave me a big hug and was so excited that I had driven up
from Washington, D.C. to attend. Thinking
about the evening as I was getting ready for bed, I realized all my fear and
anxiety had been for nothing because I learned so much and had a great
experience.
CHALLENGE: If you do not have
a personal purpose statement, I highly recommend that you take time to create
one. To learn more about how to create a
personal purpose statement, check out Terri’s Tuesday Tip of the Week on
December 8, 2015, email me and I can provide a plethora of documentation or
check out Lynette Lewis website listed below.
Resources
Lewis, Lynette. (2006). Climbing
the Ladder in Stilettos: ten strategies for stepping up to success and
satisfaction at work. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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