Find Your Purpose, Find Success

When people think of “success,” they often picture luxury cars, private jets and other materialistic things. But success means more than that.

So instead of the word “success,” I like to use the term “living well.”

To live well, you have to have a large spirit, a large heart and – overall – a large desire to live out your true purpose.

Hey Moguls, Preston Ely here, and I really want to dig deep today to talk about finding your purpose. It may seem like a “heavy” topic, but it’s absolutely essential to your success as a real estate investor.

When I’m talking to people about discovering their purpose, I usually tell them this: If you’re thinking only about real estate, you may have some successful deals... but you won’t get far. Instead, you main efforts should be focused on growing as a person.

And you should be doing this on a daily basis.

When I wake up every day, I’m not thinking about real estate or internet marketing – although those are important parts of my day. But before I even get to those things, I wake up focused on how I’m going to grow as a person – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

If you wake up thinking this way, every day, you are already succeeding. You’ve already joined the ranks of those who are striving to live well.

So, how can you find your purpose?

I’m glad you asked. Let’s get into it...

Why Discovering Your Purpose Is Essential

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive,
and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
~Howard Thurman, American theologian

purpose I like to ask people the question: “Who are you?” because they usually don’t have an answer. Or, if they do have a response, it’s something along the lines of, “Well, I do XYZ for a living.”

And I say, “No, I’m not asking what do you do? I’m asking who you are? Why have you been planted on earth? What is your purpose?”

The sad reality is… many of us don’t have an immediate answer to that question, but we should.

Most people are internally dead – which sounds very morbid, but it’s true. Many of us are just going from day to day, with no feeling or purpose.

If you’re truly living out your purpose, you can escape that feeling of internal death. One of my favorite quotes to illustrate this is from Scottish Olympic Gold Medalist runner, Eric Lidell:

“I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

As an investor, do you feel pleasure when you’re going about your day? If not, you’re doing something wrong. Or maybe investing is just not your thing.

Regardless of who you are, everyone needs to determine why they’re here on earth. If you have no desire to discover your purpose, that’s a bad sign. It’s human nature to want to understand the reason why we’re here.

Almost none of us would be truly happy sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating Twinkies all day, every day of our lives (although I admit that does sound like a nice indulgence, on occasion).

How to Find Your Purpose

So the main question is: How do you discover why you’re here?

Here are some starting points...

Determine your personal gifts. If you have a gift, you need to use it. When we use our gifts, we feel fulfillment and we benefit others
Ask for feedback from others. I literally surveyed my friends to discover what they thought were my gifts. Another way to go about this is to simply take note when someone says “Wow, you’re a great speaker,” “You have a way with people” or “Your creativity is amazing.”
Listen to your heart. No, I’m not trying to be cheesy with this one. You need to pay attention to your passions and follow your heart.

Also, don’t allow yourself to get discouraged by comparing yourself to others. I’ve got news for you: No one is 100% sure of what they’re doing. Heck, I don’t know what I’m doing right now, writing this lesson.

If you are focused on comparing yourself to others, you will never reach your full potential. So, throw away the jealousy and comparisons and focus only on discovering your own purpose.

The Impact of Living a Meaningful Life

toy One of my favorite books is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. In the book, there’s a section that describes a study of patients who were diagnosed with incurable cancer.

Now, these patients had a distinguishable pattern of behavior: After they received the diagnosis, they started doing things that were meaningful and important to them, and forgot about things that they weren’t passionate about.

Interestingly enough, the cancer of many of these patients went into remission. (Wow!)

So, the psychologist who conducted the study came up with this theory: The stress of living a “fake life” was causing cancer for these people. And when they found out that they were about to die, their consciousness transferred from their ego (the part of us that tries to please and look good for others) to their true selves.

Now, regardless of whether the cancer remission of these patients was a coincidence or not, I think that the study illustrates a very important point: pursuing our purpose literally gives us life.

As I said before, I know this is a much deeper topic than I typically write about – but I think it’s a crucial foundation that everyone needs before they begin achieving professional success. Got it? Good.

Ready to Start Living?

What other strategies have you used to discover your purpose? Let me know in the comments section below.

Find your passion. Think about which daily tasks or hobbies make you feel “alive” when you’re doing them. These are the essential components of your purpose.

Chat with friends and family. Those who are closest to you are likely to have a clear picture of your talents and strengths. Ask for their feedback and think about how their responses relate to your life purpose.

Consult your heart, not your head. Many of us let our minds win the daily struggle between brain and heart. But if you take some time to consider what’s in your heart and what makes you feel truly fulfilled, you will have powerful information to change your life.