The Purpose of Life, is a Life of Purpose

13
Jan
2014

The purpose of life is a life of purpose

Ever notice that when you have a specific training goal, you’re able to focus much better on the bike?  Well, that same concept applies to all things in life…..only problem is most of us don’t create or find a purpose.

The purpose of life, is a life of Purpose.

I first saw this quote in a book by Robin Sharma…one of my favorite motivational authors.  But it looks like the quote comes from American author, Robert Byrne.  Simple, yet oh so brilliant. It’s been over a year since the last time I had a major cycling goal I was after, but I can still remember how motivated and focused I was while training and conditioning for it.  I still have minor goals each week, but they’re nothing compared to what my previous big ones have been like.  But I can personally attest to how adding purpose to a ride can totally change things. Every ride leading up to that one big ride had the purpose of preparing me to do my absolute best.  I knew the purpose, I rode, and I was a freaking machine. But in life, it’s a somewhat different story.  My purpose has been more like “The Goliath” at Six Flags…..moving fast, and going up and down.  When it’s there, I’m totally focused and in the zone.  When it’s not, my days seem monotonous and empty. So how do you find your purpose?  I’m asking this because I personally need to know…..so I checked out what the experts have to say. Here’s 6 steps to finding your purpose (c/o Wikihow):

  1. Make a list of the things you do for fun, or that you really enjoy.  Include in the list the parts of your job that you really like, the things you volunteer for, sports, the arts, reading, etc. Imagine you’re a billionaire with no worries about money, how would you choose to spend your time?  These are your Passions.
  2. Write down the names of people that you admire, and why you admire them. For example, you might admire Patch Adams for choosing to step out of the traditional role of medicine and creating new ways of healing and connecting with his patients while also having fun. You might admire the band Green Day for living out loud and on purpose, creating the music that they love and speaking their minds. You might admire Oprah Winfrey for choosing to reveal her truth, at a time when concealing is the norm. Name as many as you can think of.  These are your Actions.
  3. Make a list of the things you do naturally without even thinking about it. (You may want to ask others for feedback, as it’s common for them to see talents in us that we don’t see ourselves) Such natural talents may be: an eye for detail, a great sense of humor, a nurturing side, the ability to focus intently, or being playful.  This is your Genius.
  4. Look at your Passions, Actions, and Genius lists, and spend 10 minutes each morning doing something from one of the lists. Draw, sing, dance, tell the truth about something you’ve been concealing, organize a drawer, thank someone you’ve been appreciating silently, take a risk and call that girl or guy.
  5. Notice how you feel. By definition, if you’re living your life purpose, you’ll feel exhilarated, excited, happy, and alive. If you’re not feeling these things, go back to your lists, and see if there’s anything you forgot to write down, or do the one you’ve been avoiding because it’s so scary
  6. Feel your fear and do it anyway! It’s normal and natural to feel scared when stepping into your life purpose. Fritz Perls said, “Fear is really just excitement without the breath.” So, keep breathing, and take the next step. If it’s worth doing, you’re probably going to feel a little scared doing it. Just think of the fear as the energy you need to take the next step.
Enjoy Your Ride
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3 Responses to “ The Purpose of Life, is a Life of Purpose ”

  1. Eric Hutchins on January 24, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    Awesome

  2. Joel Phillips on January 13, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    I want to suggest something radical, consider, your purpose lies in the possibilities you create for your life and lives in your way of being in order to fulfill on what’s important to you and your life.

    I want to show you how you already did this and referred to it in this blog. You talk about setting a specific training goal and how you focus much better on the bike. This power comes from the possibility you created for yourself, “I want to do (whatever training goal you had in mind)”, that is a statement of possibility, you just called it a “specific training goal”. Once you did that you had access to massive amounts of actions to take and meet that goal. You knew how to train both on and off the bike, knew what your nutrition requirements were, when to rest, when to wake and what to do with your time while you were awake to be able to train, including time with your family and work. In order to take all those actions arose a specific way of being, by being I mean committed, determined, focused and with resolve, allowing you to live into the possibility you created for yourself, your purpose.

    What I am saying is, your purpose isn’t anything to look for, it’s something you create. What are your dreams, what’s important to you and your life, what do you want for the world, what kind of freaking machine would you have to be to fulfill on ALL that’s most important to you?

    There is a catch, when you experience a loss of power in fulfilling on your purpose, don’t question your purpose, rather look at how you are being, often you will find that you are not being who you need to be to fulfill on your purpose, at least that how it was for me. Just my two-cents worth Darryl, but it wasn’t until I created a possibility for my life before I found purpose.

    Happy Riding…

    • Darryl is Loving the Bike on January 13, 2014 at 3:38 pm

      Wow. Now that is something to think about. Thanks Joel, I appreciate your thoughts as always.

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