Start with why -- how great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | TEDxP...

Lucky People Live Life Driven by Purpose

"If you don't know where you are going, any path will do." Lewis Carroll

If you have read Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland", you will probably recognise the quote above and the following excerpt from the book:

"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

Lucky, fortunate people usually have a clear purpose in life and they look for signs steering them in the right direction. Unlucky people on the other hand, often complain about not getting anywhere in life. They respond in a similar way to confused young Alice when asked about where they actually want to be or go.

How clear are you about the following questions:

What is your purpose? Who are you? Where are you going? How are you planning on getting there?

Having a clear sense of purpose may serve to attract more luck into your life. If you know where you are heading, it will be a lot easier for life to present the signposts that will help you get there.

Inner Drives, Passion & Dreams

If you are uncertain about your purpose in life, pay attention to the things that inspire you; notice the things you love; be aware of what gives you joy in life; what evokes your passion for life? What motivates and drives you? What do you value in life? What are your dreams?

For example, do you value freedom or security? If you value freedom rather than security, life may support you in travelling around the world independently but your plans to buy a house, on the other hand, may not be so successful. Some things may fall into your lap easily and effortlessly and others fail to materialise despite your hardest efforts and struggles. Perhaps the former are in alignment with your values and the latter, on the other hand, conflict with your highest values. If you value truth more than success, you will fail to get the job or stay for long in a job that compromises your integrity. It may seem a stroke of "bad luck" that you didn't get the job or you got made redundant, but in fact, life is supporting your true values even though you may not be fully aware of them.

Your dreams must be your own dreams and not the dreams of your loved ones, which is one of the reasons that our most cherished dreams fail to materialise. We have to learn to create our own dreams. A mustard seed will never grow up to be an oak tree, regardless of how well it is nourished or how many years it has grown. Lives are often wasted trying to be someone else; living someone else's dream and comparing our lives with the lives of others when there is no real comparison to be made.

How do you know that your dreams are your own? Who do you compare your inner life with? How does this help or hinder your own journey through life?

Some of your goals and ambitions will naturally be inspired by external circumstances and the environment in which you have lived. If your parents lived in poverty, you may be driven by the need to have a better standard of living and you may define your purpose in life to establish a life of comfort for your children.

One of the differences between lucky, successful people and those who consider themselves to be unlucky or unfortunate is the capacity to think and plan ahead. Those who invest in their own education, clearly have a different strategy for expressing their purpose in life.

What do you hope to achieve in your lifetime?

How will you be remembered?

What legacy do you intend to leave?

How will you uncover your deepest purpose, passion and driving force in life?

By living a life driven by purpose, like lucky people do, you will increase your chances of finding the signposts guiding and directing you to where you believe your destiny to be.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3502960

Jesvir Mahil is the author of "You're So Lucky!"

Do What You Love For a Living

A couple of years back, I was unhappy in my job and was searching for a sense of purpose in life. I longed to do something that was more meaningful and fulfilling. One day, whilst online, I discovered some of Wayne Dyer's audio material. He was talking about living with 'a sense of purpose, a sense of mission', and I was very taken with what he was saying. Over the course of the next year or so, I listened to a lot of his material, and he managed to convince me that doing what you love and making a living at it was not only possible but it would an insult to the universe not to do so!. Hopefully I can convince you to do the same in this article.

I have always loved music and I started to play the guitar when I was sixteen. I had a reputation for being the best guitarist in town. I just loved sitting and working out songs on the guitar and I had a real talent for it. However, I had never really thought about playing the guitar for a living. I ended up taking the 'sensible' and 'realisitic' route into a job that, despite paying well, left me empty and frustrated. We are often told that our passions are alright 'as a hobby' but that they won't pay the bills. Wayne Dyer really helped me to undo a lot of this societal brainwashing and I got to thinking about how I could get paid to sit and play the guitar all day instead of working for the man. After a period of reflection, I hit on the idea of making videos to teach the stuff I enjoyed working out so much on the guitar and selling them online.

So, I set to work. It wasn't easy. I came up against a lot of skepticism and discouragement from family and friends. I didn't know the first thing about setting up a website and I had no capital whatsover. In fact, I was in quite a lot of debt. Nonetheless, I was determined to succeed and I just started putting one foot in front of the other and finding out how it was all done. I started making the video lessons in my spare time, got a website going all by myself and although I have had a million and one hurdles along the way, the site is now making enough money to live from and I get so much encouragement from my students that I know I am following the right path. Now, I can get up when I want and spend the day doing what I love. Moreover, I believe you can too.

If you really want to do something, then with enough determination, hard-work and persistence, you're going to make things happen. There is no other way it can be. If you can believe in yourself, even during times when you seem to be getting absolutely nowhere, and keep the dream alive, you can do what you love for a living. If you can ignore the skepticism and discouragement of family and friends who sit around making excuses all day and trying to sully your plans, you are going to succeed.

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Have a sense of purpose in life? It may protect your heart

Having a high sense of purpose in life may lower your risk of heart disease and stroke, according to a new study led by researchers at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt and presented on March 6 at the American Heart Association's EPI/Lifestyle 2015 Scientific Sessions in Baltimore.

The new analysis defined purpose in life as a sense of meaning and direction, and a feeling that life is worth living. Previous research has linked purpose to psychological health and well-being, but the new Mount Sinai analysis found that a high sense of purpose is associated with a 23 percent reduction in death from all causes and a 19 percent reduced risk of heart attack, stroke, or the need for coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) or a cardiac stenting procedure.

"Developing and refining your sense of purpose could protect your heart health and potentially save your life," says lead study author Randy Cohen, MD, a preventive cardiologist at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt. "Our study shows there is a strong relationship between having a sense of purpose in life and protection from dying or having a cardiovascular event. As part of our overall health, each of us needs to ask ourselves the critical question of 'do I have a sense of purpose in my life?' If not, you need to work toward the important goal of obtaining one for your overall well-being."

The research team reviewed 10 relevant studies with the data of more than 137,000 people to analyze the impact of sense of purpose on death rates and risk of cardiovascular events. The meta-analysis also found that those with a low sense of purpose are more likely to die or experience cardiovascular events.

"Prior studies have linked a variety of psychosocial risk factors to heart disease, including negative factors such as anxiety and depression and positive factors such as optimism and social support," says Alan Rozanski, MD, study co-author and Director of Wellness and Prevention Programs for Mount Sinai Heart at the Mount Sinai Health System. "Based on our findings, future research should now further assess the importance of life purpose as a determinant of health and well-being and assess the impact of strategies designed to improve individuals' sense of life purpose."

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Story Source:

Materials provided by Mount Sinai Medical Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150306132538.htm 

How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes | Adam Leipzig | TEDxMalibu

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• Who do you do it for?
• What do they want or need?
• How do they transform as a result of what you give them?

Life! By Design - Create Passion and Purpose in Your Life

"Life! By Design: Create Passion And Purpose In Your Life" by Tom Ferry with Laura Morton is one of the newer books on living with passion, purpose, and as Ferry puts it, by design and not default. In it, Ferry teaches his six steps to an extraordinary you. If you have read other books on living life to its fullest and achieving your dreams and goals, you might find much of this book similar. After all, basics are basics, each person just has a different way of teaching them. It's sort of like the martial arts. There are numerous styles, all teaching variations of hitting, kicking, blocking, and so forth. But different people will connect with different styles and instructors better than with others. I'm sure many people will connect with Ferry's six steps and other advice in this book. And for those that have heard a similar message before, it does not hurt to hear again. I'm sure those that follow Ferry's system will achieve more and live more by design than by default. That is, if they apply his system and follow through.

Ferry's book is a motivating read that is divided into two parts. There's an introduction and an introductory chapter, then you get into the main two parts of the text. Five chapters make up part one, Living By Default. The final four chapters make up part two, Living By Design. After an introduction that explains a little of who Ferry is and where he came from, he continues in Chapter One discussing how he created his own future and asks if the reader is ready to do the same.

Phase 1: Living By Default contains chapters on by default versus by design, waking up, the problem with no problems, addictions, and turning to face the changes. These chapters get you thinking about where you are today and what kind of life you are living. If you take the time to really think about your own situations and ask yourself the difficult questions Ferry asks you to ask yourself, you will be rewarded by the discovery. He ends phase 1 by asking if you will choose to live by design or default.

Phase 2: Living By Design contains chapters on the six steps to living by design, the conscious and subconscious mind and the power of self-talk, the benefits of a healthy body and healthy mind, and the five evolutions to master by design living.

The six steps are found in chapter seven and consist of:

1. Wake up from you coma - become aware of the areas in you life that need attention.

2. Make the choice to change your life.

3. Create your life By Design.

4. Do the things that bring you power!

5. Practice visualizing yourself already there, in possession of what you want.

6. Create structure and accountability by telling others around you about your plans.

The six steps are explained well and Ferry provides examples and exercises to help you along the way. Again, I think the system has merit for those that actually implement his ideas.

The next chapter is on positive affirmations. Why? Because they work says Ferry. Chapter nine contains a few basic principles of health. Nothing in depth here, but I agree with Ferry 100% that taking care of your physical well-being is critical to achieve success in other areas too. Where there is much more to living healthy that Ferry provides, his basics are sound and would help anyone not already following a healthy lifestyle. The final short chapter is on mastery with a motivating message to go be extraordinary.

I enjoyed the book. Even though many of the concepts were very familiar to me, and things I do already, I thought Ferry did a good job of motivating and providing exercises for readers to take command of their own lives and as he says, many times, life by design, not default. If you are looking for a book to pep you up and help you live with more passion, check this one out.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4781220

How to Learn Any Subject?

Learning is such a critical aspect of one's life. In essence life is a major school. At every stage of life, from birth to adulthood, learning takes place in various modalities. There is a difference though between structured or formal learning and what I call "fun learning" or passive learning. For example, the type of learning that takes place when one is reading an enjoyable text or watching a favorite movie or documentary. This is not to mitigate the value of this type of learning but to call attention to the phenomenon that usually the learning extracted is not preplanned or based on specific outcomes. Consequently, the learning opportunity may be more expendable. The keys to learning effectively are purpose, self-awareness, and organization. The precursors to this triad include the skills and background knowledge necessary to create the path for effective learning.

For our purpose here, we'll be discussing structured learning as it the most reliable and standardized. By the time a child enters kindergarten, he has already been exposed to some structured learning environment albeit without his conscious knowledge. He/she may already be using the word "school" nonchalantly. Kindergarten may even be more structured and may be categorized as "real" learning, perhaps because this is the place for the foundation of literacy skills. Most people tend to have fond memories about their experiences as a kindergartener. Thus, it qualifies the purpose aspect of effective learning. This may be a residue of the type of learning inherent in wanting to walk as a child, feed oneself, figuring out how to reach the high shelf, or tie one's shoe laces.

Purpose is synonymous with motivation in this context. The greater one's desires or goals towards achieving a certain outcome are, the greater the purpose. Purpose is the reason one is engaged in studying something in particular. Identifying the purpose may be easier if the endeavor is self-induced or voluntary. In the case of an involuntary situation, it is even more important to identify a purpose. It is effective pedagogical practice to guide young learners in a conversation about the objectives for learning about a particular topic and connect those to their previous knowledge.

First things first, knowing the purpose for doing anything is essential. This must be deliberate and intentional. We always have choices even when it seems like we don't. They may be difficult choices with pleasant or unpleasant consequences. When a learner finds himself with a prescribed course which he feels is "useless", "irrelevant " or "boring", he has the option of not taking the course or create an objective or purpose that is personally authentic and relevant to himself at the onset of the course. For example:" I don't like French. I am not good at foreign languages, but I like history." So a possible question to ask to formulate your purpose is: What is the role of France, its people and the language in the history of _____? You fill in the blank. Another point of focus could be the French language of today vs. yesterday.

Authenticity and interests are quintessential here. The learner has to take responsibility to define his own purpose for studying something based on his interests, academic and or social strengths, or just a pure desire or goal to do well. The point here is that the learner has to establish a reason for studying something, which could be as specific or as generic as he wants it. However, it must resonate with a core aspect of personality or value or both.

This brings us to the next requirement- self-awareness. The learner can use these questions as a guide: Who are you as a personality? What matters to you? What do you value? How did you learn what you learned before? What techniques did you use? Knowing "thyself" is one of the best given advices. This is a lifetime quest but we start by paying attention to ourselves and reflecting consistently. Tools such as multiple intelligence, IQ, and emotional intelligence tests can provide some insights and directions. Take responsibility for your own learning. Some environments and teaching methodologies are more optimized for learning. However, the greatest responsibility still lies with you. After the learner has satisfactorily answered the questions he has to apply the findings. For example, an extrovert needs to ask questions and engage in discussions and find alternate, lively tools to engage with the materials if the instructor doesn't provide them. An introvert may need to take copious notes and engage in discussions in small groups. This brings us to the third component of effective learning- organization.

It is the "how to" aspect of learning. There is basic organization which involves common sensible tasks such as being prepared with tools for learning, consistency of attendance, and active participation through deep listening and wholesome presence. If you are in class, just be in class. There is also a deeper level of organization required to reach the summit of Gardner's multiple intelligence theory. Effective learning is about understanding, applying, and creating with your new found knowledge. This is lowest to highest. Your knowledge of self-awareness applies in developing a personal learning plan. Only the learner can answer the questions of how he learns best. The basic premise of learning of how to complete a task eventually turns to forming automatic habits.

Mastering a skill though takes deliberate focus and intention. The rapper and producer, Maurice Young states: "To become a master at any skill, it takes the total effort of your heart, mind, and soul working together in tandem. Thus, collaboration and synergism are important. Aligning your purpose for learning plus your knowledge of self-awareness equals your method of organizing your learning plan. The learner may need a more aggressive plan for the subject in which he feels weak. A visual, auditory and a tactile learner may need different plans that are customized and personalized. This is not so much about learning in general. It is how effectively we are learning for the long-term.

As learners, we have developed habits and practices of studying that may be more or less effective, appropriate or inappropriate for certain tasks. Sometimes, they become so deeply ingrained that they have become automatic. However, how effective are they? How do they fare with your short and long term goals for studying the subject or course? Short-term goals correspond more with listening, note-taking, time management, being well versed in the requirements of the course, knowing your instructor's style of teaching and expectations. Short-term goals also have short-term gratifications. Long-term goals however are more futuristic and valuable as the actualized learning and skills acquired are beneficial to society. This is where marrying your mind as in your purpose for studying, your heart as in your core values and or your personality and your soul as in having a vision of sharing this knowledge with others can have the greatest impact on your education.

The purpose of learning is to become educated. Education is for us and others. It is a tool for the betterment of us as a society. Effective learning is learning for today and tomorrow. Companies and organizations are best led by people with diverse talents and skills such as collaboration, technical, analytical, organizational, and critical thinking. These skills can be developed with a deliberate plan to aim at the highest levels of intelligence of Bloom's taxonomy. In a nutshell, cultivating a sense of observance of self and others, having a vision and an action plan are the keys for an effective learning recipe. Two major ingredients that are required are motivation and commitment. This materializes by defining a personal authentic goal, raison d'être for studying and prioritizing goals, then breaking them down into specific tasks for maximizing time in and outside of class.

Effective learning is holistic learning. Education is like a mirror one holds up to himself and others. The better we become as learners, the more we grow and evolve. This way we are better equipped to serve our society. Learning is living. Live well and learn well! 

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