Have you ever been to see the Great Redwood trees in Northern California? Or seen pictures? Last summer I visited Armstrong Redwoods Natural Preserve near the Russian River. These trees are the tallest living things on our planet! Some are taller than 350 feet, and over 2,000 years old.
Every one of those huge and awesome trees started out as a small seed, as something you could literally hold in your hand. Yet in that small seed was the entire blueprint for the manifestation and full-self-expression of these amazing living organisms. Just like these trees, you have your unique blueprint inside you too!
There are seven great principles of life purpose I have discovered through research, working with others, and through my own life experience. These principles are part of Step 5 of my coaching system which is "Find Your Passions." These principles will help you find and follow your passions, your own unique blueprint.
Principle #1: You have a purpose. Each and every one of us does. We are born with it. Others may have a similar purpose, but your methods of manifesting it and bringing it into the world for others are unique to you and you only.
Principle #2: It's your job to find it. No one else can do this for you no matter how much you may wish that someone else will "pull out your gifts" or "discover you." These are victim-based ways of being that avoid YOUR responsibility for YOUR life. Thank God that you, and only you, are in control of your life. That is a gift; it is divine design. So while at first this may seem like a burden, once you engage in discovering your purpose, you'll be very glad it's all up to you.
Principle #3: 90% + of the people out there don't care or don't want what you have to offer. BUT (and this is a HUGE but), about 10% do! This is a major hurdle for most people stepping out on their true life purpose - they share who they are with those closest to them (because who else would they share it with, right?) and those people are in the 90% who don't need or want THAT particular gift being offered. They just don't recognize the value. The person sharing his vision begins to believe that since those folks close to him didn't want it, no one else probably does, either. WRONG!
Here's an example - a Gold Record sells 1 million copies. If we look just at the United States where approximately 300 million people live, that means that 299 million people DID NOT buy the record! Yet this is an amazingly successful album for a musician who is now well-known and quite well off. If they made the same assumption that most of us make: "Since the first few people I shared with did not like my stuff, then everyone is not going to like my stuff," they would never have gotten off the ground. This is simply a matter of marketing and reaching YOUR people and has nothing to do with the quality or value of your offering. Unless you've talked with 100 people, I don't want to hear how "nobody likes or needs my stuff."
Principle #4: Your "customers" will not show up until you do. The 10% of people who want and need your stuff will not show up till YOU DO. You must show up first. You must stand up and say "This is who I am, this is what I have to offer, and if you want some, let's talk." Think about it, do you ever buy anything from someone, or from a company, without them first coming to you? Rarely, if ever does this happen. Usually, we see an advertisement, or someone makes a referral, or we find it on the internet. The point is, these people and products are already OUT THERE either finding you, or available for you to find. They have "shown up" and said "this is what I am, this is what I have to offer." To employ Principle #4 that's what you must do as well.
Principle #5: You will be happy, successful and satisfied with your life to the extent you embrace your authentic purpose and inner blueprint - AND - you will be unhappy, unfulfilled, dissatisfied and frustrated to the extent you do not. In fact, I would go so far as to say that we must create and manifest our life purpose or we will die. Ultimately we do die, and lives best lived have exhausted their life purpose and are ready for transition. However, those people resisting their life purpose will end up making themselves sick; they are literally "killing themselves" because they are not on purpose expressing and channeling Life Force in the way they themselves have already chosen.
As harsh as this may sound, it's actually preferable to be dead, than alive and resisting your purpose. For if you are not here doing what you've come here to do, why hang around? To the extent you've buried and resisted your purpose, it does appear at some point to be easier to exit the game and start over. However, the fact you are reading this passage means you now know whatever you are experiencing IS PART OF YOUR LIFE PATH AND PURPOSE, and it's your job to see just exactly how this all fits together and makes sense for you, in your life.
Principle #6: It's not your job to question your purpose; it's your job to engage and live it. Given the reality in which you find yourself when you discover your authentic purpose, it may seem ridiculous, unimportant, impossible, or perhaps "not for you." But this is a destiny pre-chosen for you, most likely even by you, for your life, and it cannot be changed. And resistance, as we've seen with Principle #5, is futile. This would be like the Great Redwood saying "No, no, no, I want to be a tomato!" Ridiculous! The sooner you get on board and embrace your purpose, the happier you'll be. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
Principle #7: You must nurture your purpose. Your purpose will ebb and flow throughout the course of your life. At times it will be strong, at others weak, and even at times impossible to distinguish. But through it all is YOU, and your job is to continually nurture your purpose. Keep fanning the flames and know that it is your job to build the bridge from the unmanifest (metaphysical) to the manifest (physical), to make your vision a reality in the here and now. That is the game. Finding Your Passions and aligning your life with your personal well-spring of life force energy is a major objective and benefit of my coaching system.
TRY THIS: Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and ask yourself, your deepest, truest self "Am I living my authentic life purpose?" And listen to what comes up. Even write down what comes up. Most of us know if we are or are not truly living our life's purpose. If you are, right on! Celebrate that you are. If you are not, spend a few moments exploring what your life purpose is - and if you say "I don't know" you can say to yourself "Well, if I DID know, what would I say it is?" The truth is, we ALL know what we are here to do - the blueprint is inside - the challenge is having the COURAGE to ADMIT it and EMBRACE it!
It might help you to know it's not a black and white thing- not an all-or-nothing proposition. Just start right where you are. I recommend to my clients they embrace their life purpose one step at a time, and just do the next, perhaps very small thing, that will begin moving their life in that direction. Ultimately, it's the series of these steps taken in that authentic direction that adds up to the manifestation and realization of your own unique internal blueprint.
