Zen

Purpose, Passion and Mission – 5 Points that might help you find yours

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From time to time I’ll be posting a guest piece. Today’s post is by Bill Gordon. Bill is a friend, mentor and soon to be my kiteboarding coach (he doesn’t know that yet). Thanks Bill.

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Every month I meet with a small group to focus discovering for each of us what is our purpose and mission and why we are here in this world?

Being practical people we also talk about how that relates (if at all) to “being successful” and the normal financial commitments we all have for such things as monthly house payments, utility and car payments, taking care of our families, etc.

After many useful discussions, and books, and journaling, I haven’t made as much progress as I’d like.  However, this week I heard a talk from a man named John Ortberg who’s insights I found useful.   I wanted to share these in case they help you get any closer to clarity around your mission and purpose.

The idea that I took away from the talk was that finding our Mission or Purpose has to do with finding the intersection of 5 key things.  The 5 things are:

  • Passion – what fires you up?  Is it injustice, education,  hunger, sickness/health, helping people grow, making people happy, something else…
  • Gifts – what gifts do I have?  Everyone has gifts to offer.  Hospitality, administration, organization, encouragement, communication, teaching and many more.
  • Scars – where have I been hurt?  How can I use this experience or pain to inspire me to help others?  The knowledge and experience of the pain will equip us to help others and will inspire our passion.
  • Partners – Finding a person or people who share a similar mission or who may want to be part of your mission.
  • Need – where is there a need in the world?  Where is there need around me?  Where is there pain or annoyance or frustration that needs to be solved?

If you’ve been keeping a list of thoughts and ideas on where you might like to focus your time and energy, run those ideas through this list of 5 items to see if there is an answer around the 5 that makes sense to you (and if you haven’t been keeping a list, I encourage you to start).

I hope this gets you closer to finding your path and purpose!

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Ethics – Go with your gut

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Ethical questions get really tough when you start to intellectualize them.

Here’s a mock question? Should you allow tobacco companies to advertise with your company. This means exposing their brand and messaging to your community.

Here’s the dilemma…the evidence tells us that smoking causes cancer and host of other health problems, but the tobacco industry creates jobs and it’s a free country, people can smoke if they want to, so who are we to judge? Smoking related illness cost the taxpayer millions of dollars per year in healthcare resources and burden the already strained healthcare networks. That’s not a good thing right?

What about the cash these advertisers give you? You could use that money to experiment and build life changing products.

What about the optics? How much revenue will they bring in for the company? What is if it’s only 10% of total ad revenue vs. 50%? Is there a threshold % that makes it acceptable? By allowing these brands to advertise are you indirectly enticing more kids to start smoking?

Other companies take their money, why shouldn’t you?

See what I mean…it’s starts to get really sticky when you try to answer the question within an intellectual framework. You could probably justify a yes or a no answer.

Why not try something different? Ask your gut the same question with the following context – Are you making the world a better place by [insert question]. In other words are you contributing to a better world by advertising cigarettes to your audience. Avoid the temptation to define “better” or “world”, just ask yourself the question. Your gut will give you the answer. It may not be the answer you want to hear, but my advice would be to go with it.

When I don’t go with my gut on these things, I normally fall on my face.

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Build a village

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Family and friends are so important. Human beings are social animals and up until about 150 years ago we still lived in close knit villages. The village included immediate and extended family from sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, godfathers and godmothers. Everyone looked after the young and the elderly.

In a very short time period we’ve moved from close knit community of multi generational family and friends to a diaspora. It’s not in our DNA to be unplugged and separated from the tribe.

Raising kids is a great example. Most young mothers give birth in the hospital and are shipped out and home the next day. There they sit with a new born child with zero support from immediate family who are probably living in another city or even another country. In response to this there’s a growing trend for young parents to employee a night nurse during the postpartum period. A night nurse or midwife “baby sits” during the night and helps guide the new mother through the first couple of weeks. It also allows the parents to get some sleep and be engaged when they are with the child. In the past there would be sisters, aunts, mothers, grandmothers and friends to teach and cover for the mother. If you think about it it’s actually not such a crazy luxury but a necessity and going back to our village roots. It’s sad that the majority of young mothers can’t afford this extra help and have to go it alone.

Skype and Facetime don’t bridge the gap. We need physical interaction and to be around people that know us. We are under the illusion that we are now more connected than we have ever been, while it’s actually quite the opposite.

Invest in your friendships and family bonds – build a village.

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Raise your game

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During my school years I played in a tennis league on Saturday afternoons. I remember being paired up against a 60 year old opponent. As a 15 year old with youth, energy and infinite wisdom on my side I thought this would be an easy match. The game plan was simple…out power and run him ragged. An easy match…and I’d be walking home in no time.

From the very first game things didn’t go according to plan. The old fox was all about small chop shots to my backhand and drop shots that died on impact. He hardly moved around the court and every time I increased the power he responded with a sliced lob that took the power out of the rally.

Frustrated and four games down in the first set I needed a change in strategy. I made the decision to beat him at his own game. My game changed from hard serve and top spin forehands to unfamiliar sliced back hands and top spin lobs. The whole game slowed down and I ended up getting thrashed love and love.

My mistake was changing my game to match my opponent’s strengths. In hindsight I should have raised my own game and gone back to core principles that worked for me. The old fox was playing to his survival strengths of low tempo, precision shots and unforced errors…not the best style for a 15 year old opponent.

Next time you are confronted with an opponent or competitor in your space, try raising your game first. Resist the urge to morph into and replicate what is beating you. Work harder and focus on your strengths.

Change your context to Reciprocation

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Change the context. Instead of giving, how about offering. Instead of taking, how about receiving? You see – it’s all about reciprocation in everything you do. Don’t just practice this with people…practice reciprocation when you are at work, exercising or even out on a walk.

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Try this when you spend time with family or travel this holiday season. Ask what you can offer to family and friends or even the place you are visiting. That simple gesture will change the context of the interaction. It removes expectation and replaces it with an intention to serve. Try it, you’ll be surprised by the feeling.

Band of Hackers – The power of collaboration

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“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants ” – Isaac Newton

Last week we held a very successful hackathon at work. Employees pitched their ideas and recruited team members. Teams had a week to build the idea and then present the finished product on the final day for judging. The ideas were incredible and reaffirmed the belief I have that people who are empowered will self motivate, hold themselves accountable and create amazing results.

Another lesson for me was how fun and creative it can be to have people from different product groups team up and work towards a common goal. It was inspiring to watch diverse teams crouching over computer screens hashing out ideas, debating pros and cons while also having a laugh. Maybe even more important than the brilliant creations were the new friendships and working relationships that were forged during the week.

It got me thinking about teamwork in general. Collaboration and shared memories are so beneficial and integral to building strong relationships. Travelling and exploring a new city with friends is so much more fun than a solo experience. It’s the shared memories that make relationships stronger and are the kindle for new friendships. It’s the same with sport…and it doesn’t have to be a team sport either. It’s more about exploring something with like minded people. Take a yoga class for example. Some of the most productive classes are where the entire class synchronizes. The synchronicity increases the energy in the room and everyone benefits. When someone gets impatient, breaks rank and moves into the next pose before the group it throws off the rhythm of the class and actually fragments the energy. It’s the same as cycling, The pack breaks the headwind and conserves energy…everyone wins.

Individual customization is what everyone is doing right now, we are constantly being asked to create solo silos, and position yourself as an individual contributor. It’s good to remind ourselves about the power of team effort. When there’s synchronization it it’s like adding rocket fuel to the fire…the energy produced is mind blowing.

A group environment will always have challenges and compromises but most of the time you’ll be more productive and more importantly you’ll probably make some great friends, have shared experiences and meet new people along the way who may even teach you a thing or two.

Entrepreneurship is universal

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People are quick to label someone entrepreneurial or even non-entrepreneurial. It’s a loaded word and is flung around all the time by tech bloggers and journos in Silicon Valley and New York. The word is associated with building something from the ground up, following your passion, seed money via credit card debt, venture capital, and making commitments to investors and employees. The thinking goes that if you’ve haven’t done all of the above, well then you just aren’t an entrepreneur. I disagree.

I’ve met successful entrepreneurs along the way who’ve had nothing to do with venture debt, angel funding and even passion.

How about a tour guide in Agra that makes sure the experience includes an “unscheduled” pit stop at a friends/business partner’s Persian carpet business while on route from the Taj Mahal to Agra Fort? (This is Agra’s version of paid placement).

Or a Salvadorian surf guide/taxi driver/B&B owner who rents you the board, drives you to a “secret surf spot” and even paddles out with you just to make sure you are sitting in the right place?

What about a woodworker in South Africa sitting out in the blazing sun on the side of the road selling wooden carvings of the “Big Five”? He’ll also try to up sell you on the warthog from the Lion King and throw in one of those African themed chess sets while discussing whether he’s still willing to accept euros.

Or the artist who leaves the day job and opens a bookstore that’s curated and marketed to a niche audience?

Being entrepreneurial is universal.  It’s about having the courage and grit to grow something (oh and it doesn’t have to be from scratch either), putting your name behind a product or a service, and hopefully making a bit of coin at the same time. Maybe you’re passionate about what you do or maybe you just got to make a living. Either way it’s entrepreneurial.

The warthog and the Big Five

Have you earned your seat?

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Have you earned your seat at the table or have you been gifted it?

“Earning it” means not giving up when the pressure is on, staying the course when people are telling you to change direction and in most cases building something from scratch without connections, a golden parachute or a “name”.

People who’ve been gifted their seats are hard to predict because you can’t tell how they’ll react when it really matters.

Ask yourself this question when evaluating a business partner or for that matter any partner. It may be enlightening.

Remember the toughest steel is forged in the hottest fire.