For this article, I thought I would circle back to the beginning of my journey in my book, Success with Goals, and more specifically to the portion about designing your life with purpose. I realized when I set out to write a book about setting goals that not only are there a ton of books already out there about goal-setting, but that the concept is somewhat dry and at times even boring, because most people think they already know what it means.

The reality is that this is not correct. There are literally tens of millions, if not legitimately hundreds of millions of people who don’t really set goals. They may have some dreams. They might have written some things down. But they don’t really have a committed plan to execute and follow through to achieve their goals in life. If we reference the Pareto Principle, we could surmise that 80% of the US population doesn’t set goals, or at least make sufficient plans to achieve them (which is the single distinguishing factor between a goal and a dream). That would suggest that 80% of the 330 million people in the US either don’t set goals or don’t have a specific plan to achieve them. Quick math: that’s approximately 250 million people!

Design your life with purpose

Stop Settling and Start Designing Your Life with Purpose

Never let the odds keep you from pursuing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.

– Satchel Paige

Most of us think about things we’d like to have or do someday, or the goals that would be nice to achieve. It’s easy to take a trip to “Someday Isle” — more appropriately called “Someday I’ll” — and think about all the things you will do some day. You know, when all the stars are in alignment, everything is in your favor, or you have the time.

Guess what, I’m here to tell you that never happens. NEVER! I know, I too have had more trips to “Someday Isle” than I’d like to admit. Just like most of us. Even some of the most successful people we know struggle with this.

You see, the concept of designing your life with purpose means to live your life with intention. You don’t allow yourself to meander through life aimlessly, bouncing from one challenge and obstacle to the next, never quite seeming to get ahead. This describes the significant percentage of people who are frustrated with their lives, unsatisfied either with their financial, relationship, personal, or career circumstances, and who aren’t really clear about what to do about them. You see if you are living your life with purpose, you are consciously aware of what is important to you, based on your values and what truly moves you.

What moves you?

By knowing what your values are and being aware of what truly inspires you, you can make better, more informed, conscious decisions about your life and the direction you are going in. You then set goals that will lead you in this direction. This conscious approach to making decisions and preparing yourself for the challenges allows you to course-correct as necessary and make the best decisions for your ideal path in life.

live with purpose - what moves you?

This likely sounds great in theory, and many of you might be thinking, “Yeah, that’s great Eric, but [insert your excuse here].” I have lived this for as long as many of you reading this blog have been born. And I can tell you, that you can either choose to make excuses, or you can choose to design your life. If you truly want the life you claim, you will need to step up to the plate and make some changes to achieve it.  

Why live a life you are unhappy with? Life is WAY TOO SHORT to live even a few years feeling miserable in circumstances that make you unhappy. Now, don’t get me wrong, life won’t be all sunshine and rainbows just because you are setting and achieving goals. You may even fail more than people living average lives. But who wants average anyway? Average is what we sell ourselves to feel more comfortable about what we don’t have. Average is generally not having what you really want and settling for what life gives you.

So what’s stopping you?

The truth is you can have more — a better job, better finances, better relationships with your parents, kids, spouse, friends, or family. How about having more time for your spiritual beliefs, traveling more, or contributing more to those in need? How about more time to create or build things, or better yet, what if if you gave more of your time teaching? We certainly could use more good teachers in this world. This is just a sampling of things we may want, but that we often trade off for something else, fully believing that we have to give up on on our true desires and accept the status quo.

The world has always favored those who strike out and go after what they want in life. These people generally live more fulfilled lives and get more of what they want, because they choose to go after it.

I’m here to tell you that you can do the same. You must take the time to first decide what that is, and then be prepared to work your butt off to get it! If you are one of those people who is tired of not having what you truly want in life then check out our coaching programs and let us help you get started on the path of designing your life with purpose.

Thanks for reading, here’s to a great second half of 2017!

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