This is the fourth in a series of posts further explaining the ideas in my new book Success Tweets: 140 Bits of Common Sense Career Success Advice All in 140 Characters or Less. The book is at the printer right now. I’m told that I will have the printed copies in my hand by the end of the week. Next week I’ll give away a few copies on this blog.
Here is Tweet 4…
The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed. It will give you a strong foundation when the winds of change shift.
Your clarity of purpose and direction provides your foundation. From it, you can build the successful life and career that you want and deserve. The more clear, and the more mighty your purpose and direction, the stronger your foundation.
I’m a sixties guy. After all these years, my favorite recording artist is still Bob Dylan. My favorite Dylan song – and maybe my favorite song ever — is “Forever Young.” He rerecorded and rereleased it recently. Pepsi has picked it up and is using it in its ads that run on NFL games. I used one of the lines from it to introduce my bestselling book Straight Talk for Success – “May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung.”
Check out some of the other lyrics…
May your hands always be busy.
May your feet always be swift.
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
Notice how I worked the line on winds of changes shift into the tweet.
By now you may be saying, “Get to the point, Bud.” So I will. You should begin your success journey by clarifying your purpose in life. Why are you on this earth? What are you meant to do? I believe that the more mighty this purpose, the more you are likely to succeed. A mighty purpose gives you that strong foundation “when the winds of changes shift.”
Brad Swift of the Life On Purpose Institute (www.lifeonpurpose.com), makes a great point about clarity of purpose…
“Taking a bold stand for living on purpose starts by knowing your purpose with crystal clarity — knowing it so well that if someone woke you up at 3:00 in the morning and asked you what your life purpose is, you’d be able to tell them. And if someone who knew you well heard what you said, they’d realize that your life was a true, authentic reflection of that purpose.”
There are two common sense career success coach points on which I want to focus here. First, your clarity of purpose should be so big, so mighty, so important to you, that it is deeply ingrained in your psyche. It has to be part of who you are. Second, you have to live your clarity of purpose 24/7/365. This takes commitment; commitment to determining your life’s purpose, and commitment to living it.
If you were to wake me at 3:00 in the morning, shine a light in my face and ask me for my life’s purpose, I’m sure I would say, “Helping people create their career success.” It’s that much a part of me. My elevator speech begins, “Hi, I’m Bud Bilanich, the Common Sense Guy, a career success coach. I help people create successful lives and careers by applying their common sense.”
For me, this is a mighty purpose. I’m helping other people find career success — and fulfillment in their lives. That’s important work in my book. I take immense satisfaction out of seeing others learn, grow and succeed. In another life I might have been a teacher or athletic coach. In this life, I’m a career success coach. I help people create the life and career success that they want and deserve.
There is an old saying that goes something like, “The problem is not in setting your goal too high and not reaching it. The problem is setting your goal too low and achieving it.” I can’t remember the exact quote or the attribution. I’ll send a copy of Success Tweets to the first person who leaves a comment telling us the exact quote and the attribution. Please respond by leaving a comment, not by sending me an email. I want the answer to be visible to everyone who reads this blog.
What is your purpose? Is it mighty? I hope so.
The common sense career success coach point here is simple. Successful people think big. They ground themselves in a mighty purpose. Tweet 4 in Success Tweets says, “The mightier your purpose, the more likely you are to succeed. It will give you a strong foundation when the winds of change shift.” Take this advice to heart. Ground yourself with a mighty purpose. It’s better to aim to high and fall a little short than it is to aim too low and reach your goal. Or, as Mario Andretti once said, “If you’re in complete control, you’re probably not going fast enough.” Thinks about it.
That’s my take on a mighty purpose. What’s yours? Please take a minute to leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us. As always, thanks for reading.
Bud
The quote you are looking for is:
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo
Thank you Geeta.
I’m getting to this comment a little late. Send me an email, and I’ll send you a copy of “Success Tweets.”
All the best,
Bud