While reading 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,' I made an enormous breakthrough in my purpose statement!
The past few weeks, I've been absolutely wracked with trying to find my purpose. Purpose, in this case, is what I was set to do on this earth specifically.
I was reading through a portion of the book talking about service and being a gofer (someone who goes for something) and very effective people's attitude. He gave an excellent example of a business situation where multiple people under a boss would constantly speak behind his back without trying to find solutions. One man saw the flaws in his boss that the others were talking about, but instead of engaging in the conversation, he decided to be pro-active and serve his boss's needs with an additional report and his thoughts on solutions. He got the same treatment at first and didn't get any appreciation or recognition for what he did. However, after he did this consistently, his boss started to look forward to the additional work and started asking his thoughts on what should be done. He filled a spot for his boss and focused more on his efforts in other areas. This man eventually got more responsibility and was put in charge of many of his previous peers.
I got an absolute thrill from this story, and it almost brought a tear to my eye. That was precisely what I think my purpose is. Serving, but not just serving, serving effectively. After thinking about it for several hours, I realized that I want to become a Joseph, not a Pharoah. Whether in the house of Potiphar, in jail, or as Pharoah's right-hand man, I am created to be an effective servant, and it is my duty to serve to the best of my ability.
I do not doubt that my purpose statement will change and morph as time goes on, but I know it is the start of the right track.
Key Takeaways:
1) Through reading a story, I found my purpose statement
2) I am created to be not just a servant, but an effective servant
3) I discovered I don't want to become Pharoah; I am more than happy becoming a Joseph