Helen Keller

The Secret to Finding Your Life’s Purpose.

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The purpose of our lives is to be happy. ~Dalai Lama

You’re drifting, floating along through life with no sense of direction. Like Trent Reznor said, every day seems the same. You wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep, and do it all over again tomorrow. And the whole time, you don’t feel like there is a point to any of it. It is so frustrating. Maybe you are not happy with the work. Or it could be the compensation isn’t enough for the lifestyle you want.

Whatever the reason, your life seems to lack purpose, and you desperately want to know how to find it.

You’ve read blogs, listened to podcasts, and watched videos. Maybe you bought tons of books or even attended expensive conferences to figure it out. But none of it has helped you.

So, how to we find our life’s purpose? How do we get to the point where we are doing work we find meaningful, and that puts our hearts and minds at ease?

It’s not as complicated as you think.

It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much. … The life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully. ~Seneca

Is Passion, Purpose?

I hear a lot of people talking about finding their passion. Again, there are plenty of blogs, websites, books, and seminars out there trying to get people to pursue their passions. But is passion the same as purpose?

purpose

I love American football. I can’t get enough of it. However, football is a hobby. It isn’t my purpose in life to sit around watching football all day and then talk about it with friends. Sure, I could maybe come up with a way to create a business around football, but I highly doubt I would ever feel like that was what I was truly called to do.

When we are searching for our life’s purpose, we must be careful not to get caught up in excitement or enjoyment of something. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy your work.

I believe you definitely can.

The Secret to Finding Your Life’s Purpose

I was speaking to a friend who was trying to create an online business. He had decades of experience creating and running brick and mortar businesses, but was totally lost when it came to doing something online. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do but he knew that it needed to be something in the leadership space. I asked him why that particular market.

What he told me will stick with me for the rest of my life, and is the ultimate secret to finding your life’s purpose. I wish I’d thought of it sooner.

He said to discover whatever makes your heartbeat fast and go for it. In other words, when you find yourself talking about a topic you’re interested in, and your speech picks up, your heart begins to beat rapidly, and you find a fire inside your mind as if you want to share your thoughts with the entire world, that is when you know you have found something that can be your life’s purpose.

For me, the idea of self-publishing books is one of those things. I speak to other authors or would-be authors all the time about the benefits of self-publishing. I find that when I start talking about it, my heart beats fast, my words come out in an avalanche, and time goes by very quickly.

Why? Because I feel like showing other writers how they can achieve something that is their dream, is a great work. It is work that fills me with purpose.

True happiness… is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose. ~Helen Keller

What’s The Difference?

I spoke about football, something I’m passionate about, and writing books/self-publishing. I get excited about both of those things. So, how do I know which one should be my purpose in life?

It’s simple. If you find work that you love, get excited about, and helps someone else in the process, that is when you know you’ve found something. And the helping part can be almost anything! Maybe you can help relieve stress, show people new things in life, or give them an edge in something that is important to them.

You could run a surf school in Costa Rica, be a golf instructor, operate an adventure tour business in Romania, or help poor people get investment funding to start their own businesses. The opportunities are literally limitless.

Your Turn. Think about the things you’re passionate about. Which one of them teaches, relieves, or helps someone else in some way? Write down a small list. Maybe put it in the comments below. Odds are, one of those is something you could pursue. And the fulfillment you get out of it will show you a life you always dreamed of.

Source: http://www.purposefairy.com

7 Important Lessons Deaf People Can Teach You About Communication.

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LESSON

I have always thought it would be a blessing if each person could be blind and deaf for a few days during his early adult life. Darkness would make him appreciate sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound. ~Helen Keller ( Blind and Deaf American Author and Educator)

I grew up with wonderful parents who always encouraged my passion for music. I still vividly remember the day when they got me the new shiny sound system. Years later they got me a guitar and paid for my guitar classes. And they never had a chance to hear a sound of what I was listening to, playing and singing. My parents are deaf.

The reality of deaf people is different from other people’s experiences. They have limited abilities to communicate but exactly because of that they seem to know so much more about what effective communication means.

I used to live in a dormitory for deaf families for over 10 years and had a chance to compare 2 worlds: at home, where I saw people communicating using their hands, and outside, where I observed interactions of ‘normal’ people with hearing abilities. I was very blessed to have experienced the best and the worst of both worlds: the world of silence and the world of sounds.

These are some of the things I’ve learned from deaf people about effective communication:

1. Maintain eye contact

How many times did you find yourself checking facebook updates on your iPhone while having a conversation? In the world of deaf people if you stop looking at the person you are talking to, you are literally cutting the conversation. Because the only way you can ‘hear’ what other person is trying to say is to look into their face. This is a great lesson on the importance of being present, focusing on the person who is next to you, staying more connected to that person and receiving.

2. Don’t interrupt, follow the protocol

How many times did you find yourself waiting for someone to finish talking so you can say what you think? When a company of deaf people are having a conversation, it’s not possible for them to have more than one person talking at a time. There is only one way to follow the conversation – to look at the one speaking. This teaches us to respect the right of each individual to speak up and not to be interrupted in the midst of the their self expression.

3. Be straightforward, down to the point and as concise as possible

How often do you communicate your thoughts and needs clearly without trying to make things sound better than they are? In sign language there are 2 ways to say a particular word – you either use the alphabet and show a sign for each letter or you use one sign which stands for the entire word.

The second option is much faster hence convenient. Thus for almost every word there is a specific sign. Can you imagine such a massive amount of information to memorize? Not only you have to learn how to write and pronounce the word but also a specific sign that represents it. The nature of sign language requires you to be as specific as possible and use as few words as needed to convey your message. That’s an essential lesson to learn as so often we are reluctant to be direct and clear in what we think, want and feel.

4. If you don’t understand something, ask

How often are you reluctant to ask a question when something is unclear to you? Or to clarify what your loved one meant rather than making an assumption? We do it out of fear of being misunderstood, rejected or even humiliated. Each deaf person has their own style of using sign language. So it’s normal to ask a meaning of a specific unfamiliar sign. There is nothing wrong in not knowing or understanding something. If that happens, just ask.

5. Cut yourself from distractions

The world around us is extremely noisy. We have tons of devices, social medias, traditional medias which in their attempt to inform, entertain, update and educate, produce an overwhelming informational noise around us. We hear, see and feel. We are so used to being surrounded by that noise that we lose our ability to be focused and present. When we are having a conversation. When we are working. When we are cooking. When we are creating something. We are constantly attacked and distracted by that informational noise. I remember watching my father making furniture. He would always be so focused and immersed in the moment of creating, it would seem like nothing in the world could disturb him. Learn to be present – as simple as that.

6. Be expressive and articulate

There are so many ways we can play with our voice when we talk: pace, tone, volume. All this gives us plenty of ways to express our emotions, feelings and attitude when we talk about the particular subject. But how often do we allow ourselves to be expressive? Sometimes so called social norms restrict us from laughing too loud, from raising our voice when we are excited or crying in front of others. Because it’s an inappropriate thing to do. Deaf people are very articulate by nature. Their facial expressions and gestures can mesmerize you with their intensity and artistry. They don’t really care how others may see them. They just express what they feel without actually hiding or softening their emotions.

7. Observe, learn and get extra information from what you see and feel

Just imagine how many tiny yet important details we usually miss in our daily interactions with others? When you cannot hear you become more attentive to things happening around you. You learn to notice even the smallest things, you learn to experience the world around you through all those insignificant details which in a bigger picture play their crucial role. And more importantly, you learn to appreciate them.

Source: purpose Fairy