How To Find Your Purpose In Life?
Sometimes, we find ourselves enviously asking ourselves and people around us, why are certain individuals so successful and we aren’t? How come they know exactly what they want in life, and we hassle from job to job, school to school, hobby to hobby, relationship to relationship— just to find some meaning in life? Why can’t I find happiness and confidence like they?
After searching and not finding the answers to our questions, we accept the idea ( wether from ourselves or the environment), that only those truly “special” people can know their purpose, and are able to climb to success. We go on with our lives and waste them, our time, our happiness, our health, our good relationships, our gifts and potential.
For what’s the point to life, not knowing who we are and what we want out of life? Why care about life? Why care about time, why not sleep all day, everyday, to shorten our boredom, sorrows and depressions? Why not waste our teenage and young adult years in parties and drug abuses, and call it “living the life?” Why not disrespect ourselves and sell our bodies for sex, for what’s the point to life?
The cause of many suicides in the world is the lack of knowledge of their purpose. It is not a “lack of purpose,” but a lack of the knowledge of purpose. Meaning, everybody has purpose, but too many die without discovering it. The most meaninglessness of life is a life spent without discovering and pursuing its purpose. A great pastor, motivational speaker, an author, professor of the Kingdom of God and leadership consultant, Dr. Myles Munroe puts it this way:
“the greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a life without a purpose.”
Myles Munroe
What’s the point of a chair if you don’t know what it stands for? You will most likely abuse its meaning. You could use it as a cutting board, as a weapon to abuse your wife, as a toilet, or whatever you desire. But when you go against its purpose, you will abuse it and people along the way.
When you know the purpose of a chair, you will discover certain principles tied to it. For instance, you might teach your child the principle to not stand on a chair, but to sit on it, for that purpose a chair was invented. We teach our children to use glass for water and other beverages, not for soups. For every purpose of a thing is tied certain principles to preserve its meaning. Why do many people live without principles in life? Because they don’t know what they stand for, so they abuse their meaning.
Criminals are products of abuses against themselves, for they lack the knowledge of who they are. And likewise with the chair, they could drag people with them and abuse them, and we call them criminals for that reason.
People who don’t know who they are, in many cases don’t care about principles, it’s foolish to their eyes, they just want to “enjoy” life. “Why care about principles, when you can have all this pleasures?” They might think. It’s comprehensible, for it is hard to follow principles when you lack the knowledge of your purpose.
It is hard to follow the principle of putting gasoline into a gas tank, when you don’t even know what a car is, and how it functions.
Why You’re Asking This Question…
Why did you search this question in the search engines, why did this title capture your attention? There is no rocket science to know for a fact that this question is the #1 asked question in every human mind. We might not admit it, but even the question you ask yourself daily, “what should I do with my life,” is a question of self-discovery. Like I said earlier, it’s not the purpose that is missing, but the knowledge that you have a purpose and how to find it. Why do we so desperately want the answer to this question? Compare those lacking the knowledge of their destiny to those living in their destiny. What makes them different?
Just to name a few:
- People living in their purpose, know exactly where they’re going in life, while the others don’t.
- People living in their purpose attract success with their vision, while the others run after it without results.
- People living in their purpose, live in fulfilment everyday, while for others it seems as nothing satisfies them.
- People living in their purpose have complete confidence in themselves, while the others believe every lie people say about them.
This is what you want, don’t you? You are tired of living in the destiny of others, you want your own. You are weary of attempting through life, when you have discovered nothing is happening anyway— you want to live in fulfilment everyday. You want success to come to you, just by being yourself, and following your passion —without having to look for it.
“The Harsh Truth”
But here’s the thing, despite me giving you a bite of my knowledge about all of us having a purpose, and inherently we all are leaders and have within us a legacy yet to be discovered. 85-90% of people will still live as followers and never fulfill their destiny. Don’t flatter yourself yet, here’s the “harsh truth.” A simple illustration of harsh truth can be explained in this manner:
Think of those times when your alarm clock woke you up in the morning, turning on the lights, it almost blinded you. For you had been too long in darkness and comfort, that you felt tempted to turn off the lights and slumber for a little while longer.
The thing about truth is that it is innocent, but too many people act as if it is harsh, or even hurtful. Sometimes telling people the truth, they take it as an offence. But when you have been in ignorance for too long, any truth that doesn’t align with your “truth,” becomes your enemy. This is true for religious people, the truth about the Kingdom of God does not align with their theologies.
It’s not the truth that blinds us, but the ignorance we have been in for too long and is becoming our comfort. Like with the illustration, it is we who decided to turn off the lights and continue to be in darkness. You could take my suggestion as a thrill, but do nothing about it. You could rejoice for a while, make a temporary action towards it, and end up giving up. Knowing who you are is not enough to fulfill your purpose, you have to pursue it, and that takes a lot of sacrifices. Knowledge does not guarantee action, attitude does.
Disclaimer:Finding your purpose is not a “how to do” tips, but a private conversation between you and the creator.
I could never tell you how to find your purpose, I am not your manufacturer. However my job is to show you the way to the one who has all the information concerning you. I am like the random person you ask for direction to a certain place when visiting another country. Don’t depend on “tips,” depend on the information you discover from the one who created you.
What Is Purpose?
Purpose is the intention of a thing of “why” it is made or created. The “why” then, determines the result of how it performs, functions and it’s potential. In every manufactures mind is the question that drives them to create their products: “for what reason am I creating it for, how can it solve problems, how do I intend it to function?”
I think we hear this often, including from Tony Robbins, that purpose is the “why.” That makes total sense, it’s not the “what,” but rather “why.” It is incomplete to ask what you are: “I am a human,”“I am a woman,” “this is my name,” “I come from this background,” and so and so.
Our focus should be to know what was the intention of our Creator to create us in the first place. And further more, what is our potential and gifts to make His invention complete.
Some people want to determine their own purpose, it is as stupid as if a chair one day decided to become a table, or a giraffe to become an elephant. “ You know what, I’m tired of being a woman, so I’m going to transform myself into a man. From now on, everybody will call me John, this is who I am now.”
It is like if you were a carpenter, designing a table, and the table will one day decide it is going to be a house instead. You can, since our Creator gave us creative abilities, but you will be going after the wind. For straying away from your purpose is not fulfilling anything, but your own ego.
You turn things upside down! Should the potter be thought to be like clay; that the thing made should say about him who made it, “He didn’t make me;” or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding?”
But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Romans 9:20 WEB
Purpose is in fact the guarantee assignment, you are truly convinced you were born to fulfill in your lifetime. It is your duty to your generation.
The Creator created us as problem solvers. Solving problems is in our nature. Therefore appoints us to solve problems in the world within our capacity.
What Keeps You From Discovering Your Purpose
But why do only a few percentage of people truly know who they are, and the rest are only making guesses concerning themselves? Is it that hard to discover our purpose, what is blocking our discovery? I will give few examples to note down.
1. Noisy Environment
We live in a never ending noisy world, and it only gets louder by each generation. We are surrounded by various distractions all around us wherever we go. Wether that is a continual notification sound in your device, binge watching Netflix tv shows, scrolling through your social media, watching the news, walking the busy streets in your city, working in your 9-5 job or even spending time with your family and friends.
An honest truth about discovering your purpose, it does not come to you, it has to be sought. And the motivation of “seeking,” is hunger. Unless you hunger to know, it will never come to your mind that you are acquired to seek, and it will in general not come to your mind that you have a purpose.
Purpose is like a rock, it doesn’t move, nor does it come running after you. But when you go through the journey to find that specific rock, pick it up, it becomes yours.
One of the reason why you haven’t been able to find your purpose, is because you are surrounding yourself in too much noice. You have to eliminate yourself for a period of time from as much distraction as you can. In my personal experience, when I discovered my assignment in life, I was fasting. I completely eliminated myself from everything, and only listened to what’s within. You see, purpose is so deep, it’s impossible to search it out when you’re surrounded by distractions.
2. Limited Beliefs
This is probably the biggest hindrance in discovering your purpose. For you can go through all the process you are shown. But because you doubt yourself all through the process, you’re most likely not going to meet your hope. Doubt, especially self-doubt is the down fall of all successes.
The limited beliefs we have does more concern ourselves rather than the purpose. For it is the belief that you are not good enough, you’re not strong enough, or this dream is too big for you capacity. This is what leads to procrastination, lack of passion, and also laziness towards your purpose. If you’re going to discover your true self, you have to prepare your mind. For when you are shown your assignment, and it looks way out of your comfort zone, it will be challenging. Therefore prepare your mind, delete the limited beliefs you have about yourself, and download a new belief system that invites your purpose in.
3. The Way You See Yourself
The way you see yourself determines your destiny. The negative self-talk we say to ourselves, will determine where we’re headed in life, and whom we will become to ourselves and others. Often times, what we see is a deception, We might ridicule and criticise people without knowing them, for we think what we see is precise. However the Creator of this world says different, He argues that we may think that our perception of this world and ourselves is correct, but that is only an opinion. It is only Him who can determine who we really are.
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs the hearts Proverbs 21:2 WEB
Sometimes we only depend on what we see on the surface, but when it comes to our purpose we have to go beyond that. It’s not about what we see in the present, but to see the big picture far ahead of us, and many of us are not willing to do that. When pursuing your purpose, you have to have the right attitude, limitless beliefs concerning your abilities to pursue it, and the right perception about yourself and others.
Therefore the way you have judged yourself, that could mean what you did in the past, you past failures, what other people have said about you, your current failures or personal problems. This could make you fearful of discovering what’s hidden within you, and that fear could lead you away from discovery. Therefore it is better to depend on a Supreme, the Creator, for your life and discovery, for our opinions can fail us.
Where To Find Your Purpose?
Finally, to the most important part of this article, where to find your purpose? The question is not “how,” but “where.” Where’s that destination to that information, to whom to go? Remember, I am only the random person who gives direction, but to where I place my finger on the map, are you willing to go that road? In my personal opinion what I have seen on the search engines, I find the articles concerning “how to find your purpose,” that many of them are incomplete.
Many of them only give you “how to,” but not “where to.” They’ll give a list of things to do to find your purpose. However what I’ve learned in my discovery, is to find that ultimate information provider, that knows all the mysteries concerning you. When you discover those hidden secrets concerning you, and most importantly when you discover Him, your path to that destiny will always be guided and preserved by Him.
He will tell you what to do next, and give you ideas in alignment to your discovered purpose. He will make sure, if you have the right attitude towards it and a sense of passion, that you will fulfill it, despite of the obstacles ahead. He is an amazing provider, but to warn you, the information you’ll receive may leave you speechless. For you’ll find out that what you thought about yourself is nothing compared to what He has destined you to do, and nothing compared to who you really are!
Purpose Is Only Found In Our Source
Do we know where a plant gets its sense of purpose? Do we know in what environment a seed has to be planted in order to achieve its greatness as a fully grown plant or a tree? We understand in order for a seed to reach its full potential, we have to place it in the right environment which is the source of the seed. When planted it will become what it was destined to be. The source of a seed is the soil, but when planted elsewhere that is not its original source, it will not manifest no matter how hard you try to water it. This is the law of greatness.
What we have done, is to avoid ourselves as much as possible from our original Source, and planted ourselves in a wrong environment. Which led to the result that we are still ignorant of who we are, and have not reached our full potential. We try hard nourishing ourselves with those self-help books, psychologists, religions, education, various advices from alternative sources, self-care and meditations. But why go through all of those processes when it’s much easier to tap into your Source, and from there achieve your greatness.
Everything in life has inherent laws, if you want life to go smoothly, obeying laws is your best friend. If you don’t want your computer to die on you in the middle of the day, there is a law called “charging.” There is a law for your body, when you put the right ingredients, you will produce a healthy body and mind. There is a law for your car, putting gasoline will make it function effectively. There is a law for seed, planting it into a soil will produce a fruit. So it is with our lives. The greatest law of life for every human being, is the connecting to its Source, which succeeds all other laws.
But who’s our Source then? According to the constitution of heaven it states:
Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
For those of you who roll your eyes of this statement, you might think it is a religious statement, since it’s taken from the bible. I have found out in my personal education at home of the Gospel, that the bible is not a religious book whatsoever. Here Jesus is making His point, since people were wandering from its Source. Either creating their own environment, or stepping into another’s.
He is saying: “so you want to astray away from your Source, fine, but the consequence is you’ll wither. It’s not My doing, For in every inherent laws in life is a curse tied to it, when you disobey, it becomes curse in your life. However you are responsible for it. It is a law you can’t really avoid, for without your Source you’ll die.”
What does He mean by that? Go to your garden, uproot a plant from its source and throw it into the sidewalk and see what happens. You don’t really have to, for you already know what happens. You’ll never see a tree walking away from its source, or a fish swimming to the seashore. For it knows its place, and it knows the danger of straying away. A fish is afraid of the seashore, for it knows it suffocates and dies when it is on a dry land.
Going back to history of mankind, when God warned His first created humans to not uproot themselves from their Origin. When they do, they’ll die. It’s the inherent curse they have to face. However He never meant a physical death, but rather phycological and spiritual death. It’s the suffocation of not knowing who we are or what we are, all kinds of personal problems and a lack of morality. From that death we inherited all the stress, anxiety, mental illnesses, diseases, depression, ignorance, bitterness, hate and instability in our own lives.
God gave us a warning in the beginning, but here Jesus is giving us His final warning. If we want life, just like with the plants, we have to connect ourselves with our original Source. Furthermore, if we want to pursue purpose and become great, the Source is always the answer.
But how do we find our purpose in our Source?
Go to A Quiet Place
When finding your purpose, and you have understood the power of connecting yourself back to your original environment, it is now time to find your answer. Now is the time to step out of your hindrance of a noisy external and internal environment. External I mean all the distraction that affects your external focus. That could mean eliminating your phone, tv, video games, computer usage, cooking, or any noise for a period of time, maybe for an hour or so.
Internally, I mean the thoughts that drag you out of focus. Empty your mind as much as possible, this is kind of like meditation. Go into that quiet, peaceful place that feels comfortable, light a candle if desired, and on your lap have a simple notebook and a pen.
Pray to the Creator of this world, to show you your life’s purpose and assignment He has for you to accomplish on earth. After prayer, sit still as long as possible and just listen. Whatever ideas (no matter how big or uncomfortable they seem) write them down on the notebook on your lap. When finished, go over your notes and carefully examine if anything didn’t align with His will — by researching His word and listen to teachings concerning purpose.
To give you an overview: if something in your notes was selfish, for instance, you want to become rich for no reason at all — that is not your purpose. Anything that is beneficial to others, any solution that serves others, that could be your purpose. In most cases, God will show you anger concerning a specific problem, you perhaps did not see or realize before. He is showing you the assignment you were born to accomplish. Don’t be afraid of the anger or quench it out, for this anger will produce your passion and compassion.
This exercise and seeking the Lord could take more than one session. Be patient and wait for the Lord to show you your purpose. When He knows you’re ready, He will show you.
If You Seek You Will Find
When finding your purpose, there is one thing you have to consider that is a problem for many. If you’re determined to find your life’s purpose, then you have to hunger for it. It is not enough to “want,” you have to find your hunger. When you’re hungry, you will do everything you can to satisfy your hunger, that’s when you truly set your heart to find your purpose.
It is a good exercise to study those successful people who found their life’s purpose, and observe how that effected their lives. For sometimes as humans, we need evidence concerning things. We need to see for ourselves how purpose is such an awesome thing in every individuals lives.
In my experience I didn’t know much about the importance of purpose, and didn’t think much about it. Until one day I discovered a man who taught about purpose, and how important that is in our lives. He told stories about difficulties in his own life, and how purpose greatly affected his life. He went from poverty to great success, and is one of the most affective leader in modern day in my opinion. His name was Dr. Myles Munroe. When I saw the benefits, it developed a hunger within me to also find my life’s assignment.
Unless you discover the hunger for finding and pursuing your life’s assignment, you will not find your purpose, for you will not have enough appetite to want it. Only seekers find. Only the hungry find satisfaction.
One day Jesus’s disciples were confused why Jesus was explaining the Kingdom of God in parables, and not plainly. His answer:
To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has
In this chapter, Jesus was giving the multitudes information concerning His Kingdom. However Jesus knew that many of them were not hungry enough to receive this information. That is why He spoke to them in parables. He is saying, if you truly want the whole truth, and the whole meaning of the truth — you have to show hunger. For when you do, He will even give more than you asked.
When you truly desire to get something, for instance to get good grades, will you not do everything in your power and ability to accomplish it? If you haven’t found your hunger for purpose, make that as a priority from this day forward.
And when you find the hunger, which leads you to your discovery of your destiny. Bon appétit!
The Power Of Vision
When you have found your life’s assignment, you’ll also discover your life’s vision, which shows were you’re headed. Vision is your desired destination in pictures in your imagination. It’s kind of like a time travel, but in your mind, not in “DeLorean DMC 12” time machine car from back to the future movie.
Vision takes you to the future in your imagination, to show you how you can accomplish the purpose you were given. It also shows you whom you have to become to get to that desired destination. Vision encourages us to to change our negative beliefs, habits, behaviours and procrastination in the present. For vision focuses on to live in the desired future now, and not later.
Through vision we plan our steps to that desired future, we make goals ( long-term and short-term), years, months, week and day plans to get to our desired future. Vision only shows us the big picture, but we mark out our steps to get there.
Many people look at vision as a waste of time or even childish, because you are using your imagination. And also you are seeing that you can’t yet see in the present. For that reason they call it to be “unrealistic.” But I have discovered to be unrealistic is to not allow you to dream, and rather constantly live in the uncertainty. To always live in the unknown, never knowing where to go in life or what to do with your life — there is nothing more unrealistic and a waste of time than that.
But even though vision travels you to the future, doesn’t mean you are to live there. Vision only shows you clips of your future, so you can take from it and practice it in the present. Maybe your vision shows you a business, you can take a piece of that big picture and apply it in your life right now! That could mean invest in yourself knowledge about business, or developing the attitude of a leader.
Know Your Every “Why” In Life
Vision is a purpose based lens, it’s only in partnership with your purpose. Vision only shows you what’s in line with your purpose. Therefore all your priorities in life should never be beyond your purpose.
Examine every area in your life, to see if anything doesn’t align with your desired destiny. In other words, question your current priorities, attitudes, behaviours, work flow and so forth. Ask yourself: “does my attitude fit into my purpose?” Are my priorities going to take me to my destiny, or is it something I need to change?” “Am I on the right path to being the person I desire to be?” “Am I slowing myself down by procrastinating?” “ How am I using my time?” And if anything doesn’t align with your desired destiny, set your heart to make an immediate change.
You should always have in top of your mind “why” you’re making the decisions you’re planning to make, and will it be worth your time and remembrance. That helps your mind to always go for the right decision and eliminate the regrettable ones, no matter how tempting it may be. Your life should always be purpose led, not pleasure led.
Protect Your Purpose And Vision With Developed Character
Again, knowing your purpose is not enough, but so is pursuing it. For it is incomplete and a waste of time to go after your purpose with wrong attitude. First of all you have to develop a passion that drives you everyday to work on your purpose no matter what. And second you have to develop a good character to carry it out and protect it.
A person with a good character knows the importance to have the right attitudes towards difficult situations. He really guards his actions everywhere he goes, you never see a man with a good character speaking foolishness. Also a person with a good character is a person of integrity. That means whatever he does in public, he also does in secret where no one is watching. Whatever he teaches, he lives accordingly no matter none will ever see him.
Therefore, don’t be too thrilled about knowing and setting your heart to pursue your purpose, that’s very good. But you should ask yourself, can you protect it?
Step Into Your Purpose
When you have discovered your purpose and vision, and made the decision to protect it by developed character and personality— Bravo! You’re on the right track. Now is the time to step into your purpose, by making the plans and goals necessary to fulfill it. Now is the time to map out your life to always stay on track with your purpose and vision. If you’re lost on how to map out your life, I can give you few suggestions.
Create A Vision Statement
If you claim to have a vision for your life, then it should be obvious that vision statement is a high priority when mapping out your life. When writing down your vision statement, think about the big picture you have in your mind, you got from the Creator. Write everything down you see in your imagination, and don’t be afraid no matter how big it looks.
It is good to ask yourself for instance, what you want your country to look like. Or what you want to be remembered as. How do you want the world to remember you as when you pass away? How do you want to influence people, what is it about you that inspires them? What change do you want to see in people you influence, serve and help? Why do you think your solution is necessary to the world, what makes it unique from others? What trail are you going to create for people, where majority of people would never dare to create? In other words, ask yourself whatever questions you think is necessary and matches your vision. But these questions are good examples of how you should be asking yourself.
Write the questions and the answers down, try to make it as specific as possible. When you have written everything that comes from your heart (your big picture you see in your mind), chunk it down into one statement. Make it simple, clear, and easy to remember.
Create A Mission Statement
Mission statement is a one or two sentence long description on whom you want to become for yourself and others. Mission statement is in the cooperation with your purpose, and reminds you and motivates you what you stand for.
For example: Let’s say that your vision is, to see more disabled people rise above their doubts about becoming leaders they were born to be.
Then your mission statement could be: to educate, motivate and inspire, people with special needs to be the leaders they were born to be, and have mastery over their lives.
Write A Personal Constitution
I like to think of a personal constitution as the values, principles, ethics and philosophy you value and protect. This is a document you write to help you always stay on track with living a moral and virtuous life. In this document you write what you value in life, what principles you either follow or want to follow. You write down how you want to respond to problems in life, and also your convictions in life.
To give you few examples:
- I value and commit myself to love like my Father in heaven. To love my neighbour and enemies, despite not necessarily getting anything in return.
- I highly value complete honesty in every circumstance in life.
- I will go through any problems and difficulty with perseverance, patience and faith— like when gold is tested in the furnace.
- I will take full control of how I use my time, I will use it to fulfill my purpose on earth — I will not waste it, I will master it.
- I believe in God the Father and His Kingdom, I also have a deep conviction of who I am, and how important I am for the world.
Personal constitution is kind of like writing laws for yourself, you commit yourself to follow. Personal constitution also helps you build strong character. I believe personal constitution is important to write down, like I said above “it is important to protect your purpose and vision by developed character.” Personal constitution can give you a kick start.
Set Your Priorities In Order
Mapping out your life, you need to prioritize your everyday. With a purpose comes a responsibility, that means you have to sacrifice some things. You need to make sure to block time in your day for your purpose. It’s not enough to know what you’re going to do with your life, your have to pursue it with right discipline.
When you know your purpose, it becomes an urge to achieve it. To the point you become sensitive about your time, and you are even willing to sacrifice pleasure and sleep—to be completely focused on your purpose and vision.
To set your priorities in order, use some kind of tool you feel comfortable using to plan your week, month, and year. It is good to think five years ahead about goals you want to accomplish. Then every new year create a year plan in alignment with your five year plan. And then plan your months and days according to that year plan. But always make sure you plan in alignment with your purpose and vision. Despite you have a great vision and are determined to pursue it with all your strength, never forget your health, personal development and your family. Make that also your priority, for that is also your ticket to success.
What You Need To Be Aware Of Ones You Discover Your Purpose
Even though purpose is such an amazing thing to discover, it can also sometimes be a burden. Especially when you’re all covered in clay. What do I mean by that? I mean all the self-doubts, ignorance, bad habits, self-hatred, worries, social anxieties, fear of criticism etc. Because with purpose, it demands change, it demands you to do something you are very much uncomfortable with.
Purpose drags you out of your comfort zone, and you become embarrassed if you’re still in it. Often times when we have discovered our assignment, we become very uncomfortable and we almost plead with God to give it to someone else. Moses had that experience:
Moses said to Yahweh, “O Lord,I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."
Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.” Exodus 4:13 WEB
For all your doubts, worries, and self-hatred attacks you, preventing you from greatness. We sometimes become afraid of who we are, because we see that we are much greater than we thought we were.
However that is normal, that is just the beginning of our discovery. And fear of your vision also shows that your vision is truly authentic. Therefore, don’t miscalculate the fear and flee from your destiny. Pursue it no matter how uncomfortable it is. Make the decision to remove every self- made clay around you, and discover the hidden gold within you — the great leader you were born to be.