If you follow a bit the personal development trends, then you are well aware of the importance of finding your purpose: finding or formulation the reason why you are doing what you do, or more in general, the reason why you are put on this earth for.
If you find that reason, then it can function as an internal compass guiding you through all difficult decisions and situations in your (professional) life.
A nice thing to have, such an internal compass. And that's the reason why so many coaches, counsellors, mentors and teachers are now talking about finding your 'WHY'.
But there's 1 thing that can make your purpose even more powerful. And if you're missing it, then your internal compass will malfunction from time to time.
Keep reading to find out what it is.
Being driven by a higher purpose in your (professional) life, can surely bring a lot of meaning in your existence. It's like something to hold on to when things get rough. It's an almost endless source of motivation. It's what makes you jump out of bed every morning.
So being very specific about what it is, is without any question a good thing for you.
At the other hand, everybody who has a strong 'WHY', will probably acknowledge that it's hard from time to time to really life up to that 'WHY'. Certain situations can push you into a direction, and that direction triggers something inside yourself that perhaps is not in line anymore with your ultimate goal. It requires a lot of self consciousness and awareness to constantly be aware of those small changes that push you out of track.
If you are aware of it, then your 'WHY' can indeed function as an internal compass to re-align yourself and decide which actions then correspond best with your higher purpose, your mission, or your long term goal.
But because those adaptations are mainly very small things who enter your system slowly day after day, you are completely drifted before you even realise it. For those situations your 'WHY' doesn't really help you. Imagine it like a real compass that is slowly drifting, even less then half a degree a day. You will probably not notice those changes, yet overtime it creates a big difference.
Luckily there's something that can support you in this, and that can make those very small deviations crystal clear. It's your 'BEING' statement.
A 'BEING' statement is a detailed overview of the behaviours that support your 'WHY'. Those behaviours are tangible, recognizable, even measurable. And you can be sure that if you keep behaving in that specific way, independent of the situation you're in, you're still behaving in line with your 'WHY'.
Now how does such a 'BEING' statement looks like?
It can be an abstract personalization of an object that has a lot of meaning for you. For example: "I am a dancing flame". This simple sentence can contain a lot of information about the behaviour you want to display. For example: being a warm and joyful person towards others.
It can also be a more specific statement around an example you set for yourself. For example: "I am an Olympic athlete". You know exactly how it is to be an Olympian, and which discipline, work, sacrifice, and engagement they must display, every day again.
Having such a 'BEING' statement makes your 'WHY' even stronger. Because that's exactly what you will have to do on a daily basis, and in every situation. And that makes it very easy to check, to follow up, and to correct in a very short time frame, because you can always question yourself in a very tangible way if you displayed those behaviours or not.
You can even apply it without having a clear 'WHY' (but then it's probably only suitable for a short period of time).
So whether you already have a clear view on the reason why you are put on this earth, or you don't have that clear view, you can start today with creating your 'BEING' statement.
Just think about the behaviours you want to display in every situation because you know that that set of behaviours will help you right know.
Once you have a clear view on those behaviours, then you can create an abstract or very tangible example around that (like being the dancing flame or the Olympian). It doesn't need to be logic or explainable to others. It's just how you feel it, and how that symbolic representation or that example can help you in memorizing and displaying the right behaviour in every possible situation.
Good luck in finding and displaying the representation that will keep you on track!
And if you find it very hard to do this thinking exercise, or you want to dive deeper into the subject and also want to discover your 'WHY', then please
feel free to contact me.
Geschreven door
Dennis Fredrickx
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