Find Purpose Beyond Your Own Self Interests

 

I can’t swim. I’ve previously told the story of my most recent attempt to learn how to swim in a past episode of my Podcast, Master Your Mission, called Great Things Are Happening Just Outside Your Comfort Zone.

What you may not know about me is that I love to travel. I’ve been to some really cool places all over the world. In many of these places, I’ve found myself in the middle of the ocean on some small boat, clinching my fists with my stomach turning in fear because of the fact that I can’t swim. 

To clarify, I’ll give an example of what I mean. When I visited Puerto Vallarta, in Mexico, my travel buddies and I wanted to go on a day trip to visit the beach in a small town called Yelapa. The only way to get to Yelapa from Puerto Vallarta is a 40 minute boat ride through the choppy ocean down the Pacific Coast. Now, I don’t mean a cruise ship boat ride. I mean a small boat that can hold maybe 10–15 people max. Check out the photo below.

Besides the sheer fear that I feel when I’m in these boats, YOLO by the way, the ocean has a way of reminding you how little you matter in the big scheme of things. You are but a tiny blip in this Universe and in the whole history of this Universe. You’re not even a blink, or a millisecond. And your existence as an individual matters very little.

When you spend days upset about something that happened in your life, the world goes on. When you are completely consumed with acquiring the things you want in life, the world goes on. When you get married, have a child, or get divorced, the world goes on. Even when you die, the world goes on.

The things that matter to your own personal life story probably don’t matter to anyone else other than, maybe, the people closest to you.

When you’re in the middle of the ocean and you look around at how massive it is, and you imagine everything you can’t see on the horizon, and everything you can’t see deep down in the darkest parts of the ocean, and everything you can’t see up into the stars of the galaxy, you realize that, you — as a single individual — are absolutely nothing.

You are as useful to the world, alone, as a single chain link is useful in securing a bike to a bike rack. But just as that single chain link becomes strong and impactful to a bike owner when it’s joined with other single chain links to work in unison to secure the bike, you become strong and impactful to the world when you begin to find purpose beyond your own self interests.

When we focus on work that will impact other people, we create a link — much like a chain link — and the impact becomes so great that we are no longer just a blip in the Universe. 

And this is exactly how greatness occurs. No one ever became great by focusing on what affects only them. The people who have lived and died, but were never forgotten and left an indelible mark on the world, did exactly this. They found purpose in impacting other people’s lives. That’s how they became greater than a single individual.

I’m not saying that you can’t do whatever it is that you love, but when you find a way to blend what you love with making a difference in other people’s lives, you’ll have found your sweet spot. Your time on this Earth may still be a blip, but you’ll leave a legacy that can live forever.


Have you found purpose beyond your own self interests? Find me on Instagram or Facebook and let me know.

Also, visit my website to check out the courses and training programs I offer and to listen to my podcast, Master Your Mission, for daily motivation and inspiration to pursue your dreams.

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