On Purpose

Excerpt from Perry Noble post:  Today We Are Rich

In the fall of 2003 I had the privilege of seeing Tim Sanders speak at Catalyst and was blown away by his passion and challenged by what the Lord has put on his hear to challenge young leaders with.  (I also bought and devoured this book as a result of his talk…I highly recommend it!)

Tim has recently written a brand new book entitled, “Today We Are Rich, Harnessing The Power Of Total Confidence.”  (Here is the website with a FREE downloadable EBook…check it out!!!)

Recently I had the privilege of asking Tim some questions about his new book…and loved what he had to say about it…

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#2 – Why do you think it is important for us to focus on our purpose in life and not just our passions?

Passion is the pursuit of self: Fun, mastery, actualization and personal rewards.  We should encourage our children to chase their passions like butterflies – it gives them dimension and helps them find their voice and skills.

But as they grow into adults and physically mature, we must challenge them to live a life of service and follow a worthwhile purpose.  If they continue to follow their passions into adulthood or parenthood, everyone suffers and energy comes and goes along with windfalls and challenges.  To tell your kids “just do what you love,” is like telling them “love yourself at the expense of everyone else.”

When you decide to make the leap from serving passions to serving a purpose, you are spiritually coming of age.  You can know pursue significance.

From a performance point of view, it’s important to be purpose driven because a sense of meaning can give us unlimited energy and unbreakable resilience.  Nazi war camp survivor Viktor Frankl once said that “when there’s purpose in a thing, there is no suffering.”  Purpose is also important to find the sweet spot between self-confidence and humility.  When you are on-purpose, you follow and repot to a higher power, God’s will.  This helps you, as Pastor Steven Furtick likes to say, “deflect all the glory to God.”

In my case, my purpose comes from a Scripture in Hebrews that I paraphrase: “Provoke good works in people and outbursts of love, not forsaking as we gather in public.” Gives me a clear compass in my life for knowing which direction to go.  And that’s important, because Billye taught me that “success is not a destination, but a direction – true North.”

#3 – What is your biggest hope that your readers will take away from the book? 

If I had to choose a single piece of advice from the book, here it is: Stick with your rock, never forsake your foundation of positive thinking, faith, gratitude and the burning desire to participate in the end of suffering.

If you feel like you are moving Sideways in your life, as I have in mine, ask yourself the following question.  “What are you not doing today that you were doing back when things were better?” Often, you’ll find out that you aren’t reading good stuff, like your Bible.  You aren’t talking to your parents or respecting your elders – trusting your Facebook friends more than the Rocks in your life.  If you are lost, to quote Pastor Heck from the small church I grew up in, “the only way back to Eden is to go back home and admit you aren’t keeping it between the ditches.”

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