What I Was Meant To Do
At the Refresh Leadership Live conference (Twitter: #refreshleadership) I went to recently, Dr. Bertrice Berry read a poem with a line in it that said: “You ain’t free to do what you want to do. You are free to what you’re meant to do.”
These days I feel free because I believe I am doing what I am meant to do. I am building leaders. In fact I have been building leaders for a long time. I just needed to recognize that is what I am meant to do.
My Purpose
The Key Is Recognition
Some of us are not doing what we are meant to do. Some of us are and just don’t recognize it. It’s not an easy thing to know what you were meant to do when you are caught up in the urgent needs of day-to-day life.
3 Ways To Determine What You Are Meant To Do
1. Remember Your High Points
- Name 3 times you felt most fulfilled. What were you doing?
- What are you doing when you feel you have the most value?
- What do these activities you just described have in common?
2. Request Feedback From Others
Ask the people who best know you, who have worked with you the longest and whom you trust have your best interests in mind:
- When have you seen me most passionate and “in a zone”?
- When have you seen me have the most positive impact on those around me?
3. Reflect On Your Passions
Take the information you have gathered and get away from the busyness of life and reflect on the answers you received to the questions above.
When I did this almost three years ago, I realized that I was doing what I was meant to do, but I needed to find a new venue to do it in. My impact on the individuals in my company and the organization as a whole was waning.
By using the 3 principles I described above and relying on Dan Miller’s 48 Days To The Work You Love I found I was doing the what I was meant to do. The good news was I was doing it. I just needed to do it in a new environment.
The Bottom Line:
Whether you know you are on the right path or you don’t: How long will you wait to find out what you were meant to do? I believe we were all created by God for a specific purpose. Part of our journey is determining what that is.
Some of us may ignore how we are made and try to continue doing things we want to do instead of doing the things we were meant to do. I think that is Dr. Bertrice Berry’s point.
- If I know what I was meant to do and choose not to do it, I will not experience freedom.
- On the flip side, If I don’t know what I am meant to do, I will not experience freedom either.
The only way to know freedom is to recognize what I was made to do AND begin doing it.
Question:
What is keeping you from doing what you were meant to do?
I’m walking out my purpose and what I was meant to do through my writing. My desire and passion is to help others become better people and leaders. I really liked the Bertrice Berry quote. Great post as always.
Thanks Dan and thanks for the retweet.
It was a powerful yet simplistic quote as the best ones are in my book. She was a great speaker. I took my 15 year old son to the program and she was his favorite speaker.
I just finished my fourth year of college and the last month-month and a half was hard because I lost my drive. I was getting frustrated because I was just ready to get out and pursue my passions, not sit in classes. Luckily I was able to get an internship, started Monday, and although there’s so much to take in, I can’t remember the last time I was this thrilled about my life. Great post, will definitely subscribe!
Great to have you join us Justin!
Those last months of school are hard to stay focused. What is your passion?