Part 15 (1/2)
I Am a Person Who ...
Has a Certain Goal, Purpose, or Mission in Life
Seventh Petal MY GOAL, PURPOSE, OR MISSION IN LIFE.
My Purpose in Life Petal
Goal in Filling Out This Petal: To know the moral compa.s.s or spiritual values by which you want to guide your life. The most victorious life is one that is dedicated to some larger cause or mission.
What You Are Looking For: Some definition of the purpose and mission of your life. This may help you pick out the kinds of organizations or companies you'd like to work for, if you find ones that are serving the same mission as yours.
Form of the Entries on Your Petal: A description of what kingdom of life you want to make better, with some attending details.
Example of a Good Petal: My purpose in life is to help the human spirit. I want there to be more faith, more compa.s.sion, more forgiveness, in families, because I have lived.
Example of a Bad Petal: More justice in the world.
Why Bad: An admirable goal, but it is too vague. Doesn't give you any guidance as to what kind of work to look for.
As John L. Holland famously said, ”We need to look further down the road than just headlight range at night.” The road is the road of Life. You need to dream about the broad outcome of your life, and not just this year's job-search. What kind of footprint do you want to leave on this Earth, after your journey here is done? Figure that out, and you're well on your way to defining your life as having purpose and a mission.
The Nine Kingdoms of Mission and Purpose Generally speaking, mission breaks down into nine kingdoms-corresponding to our nature. As you look these over, the question is, which one appeals to you the most? Time for some hard thinking (ouch!). So, read on, slowly. Take time to ponder and think.
1. The Mind. The question is: When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be more knowledge, truth, or clarity in the world, because you were here? Knowledge, truth, or clarity concerning what in particular? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of the mind.
2. The Body. The question is: When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be more wholeness, fitness, or health in the world, more binding up of the body's wounds and strength, more feeding of the hungry, and clothing of the poor, because you were here? What issue in particular? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of the body.
3. The Eyes and Other Senses. The question is: When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be more beauty in the world, because you were here? If so, what kind of beauty entrances you? Is it art, music, flowers, photography, painting, staging, crafts, clothing, jewelry, or what? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of the eyes and senses.
4. The Heart. The question is: When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be more love and compa.s.sion in the world, because you were here? Love or compa.s.sion for whom? Or for what? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of the heart.
5. The Will or Conscience. The question is: When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be more morality, more justice, more righteousness, more honesty in the world, because you were here? In what areas of human life or history, in particular? And in what geographical area? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of the conscience.
6. The Spirit. The question is: When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be more spirituality in the world, more faith, more compa.s.sion, more forgiveness, more love for G.o.d and the human family in all its diversity, because you were here? If so, with what ages, people, or with what parts of human life? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of the spirit, or (if you prefer) The Kingdom of G.o.d.
7. Entertainment. The question is: When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be more lightening of people's loads, more giving them perspective, more helping them to forget their cares for a spell, do you want there to be more laughter in the world, and joy, because you were here? If so, what particular kind of entertainment do you want to contribute to the world? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of entertainment.
8. Our Possessions. The question is: Is your major concern the often false love of possessions in this world? When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be better stewards.h.i.+p of what we possess-as individuals, as a community, as a nation-in the world, because you were here? Do you want to see simplicity, quality (rather than quant.i.ty), and a broader emphasis on the word ”enough,” rather than on the word ”more, more”? If so, in what areas of human life in particular? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of possessions.
9. The Earth. The question is: Is the planet on which we stand, your major concern? When you have finished your life here on Earth, do you want there to be better protection of this fragile planet, more exploration of the world or the universe-exploration, not exploitation-more dealing with its problems and its energy, because you were here? If so, which problems or challenges in particular, draw your heart and soul? If this is You, then your sense of purpose is pointing you toward the kingdom of the Earth.
In sum, remember that all of these are worthwhile purposes and missions, all of these are necessary and needed, in this world. The question is, which one in particular draws you to it, the most? Which one do you most want to lend your brain, your energies, your skills and gifts, your life, to serve, while you are here on this Earth?16 When you are done, enter a summary paragraph of what you have decided your purpose or mission is, on the Goal, Purpose, or Mission in Life petal.
P.S. There are two challenges you may run into, in doing this particular exercise. First Challenge: you just come up empty on this exercise, despite hard thinking. No harm done. If you want an answer, just keep the question on the back-burner of your mind; eventually some insight is going to break through. Tomorrow, next week, next month, or a year from now. Be patient with yourself.
Second Challenge: This subject doesn't grab you at all. Okay. Then instead of writing a statement of purpose or mission for your life, you can write instead a statement outlining what you think about life: why are we here, why are You here, and so on. This is often called ”Your Philosophy of Life”: In writing a philosophy of life, it should be no more than two pages, single s.p.a.ced, and can be less; it should address whichever of these elements you think are most important; pick and choose. You do not have to write about all of them. In most cases, you will only need two or three sentences about each element you choose to comment on.
Beauty: what kind of beauty stirs us, what the function of beauty is in the world Behavior: how we should behave in this world Beliefs: what our strongest beliefs are Celebration: how we like to play or celebrate, in life Choice: what its nature and importance is Community: what our concept is about belonging to each other; what we think our responsibility is to each other Compa.s.sion: what we think about its importance and use Confusion: how we live with it, and deal with it Death: what we think about it and what we think happens after it Events: what we think makes things happen, how we explain why they happen Free will: whether we are ”predetermined” or have free will G.o.d: see Supreme Being Happiness: what makes for the truest human happiness Heroes and heroines: who ours are, and why Human: what we think is important about being human, what we think is our function Love: what we think about its nature and importance, along with all its related words: compa.s.sion, forgiveness, grace Moral issues: which ones we believe are the most important for us to pay attention to, wrestle with, help solve Paradox: what our att.i.tude is toward its presence in life Purpose: why we are here, what life is all about Reality: what we think is its nature, and components Self: deciding whether physical self is the limit of your being, deciding what trust in self means Spirituality: what its place is in human life, how we should treat it Stewards.h.i.+p: what we should do with G.o.d's gifts to us Supreme Being: our concept of, and what we think holds the universe together Truth: what we think about it, which truths are most important Uniqueness: what we think makes each of us unique Values: what we think about ourselves, what we think about the world, prioritized as to what matters most (to us) When you are done writing, put a summary paragraph on your Goal, Purpose, or Mission in Life petal.
And, finally:
I Am a Person Who ...
Has Completed My Flower
To download a printable PDF of this image, please visit rhlink.com/para14022 Readers have asked to see an example of ”That One Piece of Paper” all filled out. Rich W. Feller-a student of mine back in 1982, now a world-famous professor and the 20122013 President of the National Career Development a.s.sociation-filled out his flower as you here. He said ”That One Piece of Paper” has been his lifelong companion ever since, and his guiding star. (The petals then were slightly different.) Rich Feller first put his personal ”picture” together over thirty years ago. Here are his comments about its usefulness since, and how ”That One Piece of Paper” helped him, how he's used it, and how it's changed.
WHAT THE PARACHUTE FLOWER HAS MEANT TO ME.
More than anything I've gained from an academic life, my Flower has given me hope, direction, and a lens to satisfaction. Using it to a.s.sess my life direction during crisis, career moves, and stretch a.s.signments, it helps me define and hold to personal commitments. In many ways it's my ”guiding light.” Data within my Flower became and remain the core of any success and satisfaction I have achieved.
After I first filled out my own Flower Diagram in a two-week workshop with d.i.c.k Bolles back in 1982, I decided to teach the Flower to others. My academic position has allowed me to do this, abundantly. Having now taught the Flower to thousands of counselors and career development and human resource specialists, I continually use it with clients, and in my own transitional retirement planning.
I'm overwhelmed with how little has changed within my Flower, over the years. My Flower is the best of what I am. Its petals are my compa.s.s, and using my ”favorite skills” are the mirror to a joyful day. I trust the wisdom within ”That One Piece of Paper.” It has guided my work and my life, ever since 1982, and it has helped my wife and I define our hopes for our son.
The process of filling out and acting on ”That One Piece of Paper” taught me a lot. Specifically, it taught me the importance of the following ten things, often running contrary to what my studies and doctoral work had taught me previously.
I learned from my Flower the importance of: 1. Chasing after pa.s.sions, honoring strengths, and respecting skill identification 2. Challenging societal definitions of balance and success 3. Committing to something bigger than oneself 4. Living authentically and with joy 5. Being good at what matters to oneself and its relations.h.i.+p to opportunity 6. Finding pleasure in all that one does 7. Staying focused on well-being and life satisfaction 8. Personal clarity and responsibility for designing ”possible selves”
9. Letting the world know, humbly but clearly, what we want 10. ”Coaching” people amidst a world of abundance where individuals yearn for individual meaning and purpose more than they hunger for possessions, abject compliance with society's expectations, or simply fitting in This technologically enhanced, global workplace we now face in the twenty-first century certainly challenges all we thought we knew about our life roles. Maintaining clarity, learning agility, and identifying development plans have become elevated to new and critical importance, if we are to maintain choice. As a result I've added the following four emphases to ”Rich's Flower”: Have, do, learn, and give. That is to say, I try to keep a running list (constantly updated) of ten things that I want to: 1. Have 2. Do 3. Learn 4. Give Through the practice of answering the four questions listed above, I can measure change in my growth and development.
I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to share with others how much I gained from the wisdom and hope embedded within ”Rich's Flower.”