Is Your Business Your Life Mission?

by Bonnie Boots

At the New Year, when everyone was writing predictions of what 2010 would bring, one of the many newsletters I received was on a rant.

"I'm fed up with everyone trying to predict the trends so they can be the first ones to profit from them," this fellow said. "This year I'm not paying any attention to trends. I'm just going to do what I do."

This fellow's fatigue is understandable. He's one of thousands who built a business out of promoting what's supposedly latest and greatest to millions of so-called "internet marketing newbies."

Staying ahead of the trends in that tenuous market is a must. If you falter, even for a second, someone else comes along and usurps your place in line. It's understandable that, after a while, staying on top begins to feel like work, and that's hardly cohesive with the well-honed line that "internet marketing is the fastest way to make millions without working."

But this fellow's fatigue does not really reflect on the art of trend watching. Rather, it reflects the fact that he let greed, the desire for those "millions made overnight without working," determine what type of business he would engage in.

It's not trend watching he should be turning his back on. He should be turning his back on a life that's not being lived from the heart.

The one business model that never fails, the one that carries people onward through fatigue, through recession, through failure, through everything life can throw at you, is the business that is based on a mission.

When your business is based on a sense of mission, you live for something greater than a flashy car, greater than a big house, greater than a Rolex watch.

When your business is your mission, you find joy and purpose in pursuing your vision. And if the flashy car and Rolex watch aren't currently in the picture, it does not dampen your determination one bit.

In fact, I've known people so focused on their mission that the flashy car and big house did not become part of the picture even after they could easily afford them. I'm reminded, in particular, of a client who drove an ancient car painted only with primer, when he could have paid cash for a Rolls Royce. When I asked him about it, he said, "That car's paid for. It runs good. It gets me where I need to go. What else do I need?"

This man focused all his attention and energy on the important service he provided to his clients and his community. Because he was on a mission, he had no need to pursue the trappings of status. In fact, he saw status goods as a distraction.

This is not to say that there's anything wrong with rewarding yourself for whatever level of success you achieve. Rather, it is to say that when you base your business on nothing more than the acquiring of fast cash and physical goods, you're bound to wake up one day and wonder, as Peggy Lee sang, "Is that all there is?"

I believe everyone is born with a mission already encoded into his or her DNA. They may never fulfill that mission, but so long as they pursue it, they will have a sense of purpose and passion. If they turn their back on it, their life will feel hollow and empty.

When I use the word "mission," people often think it has to mean something enormous, like being on a mission to create world peace. "I don't have a mission," they tell me. "I'm not out to do anything that will change the world.

The fact is, if you listen to your heart, and pursue the mission that was born within you, you will change the world.

I give you, as exhibit A, Susan Boyle. All her life she was on a mission to become a professional singer. She pursed this mission, against all odds, until the night when, at age 47, a frumpy spinster, she stood on the stage of "Britain's Got Talent, opened her mouth and let her soul fly out.

Within seconds, everyone hearing her knew they were experiencing something momentous.

Video of her performance was on YouTube within an hour. Within days, it became the most-watched video around the world. Her first recording sold more copies than any first recording of any artist since the beginning of the recording industry.

In a later program, the judges, producers and production people who were there that first night said, "My life changed that night. Hearing her sing transformed me."

Susan Boyle was not on a mission to change the world. But by pursuing the mission that was in her heart, she inspired millions of people in every nation on earth, gave them hope and a sense that they, too, could dream their dreams.

Those millions of people were changed not by Susan Boyle's voice, but by seeing Susan Boyle pursue and achieve her dream. And in that way, Susan Boyle changed the world.

Your mission may not seem grand or world changing. It may seem as simple as helping people be better parents. Or helping people get out of debt. Or making people happy by singing great songs. Whatever it is, that mission is embedded in your heart. And by listening to your heart, by opening up your mouth and letting your soul fly out, you will change the world.

 

 
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