Wake Life

Purpose: The Wake of Your Life

Walter McIntyre

What is in the wake or purpose of your life. Is it littered with the pieces you broke off of people, or filled with people who are happy that you passed their way.  It is not a rhetorical question.  Your success as an individual and your ability to bring success to your business endeavors depends on the answer.

When your words and actions are out of alignment you are not authentic.  When your words and actions are not in alignment with reality you are not authentic.  Everyone can see it and you can see it yourself.  In reality no one is fooled. The real danger is that your inner circle will follow your lead into something less than authenticity. It reminds us of the story of the “Emperor and His New Clothes”.

There’s a difference between “using” people to accomplish your agenda and “working with” people to accomplish your agenda.  One leaves people distracted and disengaged.  The other leaves people motivated and loyal to both you and the mission.  Motivated and loyal people are essential to building a high performance work group.

It’s all about integrity.  There are talented and smart people that have never had success in building something with real impact, past the immediate.  Success that lasts longer than the southeast corner of this month’s financial sheet requires something in addition to talent and smarts.  It requires integrity, driven by purpose.

Try these questions on for size:

Can you connect positively with others and build trust instead of seeing everyone as either a friend or foe?

Are you oriented toward reality?

Can you embrace failure as a integral part of success?

Are people/employees assets or partners on the journey to success?

Why do people follow you?

There are no absolutely right answers to these questions, but there are answers you will like better than others.  Answers that make you smile. Answers that trouble you.  This is all about self-evaluation, not judgment.

At some point, highly successful people define who they are going to be.  That is when words and deeds have a chance to come into alignment. This is purpose.  Once you have been exposed to, and embrace purpose, nothing will ever be the same for you.  Decisions become easier and better because you have a fix on true North in your life.  A journey you take along with people who are in alignment with your purpose will give you peace of mind.