By Josie Tong (Melbourne Australia)
Is your life purpose crystal clear? Several years ago, I bought Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles. I did the Life Purpose exercise in the book and wrote it down. But I left it there. I didn’t follow through with writing my purpose, vision and goals.
I didn’t make it happen and couldn’t live my life purpose. Helping people has always been my focus. I think that I was born that way. I remember clearly at a very young age, I positioned myself to be able to help my family and be independent. At the age of ten I used to engage in a small buy-and-sell business at the school. I would buy candies and biscuits from the grocery stores and resell them during recess. My entrepreneurial skills got better when I got to high school and university. I sold jeans, clothing and anything worth selling for profit. These experiences I believe were the start of my subconscious journey to finding my life purpose.
Experts say that finding one’s purpose may take a lifetime. It took me half of my lifetime, but now I’ve finally got it. Just a few weeks ago, the company that I am affiliated with asked me to write a short bio as I was chosen as one of the members of the Independent Associate Council for Australia and New Zealand. That night, as I started to write my bio, I suddenly had a revelation. I realized that most of my life I had the passion to help people – at times to my own loss and disadvantage – but I didn’t see it that way because I felt joy being able to do something for other people. So as I pondered what to write in my bio, I had an aha moment. I finally realized what my life purpose is: to help people, to add value to their lives! It resonated with what Wayne Dyer said, “You’ll feel most on purpose when you’re giving your life away by serving others.”
Two years after I finished my nursing course, I was asked to step into a management role, and I stayed in management until I quit my job in 2006.
During my term, I believe that I made significant contribution in the aged care industry because I focused on betterment on a wider scale, not just the betterment of the organization that I employed me. My intention was to help more people.
After I quit my lucrative nursing career, I set up my own consultancy and helped dozens of nurses overseas to be able to pursue the nursing profession in Australia. Several years later, I saw the fruit of that journey; most of those nurses and their families were now settled permanently and living happily in Australia. Again, these experiences allowed me to journey in the path of helping people, which is my life journey. I just had not realized it at that time.
I believe that my transition into Network Marketing was not an accident.
It was a journey that was meant to be because this industry allowed me to have a platform to make an impact on people in a more profound way. When I was working in a management role, I helped people to get jobs, the metaphor of which is giving a man a fish so he can live for a day. In Network Marketing, I help people learn how to fish so they can live for a lifetime. That is a major difference!
I am so glad to be in Network Marketing because this industry creates a platform for anyone to change people’s lives. I am inspired to pursue my life purpose and make positive impact as a Health & Wellness Consultant, as a Leader and Mentor and, most of all, as a wife and mother.
Some of my friends suggested that I should get a real job. Obviously, they don’t understand what I do. They don’t understand that in Network Marketing, it is not a get rich quick scheme, but it is a vehicle that can enable us with long-term time perspective to create a bright future for ourselves and our families. In Network Marketing, we become better people because we are amongst people who share similar purpose and similar vision. In Network Marketing, we bring out the best in ourselves and other people.
The day after I wrote my bio, I started to look for information about Life Purpose. I re-read the chapter in Jack Canfield’s book that I bought in 2007. This is what I wrote back then in the Life Purpose exercise: “My life purpose is to give generously by using my God given talent to help other people to have a better future.” Using that I worked on finally writing down my true life purpose and that is, “My life purpose is to use my God given talent, enthusiasm and passion to support and inspire others to experience a life of joy, health and freedom, and experience the same for myself while doing it.”
I have to be honest here that prior to that aha moment when I finally realized what my life purpose is, I was tempted to accept a lucrative job offer that would have given me a six figure income and all the perks. I thought it would be nice to get the package, plus the income from what I created in my business. Inside of me there was an emotional tug of war. Now I understand what was holding me back. I did not have clarity of where I wanted to go in this business, even though I had been around it for four years. Three years ago a gold director in the Philippines showed me how to do a presentation. He must have had a very clear vision of where he wanted to be 1-2-3 years from the time because he is now a very successful two star diamond director.
In the last couple of weeks, I spent time to create my life and business blueprint. Now I have a crystal clear vision of where I want to be in this business. I have clarity on where my team and I will be three to five years from now. The goals are set, the values identified and, most importantly, my vision of what I want in life is crystal clear! The good news is that I work in an industry where I can create a path to manifest the goals, the vision and, hence, my life purpose. What if the couple that introduced me to the business never thought of me? Would I have been able to find my life purpose?
Now that I have discovered my life purpose, I have to work harder to make me the person I need to be so that I can have more impact on people. I like what Oprah Winfrey said, “Life isn’t just about what you can have; it’s about what you have to give.”
What about you? Have you defined your life purpose? Are your goals in alignment with your vision of where you want to be in three to five years time? Josie can be reached at josie.ligostong@gmail.com
