Discover your purpose in life

#motivation,  #inspiration, #mudombi, #shakespear

by Shakespear Mudombi

Why have a purpose in life?

If you do not know your purpose in life, your life will be like a rudderless ship. It will be moving, however, its direction will not be clear. It can be easily tossed around by wind, without having a particular point where it wants to get.When I was young, growing up I had dreams, one of which was to be a great person, nevertheless, I never took time to think about what I really wanted to do, how that greatness was going to be achieved. Thus, while I was a hard working person my energy was not focused on a particular goal, aim or purpose. I wanted to be great or do something of meaningful impact but not knowing what it was. From that experience, I realized that I wasted a lot of energy, time and resources as I was not focused, I was more like a rudderless ship.
 

Do not waste the valuable time, it is non-renewable

I will explain the need to know your purpose in life using my own personal experience. When I finished my Master’s degree it was that period in Zimbabwe of great economic meltdown, around 2007-2008. A period when even ordinary people were millionaires and billionaires, though worthless. During that time the inflation was very high, it did not make much sense to work especially formal work because the salaries were low, and by the time you get the salary it will be worthless. Those who thrived were those doing the informal activities particularly the illegal ones. While I was looking for a job I made a deliberate choice that if I didn't get a job with a local or international non-governmental organisation (NGOs) then I will stay at home. People working for NGOs were earning better because most of them were paid in foreign currency, US$ in particular. The advantage was that with US$ you could buy more, as the forex was exchanged at the thriving black market .

While my choice of not working was rational especially from the cost-benefit analysis point of view, which made sense as an economist. Nevertheless, in retrospect I realized that it was a wrong choice because the time I remained and spent at home was not used productively. During this period that when me and my brothers had an interest in providing sound system services. As a person who grew up with a passion for art, I wanted to do painting, I later shifted my interest to music. That time I wanted to be a music producer and a DJ specializing in instrumental afro-techno-dub sound. However, most of my time at home was spent mostly drinking, which is why I say in retrospect, I could have used that time more productively.

Shakespear Mudombi dreaming big - wanted to a top class DJ

This background is important because the focus of my talk is when you know your purpose in life, it easier to know where you want to be and what you want to achieve, thus it will be easier to have clear goals and a vision. 

I have learnt that in life there are various categories of people in terms having or knowing their purpose in life. The first category, though limited in number, have clear goals from the outset, they are focused from an early age. The other category comprises of people who tend to be focused as they grow up, though confusion will appear here and there. The last category comprise of people who will never get focused, up to old age the confusion will still be there. This categorisation is not the focus of my topic, but it forms an important background to what I want to dwell on, which is how or what can make us get focused and realize our true purpose in life. In this regard, many factors can be noted which include, circumstances, being at the right place at the right time partly refered to as chance, as well as being taught and learning. The learning includes learning by doing (which includes trial and error, experimentation) and also learning by observing other people. As alluded to earlier, I mainly use my personal experience to draw lessons.

There is an important incident that made me realize that I had never thought about my purpose in life. This happened when I was still a drunkard.  We had spent the whole night drinking with my brothers at a local pub, then went home and slept for a few hours when the pub was closed. I woke up around 8:00 am (that is early in the morning) then went to the shops, to wait for the bottle stores (liquor stores) to open so that I could continue drinking as I was still drunk. I got to one of the bottle stores and started drinking, whilst talking to few guys who were present. As we were drinking the owner of that bottle store came. She was a relatively old aged lady, I think she had just retired from government or the private sector - I picked from my talk with her that she was someone knowledgeable. As we were talking, we found a common interest (agriculture and farming). My attention had been captured by the packs of cucumbers and potatoes that she had brought for selling in her bottle store. She indicated that she was a new farmer and she was doing very well, and as a relatively drunk person, I also made effort to show her that I had agricultural knowledge as an agricultural economist (though I was not bragging). While my talk with that old lady is not very important, what is important and relevant to this topic were some of here parting words. She said something to the effect, 

"my son why do you waste your life like that, early in the morning you are already drunk, an educated person like you".

She referred to me as son because in our African culture mostly an older person can address any younger person as "my child". Those were simple but strong words from "my mother". While I tried to downplay the meaning of the words, deep inside I understood what the words meant – true, I was wasting time which I could have used more productively.

Everyone needs to discover their purpose in life

Some will ask, so what is the importance of the story to this topic of knowing and pursuing your purpose in life. This narrative is important because it highlights that there are some people no matter how educated or knowledgeable they are, do not have a clear focus and do not know what is their purpose in life. During that time, being drunk in the morning (as in this case at 8:00 am) was something enjoyable and funny; I had my own justification and defended myself for such behaviour. I was comfortable with it and never thought there was something wrong with what I was doing. However, it took that old lady, the bottle store owner, who told me words that later made me do self introspection. Many a times as individuals we waste time doing things that appear to be funny during a particular moment, however in retrospect one would realize that the time could have been used in other productive ways, having positive impacts in our lives and those of others. Having funny time is good and healthy but having too much of it, is detrimental - the opportunity cost is too high. Moreover, there is a danger of not realizing that you are wasting time and continuing to waste that valuable non-renewable time. The time is non-renewable in the sense that once wasted we can't recover it; we can only use the remainder in our lifespan as defined by God. It is important to bear in mind that, as time goes on (days, month and years passing by) less and less time is available for each of us to do certain life corrections. Just ask yourself these questions:

• Do the things you spent most of your time doing are they productive? 
• What is their impact - do they have any positive impacts in your life and that of others? 
• Can you use the time to do something better (are there better options)?

The earlier you realize your purpose in life and set clear goals that better. Nonetheless, don't worry if you do not have a clear purpose or goals in life, it's never too late, the time to do it is now, just believe in yourself and realize the potential within you.

Inorder to discover your purpose in life, Mark Manson said, "Discovering one’s “purpose” in life essentially boils down to finding those one or two things that are bigger than yourself, and bigger than those around you. And to find them you must get off your couch and act, and take the time to think beyond yourself, to think greater than yourself". The important point is ACT, ACTION - realising the need to have a purpose in life is one thing but the actual action towards that purpose is another. Often, lack of action is a common barrier towards the realisation of one's purpose in life, we know what we are supposed to do but we lack the drive to work toward it. Do remain fixed in one place, take action, navigate towards your purpose in life. To qoute John A Shedd,

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for".

In addition, it is critical to do things that you have passion for, as you explore your purpose. Shannon Kaiser noted that, "To lead a purposeful life, follow your passions. When we live a passion-filled life we are living on purpose, and that is the purpose of life. That feeling that something is missing goes away when you lead a passion-filled life. … To boil it down, remember this simple equation: Passion + Daily Action = Purposeful Life". To qoute Kemi Sogunle - "Your  passion sustains you. Your purpose is why you were created. Follow your passion but ensure you fulfill your purpose".

Find your purpose in life and leave a legacy

Like what the old lady, the bottle store owner, "my mother" said to me, I also say to you "do not waste your talents, skills and knowledge, the potential in you is great". While I do not know what your purpose is, one thing I know and am sure of is that your purpose was not meant to be wasted, there is something in you that is great, that is ready to be realized, just take time to discover your purpose in life and work towards it. A good quote that can be a constant reminder as we walk on this path of pursing our purpose in life is by Richelle E. Goodrich,

"You are here to make a difference, to either improve the world or worsen it. And whether or not you consciously choose to, you will accomplish one or the other."

Shakes making a presentation at the University of Arizona, USA

References

Mark Manson. 7 Strange Questions That Help You Find Your Life Purpose. September 18, 2014.
Shannon Kaiser. 3 Unexpected Ways to Find Your Life Purpose. April 19, 2014.