Chapter 30
Abundance
Joshua stood onstage, guitar in hand, microphone in front of him, looking out at the crowd. A few thousand people were waiting for him to speak. He couldn’t believe it had been five years since his boss gave him an ultimatum, the farmer gave him a seed, the pilot gave him perspective, Solomon gave him hope, the past gave him a gift, and George gave him a sign.
After the success of the purpose campaign, his work and life had changed dramatically. He had gone from being an employee at his company to being a thought leader in the industry. His CEO had asked Joshua to write a blog sharing his philosophies. It was an independent blog, separate from the company, yet one that positioned the company as a forerunner in the marketplace.
Joshua called his blog “The Seed,” and it included all his musings about growing a life, a business, and a career with purpose. And, like the seed, the blog’s popularity grew enormously, as did Joshua’s profile and exposure. He became a featured speaker at numerous conferences on branding, communication, and marketing, which is why he found himself onstage on this day.
He asked the audience how they were doing, and the crowd responded, “Great!” He gave a big smile to the crowd, knowing that five years ago he hadn’t just planted a seed on his desk—he had also planted a seed in his heart. And this seed grew into a purpose that grew into a mission that grew into a dream that he was now living.
He started playing the guitar and sang a short melody: “Dreams can come true. Dreams can happen to you. If you let your purpose live through you.” The crowd cheered.
Joshua looked up and smiled. He wasn’t meant to be a minister. He wasn’t meant to be a musician. He was meant to do what he was doing right now. Everything in his past had prepared him for this moment and the purpose he was living and sharing. He was playing his note and contributing to the one song. He put his guitar down, grabbed the microphone, and passionately said, “If you want to truly be successful, your desire to make a difference has to be greater than your desire to make money. If it is, then you will accomplish both.”
Once again, the audience cheered, and Joshua was reminded of what his purpose was. It had become so clear he could share it in an elevator with a stranger: “to positively change people’s hearts, minds, and actions through the power of communication and purpose.” He had been given the gift to communicate through speech, music, writing, marketing, and branding, and he would use all these vehicles to influence others in a positive way. He discovered that, for organizations to change, people had to change. And for people to change, their beliefs had to change. Changed beliefs would lead to changed behaviors, which would lead to changed habits and new outcomes. He wanted to change the world, but he knew that changing the world happened one person at a time. And the driving force behind this change was the power of purpose.
Each person has unique gifts and a unique purpose, and Joshua used the power of communication to help people search for it, find it, live it, and share it. He told every audience and every person he met what he had discovered in his own life. When you plant yourself where you are and decide to make a difference, instead of searching for your purpose, it finds you.
He told the audience, “We think we’ll get excited about life when we get a life that is exciting. But just the opposite is true. When we get excited about life, we get a life that is exciting.
“Passion and purpose are like neighbors who are best friends. They always hang out together. Deciding to be passionate about life and work leads you to your purpose. And when you’re purposeful, you unleash your passion. Every cell in your body lights up when you are living and working with passion and purpose.”
Joshua’s favorite part of his talk was sharing stories of people who had found their purpose and shared it. He talked about the salesperson who was number one in her company because her goal was to make more money so she could give more to charity. He spoke of the entrepreneur who built a business as a vehicle for his passion and purpose and is not only making a fortune but changing countless lives. He shared the story of the loan officer of a mortgage company who told him that her job was to save people’s marriages, because in helping people keep their homes she would be helping to keep families together. Not surprisingly, she thrived in her industry. He talked about a dental practice that made “smiling faces” its purpose—and about a professional football player who said his purpose was to glorify God on the football field.
Everywhere he went, people shared their stories with him. He met people from all walks of life—accountants, artists, medical professionals, architects, construction workers, athletes, educators, stay-at-home moms, and the like—who shared how they were able to use their unique gifts for a greater purpose. Joshua was amazed at the mosaic of talents that existed on the planet and how these collection of talents formed society as a whole. “Just imagine,” he said to the audience, “if everyone had the same gifts and talents. Imagine if everyone had the same purpose. We wouldn’t be able to function as a society. You were born with a purpose, not just for you, but also for a bigger purpose beyond you. You were made to contribute to others and to the world, and each one of us is the beneficiary of the talents and purpose of our neighbors, colleagues, and fellow human beings. To not seek your purpose and to not live it is to deny the gifts you are meant to share with others”.
Joshua wasn’t just impacting his company. He was now reaching people in organizations around the world. He received many wonderful e-mails and stories describing how his principles and concepts were influencing other people and their work. His influence had grown so much that the CEO of his company made him an offer.
After his speech, he went home and told Dharma all about it over dinner. While she ate he talked. The CEO had given him a choice: He could become the president of his company, or he could start his own consulting company and his former company would be his first client. The leaders in his company knew he was outgrowing his role there, and they didn’t want to lose him: They would be happy to work with him in either scenario.
Both offers included a lot of money, but Joshua didn’t care about money. Abundance in the form of money, happiness, and friendships was a by-product of playing your note and contributing to the symphony of life.
He rubbed Dharma’s back, then walked to the window and looked at the plant growing outside. The plant had become too big for his office, so he had planted it in the garden outside his apartment, where a larger field would allow it to spread its roots and continue to grow.
“I think I know what the final stage of purpose is,” he said cheerfully to Dharma. He thought of the farmer and remembered the farmer asking him to come back after he had figured out what the final stage was. Joshua looked in the mirror. He had changed a lot in the past five years. He once was lost but now was found, and he decided to go back to the place where his journey first started. It was the Thanksgiving holiday, and he had a week off to recharge, visit his family, and think about the direction of his future. He would visit the farm and then drive to his parents’ home, as he had five years ago, but this time under much difference circumstances.