CHAPTER 2

THE POINTER FINGER POINTS TO YOUR PURPOSE

Using your pointer finger allows you to harness all your positive energy and aim it at your personal goals. Your journey becomes shorter as you keep your eyes on the long-term goal—free from distraction, focused sharply on your target.

With some feeling coming back in my second finger came a feeling of immense joy. Movement in two fingers helped me shift from the memory of a nightmarish car crash to thinking more positively than ever about my dreams for the future.

Now when an obstacle presents itself in my life, I’m reminded that the darkest hours can still enlighten us and help us carry on. I love the story about the monk carrying a lantern into the darkness. The deeper he goes and the darker it gets, the brighter the lantern shines. When something difficult happens, look for the lesson.

For me, the lesson came in a get-well card from one of my nurses at the hospital. It quoted the thirteenth-century Persian poet Rumi, who has inspired and guided me ever since: “Be a lamp, a ladder, or a lifeboat.” The South African minister who visited me was the lamp. Those taking care of me were ladders, and my faith in God was my lifeboat.

As many of you do during tough times, I had prayed to God. I promised to do something positive with my hand if God returned its use to me. Little did I know, the IOU would be this book and the discovery of a life built on purpose.

Rome was not an end. It was a grand beginning. And today is yours.

Beginnings have great power. Your first kiss, your first love, your first car, your first day on the job, your first house. Your first step on your journey to purpose.

WHAT’S THE POINT?

The point of your life is to make your point. The index finger literally means “pointing finger” from the same Latin word, index. And that’s how we’re going to use it—to discover your purpose in life.

Some use this finger to scold, as in finger wagging. Simultaneously, we send a message that it’s not nice to point. Actually, I believe that pointing is a good thing. Your pointer finger clicks your mouse to take you places. Held up vertically, a pointer finger means first place.

The pointer finger is also called the trigger finger—in my view because when you get your purpose right, it triggers almost everything. When you point at something with your heart, you are creating the coordinates for your destiny. Your purpose leaves a fingerprint on the world.

DEFINING PURPOSE

The word “purpose” finds its origin in the Old French word porposer, meaning to put forth, and the Old French word porpos, which means intention.

For some Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest, purpose was written on their totem poles dating back to the early 1700s; for sailors it’s the beacon of light that guides them back to safe harbor. The Jedi call it the Force, and others call it a calling, your reason for being, your essence, your why, your DNA. I define purpose as what defines you. What you do with that purpose is what redefines the world. Purpose, then, is the reason you are living.

In this chapter we will excavate your purpose. I say excavate because purpose comes from within. It calls from your heart, and when you answer that call, you truly begin to live.

THE CALL TO ADVENTURE

We are all called. The question is, will you answer or hang up? My call came in 1975. It took courage, but I boarded the SS Leonardo da Vinci for Genoa. As my parents waved goodbye I gave them a thumbs up and set out for my destination—Cinecittà Studios in Rome to work beside Federico Fellini, the legendary filmmaker of 8½, La Dolce Vita, and Amarcord. The boat was leaving two weeks before my graduation, but when the ship’s horn bellowed, it was my commencement. My adventure was in motion.

Thousands of miles and years earlier in Harlem, a young lady also got her call, starting her own adventure. She was only seventeen years old when she was invited to the Apollo Theatre to dance before a sold-out crowd. Poised and polished from years of instruction and performance, the young woman said a prayer and stepped onto the stage.

But instead of dancing, she sang a song that shocked the crowd and changed the musical world forever. When this young lady recognized her true talent in life, she was living her purpose. It wasn’t what she had originally signed up to do. But the legendary Ella Fitzgerald knew she had to do it. Have the courage to take your call.

THE FIRE WITHIN

Each of us is born with an instructive spark of fire. When fanned, it warms our souls; when ignited, it lights our path. It is the torch of your authentic self, and it has the power to brighten the world.

Your purpose is your timeless truth. There will be only one of you through all time. Ignore this and the fire goes out. Heed it and you will burn brightly on earth.

PURPOSE BEGINS IN THE BEGINNING

I believe purpose was created with the Big Bang. This instantaneous expansion of the universe had two characteristics, intention and contribution—the same qualities as purpose. Scientists tell us that the universe is still expanding. That’s intention. And like purpose, the Big Bang made contributions beyond itself, namely the stars, the planets, and all of us.

If my theory is correct, then along with its sister, gravity, purpose is a force unto itself. But unlike gravity, which pulls downward, purpose pushes forward.

Put it all together and each of us is a miniuniverse moving forward with intention in order to make a contribution beyond ourselves.

JUST BETWEEN YOU AND THE WORLD

The Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle believed that your purpose is found at the intersection of your unique talents and the needs of the world. What a great place to start the journey to find your role.

Here’s an exercise to help you along: Draw two intersecting circles. Write down your talents in the left circle, and in the right circle write what you believe are the needs of the world.

At the intersection is the sweet spot where you serve yourself and others. Here your life gives life. Here your passion turns its eye to compassion and the one-of-a-kind being called “you” calls for more kindness in the world. You still need to make a living, but here you discover that “meaning” is what really makes a life.

Don’t worry about getting the words right. It’s much more important that you be on the right path—one with heart. At the end of the chapter we will return to this exercise.

THE BEST STORY

Human beings are meaning seekers. That’s why we love stories.

When we were kids a good bedtime story put us to sleep. As adults a good daytime story wakes us up.

Your life tells a story. It’s a movie in the making. You are the director, the producer, the writer, and the costar—the other star is your North Star. In your universe, this star guides and inspires you to be your brightest self. In this way, you can brighten others, because you don’t belong to only you. The world needs you.

Keeping a Thumbs Up mind-set helps you focus on a target the way an archer aims for the bull’s-eye, a pitcher seeks the strike zone, and a golfer zones in on that tiny cup.

PURPOSE IS TENACIOUS

While writing this book, I met a wonderful couple who have two daughters with diabetes. These purpose-driven parents wanted to create a drink that their daughters and other teens could enjoy without the caffeine and sugar.

They came to me with their story, and I loved it so much I partnered with their company, Tenacious Tea. They wanted some marketing advice and I told them that the best people and brands all have great stories. Tenacious Tea is no different.

They already had an amazing story. They were tenacious, even with a mountain of obstacles before them. Sometimes we pick the mountain and other times it picks us. We all face this metaphorical mountain in our lives and we have a choice—scale it or fail it. Be tenacious and we will reach unimagined heights.

Tenacious Tea proves that where there is a will there is a way, successfully flying off of grocery store shelves. And the way is straight up!

THE BIGGEST QUESTION YOU WILL EVER ASK YOURSELF

For many years, I have been teaching business students at Emory University the power of purpose. Though the curriculum prepares them to bring greater purpose into the business world, it also inspires them to bring their own personal purpose to the world at large.

I explain that they can choose among many paths, but only one is truly meant for them. Everyone has a unique gift. To never discover it would be sad, but to deprive the world of it would be tragic.

What if Jonas Salk had gone into real estate? What if Thomas Edison had been a banker? What if Gandhi’s life mission had been to be a professional wrestler? What if Einstein had aspired to be a singer—or if Ella Fitzgerald hadn’t? What if Susan B. Anthony had become a mountain climber? The world would be a very different place.

The biggest question you will ever ask yourself is this: What future benefit might the world never receive if I do not discover and contribute the talent that is uniquely mine?

         •    Will the cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s go undiscovered?

         •    Will a new company that employs thousands of people never be founded?

         •    Will a technology that could end global warming go unfinanced?

         •    Will a future nuclear conflict fail to be averted?

I end the class with this challenge: Discover where your talents and gifts intersect with the needs of the world.

Be honest with yourself. Discover your purpose. Then point it at the world.

SUCCESS OR SUCK-CESS?

Sometimes I think the word “success” is misspelled. So many people I meet who are considered successful are in a job or career they don’t want to be in. That’s why it’s so important to create your own definition of success.

One thing is for sure: Webster lied. His dictionary defines “success” as “financial gain,” yet so many people who are financially successful are flat broke on the inside.

Let me tell you a story about a corporate titan in his late fifties who graced the cover of a major business magazine. In the cover photo, he stands atop a mountain. Clawing at his heels are his admirers—VPs, SVPs, EVPs—who long to touch the hem of his $5,000 suit. The magazine writer crowned this man the king of finance on Wall Street.

The story talked about his path to success, his unflinching focus to create shareholder value, and his planned early retirement that year after he’d worked tirelessly to reach his ultimate achievement.

The man anticipated plenty of time to enjoy his family and the fruits of his labor. After all, that was what he had worked for. Unfortunately, this Master of the Universe never tasted that fruit. He didn’t even get to see the magazine cover. His epitaph highlighted his legacy: leaving behind a well-disciplined company.

His misfortune provides numerous lessons. First is that the person who sits on top of the world needs to remember that the earth rotates every twenty-four hours. Second, the road to success ends at your front door. And finally, it’s our self-worth, not our net worth, that makes us rich.

My father worked every day of his life except his last. On that day, lying riddled with cancer, he said, “Joey, don’t work so much. It’s not so important.” Have you ever known anyone who in his or her last hours said, “I wish I had spent more time in the office?”

We must not live to work; we must work to live. We have become experts at what we want and novices at what we need. What we truly need is to feel alive. And that happens only when we focus on making a life, not just a living.

Ask yourself if you have the wind behind your back or a whip flogging your backside. If it’s the wind, you have purpose. If it’s a whip, you don’t. No worries, though. Once you discover your purpose, there will be no stopping you. True success does not come and go; it comes and stays.

YOU’RE IN GOOD COMPANY WITH PURPOSE

At the heart of a purposeful company is a leader with a purpose. Take the inspiring leader Akio Morita, for example. In the wake of Japan being leveled by atomic bombs in World War II, Morita cofounded the company we know today as Sony. With only a few hundred dollars in capital, Morita wanted to help rebuild his country. Legend has it that Morita’s colleagues presented him a strategy to make Sony the number one technology company in Japan. But Morita changed that strategy to making Japan the number one technology country in the world. Morita dared to dream beyond himself and his company, expanding his orbit of caring to an entire country.

Today, there is a revolution afoot that has companies and brands focusing on greater purpose in service of a healthier and happier world. These organizations are moving from selling goods and services to bringing good and service to the world. In my book The Story of Purpose: The Path to Creating a Brighter Brand, a Greater Company, and a Lasting Legacy, I discuss how and why purpose-driven organizations are meaningful and profitable to society and its stakeholders.

Purpose will be the currency of modern commerce. Companies and brands will focus not just on the bottom line but on the front lines—opportunities to create more justice, equality, health, shelter, and global sustainability. Leaders will look beyond next quarter to the next quarter century. Business will use the lever of purpose to elevate the world.

PURPOSE IS OUT OF THIS WORLD

In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy pointed to the moon. He told his country that by the end of the decade we would send a man there and bring him home safely.

Why would the president of the United States talk about the moon when things on earth were in pretty bad shape? Issues of racial inequality and poverty were tearing our nation apart. We were on the brink of war in Southeast Asia and our economy was teetering.

The reason is purpose. Just like our forefathers pointed their forefingers westward, heralding our nation’s historic expansion, Kennedy pointed to a destination that would change our worldview forever.

This act, the president believed, would mobilize our country with bold purpose. It was indeed a courageous leap as NASA had not even developed the metals to build a rocket safe enough for the trip.

It worked. While touring NASA a couple of years after his announcement, the president approached a janitor and asked what the gentleman did at NASA. The janitor responded, “I am helping put a man on the moon, Mr. President.”

Purpose launches more than rockets. It launches us on a trajectory to the stars.

PURPOSE INVITES US OUTSIDE

Overthinking can drive you crazy. When we think beyond ourselves to help others, we bypass the noise in our minds. When you volunteer or mentor, you leave the confines of your head and enter the arena of the heart.

One winter, I received a call from an Atlanta homeless shelter asking if I would volunteer my advertising agency to join the fight against homelessness via a marketing campaign to raise awareness. I declined, since I was in the midst of pitching a big piece of business. I was working a crazy schedule, getting no sleep, and worrying about the future of my fledgling agency.

On the way home that night, I saw a homeless man sleeping in front of my condo. It was cold. As I entered my toasty home, I thought about the call I had received that day and if this destitute man was a sign from above that I should be helping the homeless. The next morning, I called the shelter back and signed on to help. Even though the pitch was due in a week, I needed to do this.

And if I was going to do it right, I decided I would have to live in the shoes of that man asleep in front of my condo. To feel what it was like to be homeless, I dressed in the shabbiest clothes I could find and staked out a corner in downtown Atlanta. It was another cold night. I asked for money for hours and not one person gave me a dime. Just after midnight, however, a homeless man asked me if I wanted a blanket. I thanked him for the warmth of the blanket and the warmth of his soul. That night I was also given the gift of a new perspective. We are all homeless until someone reaches out a hand to help. And then it hit me. I knew how I could help.

The homeless man’s gift of a blanket gave me an idea for an ad. The next day I created a billboard with a big working thermometer on it. Under the temperature it read Room Temperature for the Homeless. That night it was 28 degrees in Atlanta.

The billboard went up the day of the pitch, which went well. A week later, the client called to tell me we had won the business. I thanked him and asked what put us over the top. Creative strategy, research? “Actually, it was the story you told us about the night you slept on the corner downtown.”

I continue to volunteer. It clears the head, opens the heart, and feels so good that you almost feel selfish to benefit so richly.

THE PURPOSE OF CUTTING THE ROAST

When searching for your purpose, authenticity is important. It has to be your gift, not one passed down or prescribed to you. Purpose that is made up doesn’t make out.

Once, a little girl was watching her mother prepare a pot roast dinner. Her mother told her that the first thing she must do to make the best pot roast is to cut the end of the roast off before putting it in the pan. When the little girl asked why, the mother said, “Well, that was the way my mother always did it. Let’s call your grandmother and ask her why.”

The grandmother replied, “Well, that is how my mom always did it.” The young girl then asked to visit her great-grandmother to find the answer.

After some cookies and tea, the little girl approached the family matriarch and asked, “Great-grandma, why do you cut the end off a roast before you cook it?” Looking across the three generations with a quizzical expression and a smile in her eyes, the matriarch replied, “Because I never had a big enough pot.”

How many of us are making pot roast Mom’s way or working in jobs or living in a relationship that our parents think are perfect? If you are, you’re living out their fantasies—not yours. This is not the recipe for success.

THE PURPOSE OF SECURITY GUARDS

Remember your first love? Everyone has one. Remember your first breakup? Everyone has one of those, too. Mine happened when I was fifteen.

We had been seeing each other for most of eighth grade. But when the summer rolled around, she told me that she was in love with another boy, a ninth grader who played basketball. This was very important to her.

I was not a sports fanatic. I thought Shea Stadium was a French restaurant. And now a jock would win her over?! I was crushed.

I went home and decided my best move was to get some flowers, write a love letter, and go to her apartment building. In order to get through the lobby I had to sign in with the security guard. His name was Thomas. He immediately recognized me and rang her apartment. After a moment he hung up the phone and said, “She says she’s busy.” I left the letter and flowers with Thomas, who said he would send them up.

Crestfallen, I went home and told my parents, who were not very empathetic and assured me I would get over it. That did little to console me. I thought the world was coming to an end. I went over to her building every day that week. Thomas would ring her apartment and the response was always the same.

On the fifth day Thomas said, “I don’t think she wants to see you. Why don’t you have a seat?” For the next hour we talked. Thomas shared a story about the first girl who broke up with him. Gee, I thought, his story is worse than mine. Suddenly, I did not feel quite so devastated. He told me to come back and talk anytime. And I did.

For the next two weeks, Thomas and I talked about girls, school, and life. The last day I saw him was the day before his vacation. He said, “Joey, I want to show you something.” He pulled out a picture of a woman. “Do you know who this is? This is my bride of forty-four years. She is also that first girlfriend I told you about. If you are meant to be,” he said, “it will be.”

Thomas gave me hope. In his own kind and tender way, the security guard offered me the security of knowing that things would be okay.

Who is your security guard? Are you aware of the insecurities that you are guarding? For whom are you serving as a security guard? To be one you just need a badge of empathy and to know that it is better to be interested than interesting.

DISCOVERING YOUR SKY MAIDEN

Although the actress Gwyneth Paltrow got some criticism for using the term “conscious uncoupling” to describe her divorce, I’ll borrow from her playbook and call purposeful love “conscious coupling.”

I am certainly not a marriage counselor or expert on love, but after twenty-four years of matrimony and seeing many of our friends split up, my wife and I can tell you that agreeing on the shared purpose of your marriage goes a long way to making it work. For many of our friends, the words “just married” have a different meaning after the excitement wears off. It’s more like they are “just” married, as in “no more than that.” In fact, there is a lot more to what makes a successful marriage.

In his book Who Needs God, Harold Kushner recalls a tale that delivers a secret for lasting love:

The members of a certain West African tribe tell the legend of the Sky Maiden. It happened once that the people of the tribe noticed their cows were giving less milk than they used to. They could not understand why. One young man volunteered to stay up all night to see what might be happening. After several hours of waiting in the darkness, hiding in a bush, he saw something extraordinary. A young woman of astonishing beauty rode a moonbeam down from heaven to earth, carrying a large pail. She milked the cows, filled her pail, and climbed back up the moonbeam to the sky. The man could not believe what he had seen. The next night, he set a trap near where the cows were kept, and when the maiden came down to milk the cows, he sprang the trap and caught her. “Who are you?” he demanded.

She explained that she was a Sky Maiden, a member of a tribe that lived in the sky and had no food of their own. It was her job to come to earth at night and find food. She pleaded with him to let her out of the net and she would do anything he asked. The man said he would release her only if she agreed to marry him. “I will marry you,” she said, “but first you must let me go home for three days to prepare myself. Then I will return and be your wife.” He agreed.

Three days later she returned, carrying a large box. “I will be your wife and make you very happy,” she told him, “but you must promise me never to look inside this box.”

For several weeks they were very happy together. Then one day, while his wife was out, the man was overcome with curiosity and opened the box. There was nothing in it. When the woman came back, she saw her husband looking strangely at her and said, “You looked in the box, didn’t you? I can’t live with you anymore.”

“Why?” the man asked. “What’s so terrible about my peeking into an empty box?”

“I’m not leaving you because you opened the box. I thought you probably would. I’m leaving you because you said it was empty. It wasn’t empty; it was full of sky. It contained the light and the air and the smells of my home in the sky. When I went home for the last time, I filled that box with everything that was most precious to me to remind me of where I came from. How can I be your wife if what is most precious to me is emptiness to you?”

And so the Sky Maiden was gone forever. This tale reveals that the secret to love goes beyond looking into each other’s eyes. It’s seeing the world through the others’ eyes, sharing not only your bed but the dreams that you have in there. When you meet your Sky Maiden, make sure that you are not just falling in love with his or her looks. Instead, keep in mind these three looks: (1) look into each other’s eyes, (2) look into each other’s hearts, and (3) look at one another and share what you see.

When each of you sees the other’s dream, you will find your path to the stars.

THE PURPOSE OF BOOKS

The purpose of books is to find ourselves in the story. The word “read,” from the Germanic origin, actually means “to advise to put in order.” That is the purpose of the Magic Library, the name I gave our library at home.

It started as a way to encourage my sons’ love of reading. Later, the Magic Library became a place to hone their imaginations. Every time they had a question and were stumped, I would say, “Let’s go to the Magic Library and ask a book for the answer.”

We would walk into the library, and my sons would close their eyes, put out their pointer finger, walk to the chosen book, open it, and read one sentence. They would find in that sentence a clue to the answer.

One time we were trying to decide what to have for dinner. Julien, six at the time, suggested we ask the Magic Library. He selected the book The Courage to Be by philosopher Paul Tillich, and the sentence he read aloud was, “Joy is the emotional expression of courageous.”

Julien deducted that if we eat more courage, we would have more joy. We decided on pizza with mushrooms since Julien thought eating a mushroom for the first time would be very brave.

Over the years, the Magic Library has offered up endless insights and answers for everyone in our family. The library has taught us the power of imagination. The books in there are like little time machines that take us from our home to places throughout time—from wonder? with a question mark to wonder! with an exclamation point. Most wonderfully, they have helped us write our own stories.

Once I asked the library where I should take the family on vacation. I closed my eyes, stuck out my forefinger, and followed it to the book spine of The Godfather by Mario Puzo. The next day, we booked tickets to Sicily, where Francis Ford Coppola filmed much of the movie adaptation. The library made our family an offer none of us could refuse.

PURPOSE IS THE HANDIWORK OF THE SPIRIT

Connect with your purpose and you will connect with those who have gone before you, for purpose is at the heart of everything. It is the spark that creates the fire in your soul. That flame not only kindles your spirit but brings warmth to others.

When you put a thimble on your forefinger, you use it for mending something that’s torn. Hardship can tear into lives, but the common thread that runs through humanity is a purpose greater than ourselves.

Purpose is the handiwork of the spirit. Purpose heals what is hurt and gives life to us when we feel lost. Everyone you meet today has lost something or someone. The purpose you choose has the capacity to help them find newness and aliveness.

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

Too many of us are living the dreams of others. Our culture, our education, even our parents can steal our real purpose in life. Then there are those loving souls that release the dream within us.

Recently I heard about a conversation between a mother in hospice and her daughter, who had spent her life trying to meet her mother’s expectations. The daughter adored and respected her mother, so much so that she was living her life to make her mom happy. Knowing that time was running out, the mother summoned her daughter to share one last piece of advice.

“Darling, I feel like I have been living inside another woman’s body all my life,” she hinted. The mother regretted dictating to her daughter the life that she believed was best for her. Her last wish was to free her daughter.

It worked: The conversation sparked a revelation in the daughter. She, too, had long felt the she was living someone else’s dream. The next day, she returned to the hospice and shared her elation with her mother: “Mom, I am going to follow that crazy dream of mine.”

A mother’s work was done.

Being our real selves is really hard. The media paints pictures that blur reality. Billions of dollars are spent every year to tell you who you should be, what you should wear, and how you should smell. It’s not good enough to be you. The truth is enough is enough.

The poet E. E. Cummings wrote, “To be nobody-but-yourself—in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”

The purpose of your life is to bring your purpose to life—to make your dreams of a lifetime real.

PURPOSE TAKES FLIGHT

I had just taken a seat on a Delta Airlines flight to one of my favorite spots in the world, Cabo San Lucas in Los Cabos, Mexico. Cabo is located at the tip of the Baja Peninsula and is, I believe, God’s finishing touch on the world. Just before taking off, a man named Roberto Sanchez-Mejorada approached me and said he uses my book, The Story of Purpose, as a guide to business and life. That chance meeting with the chief mission officer of Qualfon would evolve into a dear friendship and an idea that would help his company become a purpose-driven organization.

Qualfon is a call center company headquartered in Mexico. The organization assists businesses with customer service calls. Last year, Qualfon’s leadership asked me to speak about a greater purpose for their call centers and the 30,000 people who work there. Are you wondering how a call center can have a greater purpose? The answer is that Qualfon shifted its positioning from being a call center to a place where people discovered their callings.

Qualfon wanted to help every associate in the call center find his or her own mission in life. Working closely with the leadership team, I guided them in developing a plan for putting their purpose into action: Qualfon would be able to help their employees by educating them about the many opportunities for fulfillment in the world, and then celebrating those staff members who followed their dreams. This way, the associates would be happier and would be more likely to pay forward their joy, even when dealing with grumpy customers.

I love that the company is a faith-based organization, and since the original meaning of the word “religion,” from the Latin word religare, is to reconnect, Qualfon employees have found that the connection is between their heart and their head. Purpose is the path from the heart to the head.

YOUR STORY OF PURPOSE

For the past two decades, I have helped hundreds of organizations discover their purpose in service of creating a brighter world. That journey is shared in my last book, The Story of Purpose. In Thumbs Up, I am going to help you find your story of purpose. Let’s begin.

HOW TO FIND YOUR PURPOSE IN A WEEK

In a week’s time or less you can make a change that will help you have the life you were meant to have, not the one someone told you to have. You will be living on purpose. Everything and everyone else will follow.

Four I’s See Better Than Two

My consultancy, BrightHouse, developed a framework called the Four I’s (4I’s), a process for discovering and articulating an organization’s purpose. The Four I’s refer to four phases: investigation, incubation, illumination, and illustration. Each phase is meant to bring an organization closer to its core purpose. The process works equally well for individuals.

The Four I’s journey will take approximately twelve hours, so you should be able to articulate your purpose in a week’s time. Every day, spend some time on one of the 4I’s. In a week, I believe you can emerge with the gift called you.

Phase 1: Investigation

On day one we journey back to your first days. I like to say, “The fruits are in your roots.” By going back to the beginning of your life and rediscovering what you valued and what you loved, you will take your first step on the path of purpose.

BrightHouse starts with an organization’s archivist to learn about the organization’s beginnings. In your case, talk to relatives about the dreams you had as a child.

Your Assignment: Talk to five important people who knew you when you were a child. Then think about the three most important moments during your education. Finally, imagine that you have $25 million and could not fail at the job of your dreams. What would that job be?

Write it down.

If it doesn’t give you goose bumps, try writing it again. And again.

The Result: Your calling (and goose bumps).

Phase 2: Incubation

This phase involves thinking deeply about the world at large, where your talents and the needs of the world intersect lies your calling. What calls you? How will your gifts lead the world to a better place? If Phase 1 was about you, Phase 2 is about you plus the world. At BrightHouse, we call in luminaries—subject matter experts who help our thinkers think about how a business can improve public life with the unique talents the organization offers.

You, too, have luminaries—friends and associates who help expand your thinking.

Your Assignment: Now that you have your calling, write down what most troubles you about the world and how you might bring light to the situation through your work. There are plenty of problems in the world, but they are no match for a person with purpose.

The Result: You find yourself at the intersection of your unique gifts and the needs of the world. You are ready to articulate your Master Idea.

Two days have passed and you have worked on your purpose for about eight hours. The next step is to walk away and let your thoughts marinate. I have found that my best thinking happens when I leave it alone for a while and take a walk. Try doing the same. Ironically, the office is the least stimulating place for thinking, so think outside that box we call the office. The car, the gym, a place of worship, and my shower are my favorite places for “Eureka!” moments.

Phase 3: Illumination

When you’ve given yourself enough time away and you’re ready to revisit the 4I’s, it is time to write your purpose. The following checklist will help you discover and articulate your purpose. Then, we will go back to the diagram where you listed your gifts and the needs of the world and fill in that middle circle.

         1.    Your Purpose Begins in the Beginning: Like the oak that sprouts from an acorn, great people grow from seeds planted in their childhood. Go to your baby book or ask a relative to find or share the words that described you in your earliest years. Write them down.

         2.    Your Purpose Rings True: Your purpose is a truth about you. While facts about you may change over time, truth never does. What is the one truth about you that needs no proof? Write it down.

         3.    Your Purpose Teaches: What was the most revealing thing you ever learned about yourself? How would you share this insight with the world? Give it lots of thought. What do you want to teach the world? Write it down.

         4.    Your Purpose Makes You Come to Life: Your purpose is a passion and creates aliveness. What makes you come alive? Write it down.

         5.    Your Purpose Is a Battle Cry: What is your shout-out to the world? What would a T-shirt say if it were all about your philosophy? Write it down.

YOUR PURPOSE TELLS YOUR STORY

Food for thought: Salvation Army cofounder William Booth did not have time to send a holiday greeting to his offices throughout the world. As the leader of a frugal organization, Booth searched for the shortest message he could send by telegraph. He used a one-word battle cry to inspire his associates with a lesson that has been telling people who join why they have been here for more than 100 years. That lesson launched an army: The Salvation Army. The word? “Others.”

What one word describes your purpose?

MY PURPOSE IS . . .

Okay, it’s time to return to Aristotle’s two-circle diagram and have another go at articulating your purpose. What is the gift you want to share with the world? Put that gift in the left circle.

Now think about the needs of the world—the world at large and the world at small. Keep in mind, the needs of the world could be halfway around it or in your community or your own backyard. What is the need that you feel needs you? Write that need in the right circle.

Carefully review the left side of the diagram, then the right. Now at the intersection, write your purpose—one that captures your gift and how you will use that gift to leave the world a kinder, happier place.

Phase 4: Illustration

The final phase of the one-week purpose journey is illustrating your purpose—literally bringing it to life. This is where you turn your words into deeds. Purpose without action is useless. Today and every day, take one action that demonstrates your purpose to the world.

Your purpose is your timeless truth. Use your purpose and become one of Rumi’s ideals. Remember those? As a lamp, how will you shine the way for another? As a ladder, how will you help someone climb his or her mountain? As a lifeboat, how will you save someone’s spirit from drowning?

Though the 4I’s exercise is my preferred method for finding purpose, there are other ways to discover yours. The important thing is to do it. Whether it takes twelve hours of working the 4I’s plan or a different method to discover your purpose, use this as a launch pad to keep yourself on track and meet your goals.

HOW TO FIND YOUR PURPOSE IN A DAY

Say you don’t have a week to find your purpose. Try this exercise on a weekend. Connect the dots of happiness. Draw ten circles and fill each one with a time you felt the most joy in your life. When you connect all of those moments you will begin to see the bigger picture—your purpose. If this excites you, and I know it will, try going on the weeklong journey to find your true self.

Your purpose is your motivation, a word that means “an inner social stimulus for an action,” stemming from the French word motiver. We need a cause bigger than ourselves to feel the true largeness of life.

Purpose puts us in touch with something beyond ourselves, and that in turn connects us to the rest of the world. Serving someone or something else beyond yourself breaks you out of the separation that closes us in and closes everything else off. This is what I love most of all about helping people discover their purpose. You will discover how big, beautiful, and bountiful the world can be if you just let it in.

HOW TO FIND YOUR PURPOSE IN AN HOUR

Okay, you want a quick and fun exercise but don’t have a day to find your purpose? Here is how I have helped my friends find theirs in an hour.

Look yourself up in the dictionary. That’s right, grab a dictionary and take thirty minutes or so to circle ten words that best describe you. Then write those words down on a card and put it near your driver’s license. Why your driver’s license? Because these are the directions to your destiny, and you’ll need your license to drive there.

I tried this exercise just before opening my consultancy, BrightHouse. I loved the words I found so much that I put them not only near my driver’s license but on my business card as well. Here are nine of them: husband, father, author, soul man, thinker, professor, revolutionary, speaker, and jump-roper. I was looking for a tenth to describe how I feel about my family. I couldn’t find it, so I created my own word: famillionaire, meaning someone who measures success by the love of family. This begins with the one you love, then the ones made by your love (your children), and finally, the love of humankind (your friends).

Our associates liked the idea so much that everyone at BrightHouse has business cards with the ten words that describe them best. After all, purpose is about the business of living our best life.

WITH PURPOSE IN HAND

When the thumb and the finger first touched each other, human beings got a grasp of what was possible. The hand became a tool that built tools that would ultimately shape us. Armed with a Thumbs Up attitude and purpose in hand, nothing can stop you but the fear of not getting there.