There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it. -- Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill first coined the term definiteness of purpose back when he was conducting a number of interviews with some of the greatest business minds in the world that would eventually form the structure of his book and subsequent audiobook, Think And Grow Rich (aff link).
I had read about having a definite major purpose a couple of times before and understand the basics of it.
It is essentially all about defining your purpose in life. What is it you want to accomplish? What do you want to give to the world? In what do you truly believe?
It wasn’t until I listened to the audiobook and heard a recording of Napoleon Hill talking about definiteness of purpose that it really hit home how important having that burning passion is.
I bring this up now because I’m at a crossroads. I love writing and I love the quest of becoming an independent entrepreneur -- but I just don’t know if my passion to help people is being fully utilised here.
My main focus in my life is to build up income through online ventures to be able to leave my job, work from home and spend quality time with my family. Long term, I’d like to travel with them, but for now I just want to be there to witness my daughters first laugh, first walk, and first word. That is my definite major purpose.
I love building up affiliate sites, and have been starting to earn some very respectable money in this field recently, but I haven’t mentioned it much here before.
I guess what I’m really asking is what would you like to read about? Am I helping you at the moment or am I writing about self help to other self help writers in an endless cycle of wheel spinning?
If you could learn one thing from a guy who loves WordPress, building affiliate minisites, fixing computers/websites, the Spanish language and writing and has a great deal of retail and business-to-business sales experience… what would it be?
In closing, I want to leave you with this recording of Napoleon Hill from the Think And Grow Rich audiobook. It’s edited together but is still empowering, motivating and inspiring in equal doses. Great voice for speeches too.
So, what would you like to hear more of from me and what would you like to hear less of?
Also, do you have a definite major purpose? I’d really love to hear all your thoughts on this.
I would like to see some articles on your sales experience (both b2b and b2c).
Although I read your blog posts your still a bit of a mystery man Ian!
Thanks for this Anthony. I’ve been pondering whether or not to go into sales strategy. I’ll look into it – and give you a bit of insight into me too.
I’m quite new here, so it’s a bit difficult to answer your first round of questions. But I’ll write this. In a sea of blogs, I’ve actually returned to yours and that’s a consequence of thoughtful content. Just give me more of that!
As for my own purpose, it’s a bit lofty, but I do think being human is a privilege. Therefore we have the obligation to earn that status by improving our humanity. My focus is meaningful contribution.
Thank you for the feedback, Nelia. I will strive to give you more awesome content for sure!
It seems that the more I share my own experiences on my blog, the better things seem to get. If you’re building affiliate minisites then share how you’re doing that.
It seems that all shall be revealed to us, within time.
Keep it real!
Cheers Henri. Our little chats have certainly given me food for thought and some inspiration for new opportunities.
Keeping it real is the only way to be!
I’m having a difficult time making comments with my blackberry now. I think you reconfigured something for cell phones.
Unfortunately, I do not own a home computer again yet so please forgive my lack of commenting.
I still read you though.
And I agree with defining purpose. Focusing on what one really wants and removing all the excess garbage is the key to being successful!
I’ve been using WPTouch for mobiles and ipods recently. Does it not work for Blackberries?
Thanks for taking the time to comment even without access to a computer! I guess I have no excuse not to comment on Ben’s site more now.
That book is essentially my bible, i think everyone should read it it.
As per what you say is your definite purpose, all i can say is ‘amen’. Though admittedly i do not have kids nor am married, i do feel similarly. Financial independence, Entrepreneurial activities, Writing, and helping people lead a more fulfilling life is what drives me… though i have been unable to determine how to apply these passions best into a productive and lucrative fashion. which has left me in a rather frustrated position in my life at the moment. Which is not necessarily a bad thing… if we are unhappy about something it means we will do our best to change that. People generally only change for one of two reasons i think– to gain pleasure or avoid pain.
Regardless, Excellent post as always Ian.
Great book, huh?
Good to see that some resonates quite closely with my situation. Thanks for commenting, Nils.
Definitive purpose is something i think everyone should find in their life, it’s something i believe everyone has though it is not necessarily something everyone does discover in their lifetime… As per me, i love to write, talk, help/motivate people. And i also want to obtain financial independence though i’ll need to chew some of my own insecurities first. Completely different subject however. But these are the things which i feel give me a purpose!
As per content, i would say just keep up what you are doing now. It’s straightforward, it motivates me because i feel in a lot of ways i can relate well to what you write. If you want to post more varying content i say go for it! Just try to stay close to your niche.
Hmm, Dejavu.
Do you have any blogs or sites Nils? I see you contribute a lot on Twitter and in comments but you don’t seem to promote yourself.
What’s your niche, oh secretive one?
Haha, no i do not have a blog at this time. I intend to start one again soon, or at least i have been intending to start one but i always get hung up on Names… names are tough. As per the niche… Just take a wild guess Ian.
Ian,
I think you need to define what you want to contribute. I can see the problem you have as I have had the same issue in the past.
My focus for a long time was making money both online and in the real world. For me, and this might not be for you, it was a constant struggle from day to day. The more I tried the less I felt I was contributing to my life, my family’s life and to the lives of others. That’s why I’ve redefined my focus over the past 6 months or so and why I know write 6aliens.com. I’ve come to find for me the definition of purpose is to help people improve their lives (if they want to). I know if I know shut my eyes and see what I want in life, this is it. I still want to make money both in the real world and online and am currently working on ways to make that happen. You’ll see a lot more of me helping people in the future.
But not everyone is the same. Some people want to do there thing and that’s cool. You need to find out where you can help people the most. You’re like me Ian and you want to help people, you just need to work out where you can contribute the most in life and set yourself up there.
My advice would be to test the waters with different things that you want to try and see what results you get. Then once you can see where your contributing the most you can focus in on there.
If you want to chat anything through give me a shout chap. We could always go for a drink as we’re local
Hey bro!
lol.
Honestly, I like reading self help stuff. It helps me…
In all seriousness though, maybe do both? Do you like writing on self help or do you like writing on how to do self help? If the answer is both, how about do just that! Create two categories to post in for those who want self help and those who want to learn how to do self help??
Just an idea.
Keep on keepin’ on!
Good summary of a life purpose. I think there’s definitely something to be said about doing what you love and getting paid to do it.
This is something I JUST recently realized. While I do have a full time business doing affiliate marketing, it’s something that I’ve never had my heart into. Right now, I’m enjoying doing my blog that’s making exactly $0 because it’s something I feel is part of my life purpose.
I like your honesty in this post, Ian. A lot of people in the cyber world seem to be striving toward earning a full-time income from their online business—whether it be blogs or affiliate websites.
I honestly believe that every person on this planet deserves to do the kind of work that makes him/her happy. The awesome thing about blogging is that you can choose to blog about your passions; and if you stay committed, you will likely be able to earn enough money from it to sustain a healthy lifestyle.
The difficult part is to stay motivated. A lot of people discover blogging and spend countless hours studying the theory behind professional blogging only to find themselves abandoning their blog after the initial burst of enthusiasm wears off. They either give up because they’re not getting solid results or because they lose interest in writing about their chosen topic.
In both cases the problem is the goal itself. It’s more natural to continue blogging if the topic itself is fulfilling. If you’re not interested in soccer, by all means, don’t blog about it. Don’t torture yourself by forcing yourself to write about stuff that doesn’t hold any importance in your life. Enjoy the process—not just the end result.
I’m not sure if you really LOVVVVE building affiliate minisites and working with wordpress. I think you are just wanting to love it so that you can have it as your purpose because it’s easy and you want to get rich from it.
I also am into online marketing activities and was pretty passionate about it but the initial rush of making money online has worn off. I still have yet to make BIG BIG money so I still have something to strive for. Anyway, since you are asking us what our purposes are, (in your title) I’ll share mine!
I want to and always have wanted to become a super human. I want to take my humanity to the next level. I want to have full control over my mind to the point that I’m able to achieve great things, and understand things about the universe and reality that will allow others to become super humans as well. I want to be one of the first humans to mentally evolve into a very high human. Like Jesus or Buddah, only modern. I want to see life and reality for what it really is without being affected by my own humanity and the emotions and perspectives that come with it. I want to let go of fear, and desire yet I want to experience anything I want on command. I want to become a complete master of my mind and the universe!!!!!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH HAHA HAH
But seriously I do. To me that is the ultimate goal. Surpass the money desire, and go straight to having the ability to get any experience I want by simply controlling myself to do the required tasks until I get what it was I desired. (Even though I’ll probably discover that desire is what keeps you from becoming a master of the universe.)