Power Of Purpose: "Meaning" Over Success

In a world that judges success by wealth, affluence, influence, and status, the idea of "meaning" may not be seen as it should. There are lots of people who have chased success in the hopes to find happiness, but at the end, they miss out on the true meaning of living. When you acquire the success you are pursuing, you will know if it was your real purpose of living. Living a live that has neither a purpose nor a meaning is like sailing a boat without compass - it is possible to move the boat around, but it will lack direction because it has no compass. In order to find true achievement and accomplishment in life, you have to understand that it does not only come from external successes, but attaching meaning to what you do, and doing what will bring purpose to your life.

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I have a friend who studied law. In fact, he graduated with honours and was the best in his set, but at the moment, he is into music. He said that music is what brings meaning to his life and since he ventured into it, he found true purpose. In fact, he has affected a lot of lives positively even within his neighbourhood and has helped others to also find their own purpose, simply by going into music. If he had continued in the law field, he may not have achieved the same level of meaning as he does in music. I am not saying that law is not good, but it was obviously not what he was built to do, but music. When you discover your true purpose of living and pursing after it, your life will have a meaning.

It is purpose that actually gives direction to your life. That is, when you follow your purpose, you are not merely responding to situations and circumstances, rather you are charting a course that aligns best with your core values and your purpose in life. For the person who is following after their purpose, success is not the ultimate goal, rather it is a by-product. The ultimate goal is to live a life of meaning, a life that will affect others in a positive way, and to be a beacon of hope to the dying world. If you have achieved success which no one can benefit from, then you are not really a success.

A lot of people who have moved the world in many ways do not just live for themselves, rather they lived in a way for others to also live. Take people like Nelson Mandela who fought against the apartheid in South Africa even at the expense of his own freedom, and Mother Teresa who dedicated her whole life to the selfless service to humanity. Or Malala Yousafzai who fought for girl child education within and beyond Pakistan, risking her life to do so. To mention a few. All these are people who pursued after their purpose and what they were passionate about, and they gave their life a meaning. These are people like you, who had no special privileges apart from their heart for humanity. You may not do what they did, but in your own capacity, there are things you can also do to give your life a meaning, which is very important to humanity.

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Meaning has a way of sustaining motivation even when success may not be able to do the same. You will agree with me that it may not be every time that you will achieve success, so what happens when you do not? What will still sustain your motivation to keep pushing through is the meaning and purpose you attach to life. When your life and your work have meaning, you will not give up easily. When someone starts going to the gym to build his muscles, at the first few days, he may feel like giving up because of the pain he would go through. But when he asks himself the reason he started in the first place, which is the purpose, he will keep going until he achieves his desired body.

You should not just be concerned about what you do but the reason why you do what you do - this is the meaning behind it. At the end of the day, what makes the most sense is not how high you have climbed, but why you chose to climb in the first place. Success is not the only thing that matters but what prompted it. This is what will actually sustain the success. Always remember that even though you are to aim for success, you should also keep reminding yourself why you need to succeed.

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