Some Issues Are Bigger Than Business

Two weeks ago I spoke to the CEO Roundtable of the National Chamber of Commerce in Nashville, TN. At the conclusion of my program, one of the members stood up and said, "Yesterday one of our members who was forty-years-old had a blood clot on the way to work and died. Visitation is today and tomorrow and the funeral is on Friday. Please remember that every day is important and needs to be cherished. We never know when it will be our turn." With that she sat down.

Folks, while business is important and deserves a certain degree of effort and attention, there are some things that are much, much more important. For example, our lives and fulfilling our specific purpose for living. On the Sunday before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his last sermon, "I just want to leave a committed life behind." (The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by Clayborne Carson, Warner Books, 1998) Four days later he was dead at the age of 39. However, he clearly had fulfilled his purpose in life.

What is your life's purpose?
How will you fulfill that purpose?

The purpose of my life is crystal clear in my mind: to work with other people to achieve whatever it is that they want to achieve. (Of course, this excludes what I consider to be unethical, but that still leaves a lot of territory to cover.) Not in a demanding, "this is what you should do" kind of way, but in a collaborative discussion-oriented approach. This is the defining statement that represents the overlap of my passions, talents and values. It is what trips my life's trigger. It begins with my wife, Barb, and extends to my children, Sarah and Ben, my extended family, friends, community members, clients, audiences and readers. This purpose gets fulfilled in dozens of different ways depending on the other person and what they want to achieve. Some people see me as a person who provides value and want to engage in a conversation with me. Other people see me as foolish and as a waste of time and avoid conversations with me. And that's ok too. My purpose remains firm. Whether I die tomorrow or 50 years from now, my purpose sustains me and provides my life with meaning.

If you took away my business, my income, my cars and my home, I would still have my relationships and my purpose, and I would be very happy with my life. If you let me keep the former but lose the latter, I would be very unfulfilled.

I believe that success in your career begins first and foremost with identifying a purpose for your life and a method for fulfilling that purpose. From that, not only does a life emerge, but so also does a meaningful and rewarding career. In the October 2002 issue of Oprah magazine, Oprah Winfrey said, "When I taught at Kellogg Graduate School of Management, I'd tell the students that knowing who you are and using what you do as service to the world is how you become successful." I couldn't agree more. Not only is that true of athletes and entertainers, but also of many other highly successful people. Think of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and Mother Theresa and Walt Disney and Sam Walton and Ralph Lauren and Julie Andrews and many others.

So one more time:

What is the purpose of your life?
How will you fulfill it?

Republishing Articles

Each month my e-newsletter gets republished in approximately 20 blogs, on-line publications, and internal publications for businesses, universities, and not-for-profit organizations. If you would like to republish all or part of my monthly articles, please send me an e-mail at dan@thecoughlincompany.com with "Republishing Article" in the subject heading. I will send you the article in a word document. All I ask is that you include my name as the author of the article and a short paragraph at the end of the article about me with a link to my website.

Take care and have a great month!

Dan Coughlin

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