Introduction
There are probably many eventful days in a man’s life. Some days are just like every other day. Nothing spectacular, just ordinary everyday happenings. However, certain significant days linger forever in our memory; they are so crucial that they define the whole perimeter of our life. Mark Twain captured it so well when he wrote:
“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you found out why.”
This has been true in my own life. I lived the first nineteen years of my life without a clear purpose. I existed without a functional one. I did what others wanted and went where they wanted me to go. But the day I understood that I could order my life according to a predetermined course from God, my life took a new turn. I stopped being a people-pleaser! I began living according to my divine purpose. I read books that fed my purpose. I chose a partner who complements it. I chose friends who align with it. I began to look toward life with high hope and dexterity. I cultivated my purpose every day through reading, learning, reflection, and relentless execution.
Bit by bit, my life gained traction among fellow dreamers. Great men began to lend me a helping hand. Publishers scrambled to publish my work. My confidence shot through the roof! Those who had despised me in the past began to recognize my true worth. I earned the respect of everyone around me without having to demand it. Let me try to clarify what purpose is and what it looks like if you plan to find one for yourself.
What is a life purpose?
A life purpose is the most original and authentic reason for your existence. It is the assignment the creator of the universe has given you to fulfill in this world. It is what you have been specifically called to do, distinct from other work. It is your calling, or, if you like, your life vocation. It is a work uniquely yours, which no one else can do as well. It is what you will never need to write an application letter for. It is 100 percent innate to you. You will not need to lobby anyone to fully express your purpose because
“A man who walks with purpose doesn’t need the crowd to cheer. He already knows where he’s going.” – Anonymous
Avenues for discovering your life purpose
No single approach fits everyone when it comes to purpose. Your way of expressing yourself doesn’t have to match mine. God uniquely created and wonderfully made each of us to be distinct. Celebrate what makes you different. That is your unique selling point. You can discover your life purpose in different ways, primarily through:
- Obsession – A burning desire that never leaves your mind. You know it is always there, even when you are asleep.
- Serenity – Any work that gives you absolute peace of mind points you toward your life purpose.
- Apprenticeship – mentorship. No man ever fulfills his destiny without mentorship. Isaac Newton says, “If I have seen further, it is because I am standing on the shoulders of giants.” Look for those who have done what you plan to do, and submit yourself to their mentorship.
- Natural Talent/Endowment – something you were born with that is unique to you. The truth is, everyone has one or more talents they can use productively.
- A calling or a vocation – something you feel you were born to do. Something you feel: if you don’t do it, no one else will.
What is the true measure of divine purpose?
It is sad that people now measure the authenticity of their life purpose by monetary reward. If you have not yet become a millionaire, they believe you have failed destiny. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That measure of success is vanity! The true measure of a life of purpose is fulfillment, not wealth or affluence. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36).
Measure your life’s success by the impact you have made, or are making, on the lives of people in your community or neighborhood, because a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things that he possesses (Luke 12:15). Pursue your life purpose to help people, not to become rich! A true millionaire is the one who has impacted one million people, not the one who has made an additional million dollars.
The man who has truly humbled me is the man who invented the internet, which has made many people billionaires today. But this man never profited a dime from it because he could see the bigger picture. His name is Tim Berners Lee. As a young physicist at CERN, the Particle Physics Lab in Switzerland, he wasn’t trying to change the world; he just wanted scientists to share research more easily, so he built something new he called the World Wide Web (WWW).
By the early 90s, his invention worked! It really worked! That is when Berners Lee had to make a real decision: whether to monetize his invention by filing for a patent or make it accessible to everyone worldwide. Without a doubt, Berners Lee, given what the internet has become today, could have been one of the richest people alive. He had no fees, no license, no subscription, no ownership, and in fact zero restrictions on the World Wide Web.[1]
In 1993, CERN’s directors signed a document stating, “The organization relinquished all intellectual property rights to the code forever, for anyone for free.” That single signature changed everything! That’s why the modern internet exists today. Berners Lee never collected royalties. He has earned prize money and consulting income, but not a single piece of the web itself directly. Berners Lee said that if he had tried to charge for it, the web never would have taken off. He gave away a fortune and, in exchange, gave the entire world something it now can’t live without! That’s the story you will never learn in school, but a sense of purpose can make it happen for you.[2]
What drives a life of purpose?
Daily Agenda – What is your daily agenda? How do you design a systematic, structured daily agenda? What are you choosing in your life today that will compound over the next decade and beyond? Here is what has worked for me over three decades.1 In December 1996, when I began my transformational journey, I wrote out 100 areas of focus that I believe align with my future identity, then confessed them and spoke into my future with those goals and aspirations.
I did that for about three years. I then developed another 100 prayer points covering every area of my life and ministry, and prayed those prayers over my life from January 2002 to October 2024. Sometimes close friends joined me, especially in 2002. In addition, I have daily goals for reading, speaking, writing, and mentorship. As I approach age fifty in a couple of months, I have begun developing the 12 goals I want to pursue over the next decade. The truth is, it won’t be easy to follow through, but I am committed and will see them through. Someone once said, “Growth will cost you comfort. But staying comfortable will cost you growth.” – Anonymous
I am eager to give it my best shot! The next decade of my life is critical. I have made this clear to those closest to me. No more room for sloppiness. No more time to waste. Every moment counts. I don’t fight every battle anymore; I choose my battles carefully because time matters more than ever. I agree 100 percent with my mentor John C. Maxwell, who said, “Nobody achieves anything great by giving the minimum.” I am all in at this moment in my life! Today, I have more books on my radar to write than I have time for.
The goals I have pursued over the last 30 years have brought me this far; I eagerly look forward to what the 12 goals I have decided to pursue in my fifties will produce in the days to come. For that, I am very excited about life and look forward to it with great hope and expectation. The key to this lofty dream and goal of mine is consistency. Consistency in doing these “boring” tasks every day of my life. Someone summed it up very powerfully when he wrote, “Consistency looks like nothing is happening until everything changes.” – Anonymous
What is the most important effect of the discovery of purpose?
Discovering your purpose helps you become decisive. It helps you shed every excess that distracts you and streamline your decision-making. You become so skilled at making decisions that you become a sought-after expert in your area of giftedness. People naturally want to do business with you. Every act of yours becomes a grand entrance into your divine destiny. People love you for who you are and what you represent. You become the true definition of success! Kings want you in the same room with them. The nobles will not act until they hear from you. That is the kind of person you become when you pursue purpose in accordance with the grand plan. Depression and sighing will flee from you completely. Your moment of despair will suddenly turn into dancing and singing.
Conclusion
Despair is usually a by-product of a life without purpose or meaning. So, give your life meaning by pursuing a worthy cause you can be proud of, regardless of the monetary reward it promises. Don’t fall into the temptation to measure your success by your bank account balance. Instead, I suggest you measure your life by the number of souls you have been privileged to transform and positively impact.
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[1] Reel by Inspired Insights, Facebook, September 11, 2026, https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19KTDxpfmq/?mibextid=wwXIfr&wa_status_inline=true
[2] Ibid.
