New Zealand writer, poet and educator Sylvia Constance Ashton-Warner once said, “You must be true to yourself. Strong enough to be true to yourself. Brave enough to be strong enough to be true to yourself. Wise enough to be brave enough to be strong enough to shape yourself from what you actually are.”For Ashton-Warner, this translated to a lifetime commitment to pioneering teaching techniques as she taught Maori children and writing, including the novel Spinster that was made into the 1961 Two Loves, starring Shirley MacLaine. She was awarded an MBE for her contributions to education and literature.
What does it translate to for you? Are you a born healer? Teacher? Nurturer? Adventurer?
Your self actualization depends on discovering your life purpose and living within it. In my last blog, I asked you to consider three questions that would help you uncover your purpose. I hope you’ve given them the time and mental attention that they deserve. Now I’ll ask you to look at three more questions, and consider how they might reveal your unique life purpose:
What do you consider your most important personal qualities? Your ability to hold fast in life’s storms? Your sense of humor? Your willingness to go forward in the face of disapproval? These qualities tell you a lot about what you were born to do.
What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Before you spend too much time thinking about this one, listen to your first instinctive response: End world hunger. Climb Mount Everest. Cure cancer. Your first thought could be revealing a heart-felt yearning that you’ve been suppressing. Be sure to give that one due consideration as you run through the options in your mind.
What would you do if you had six months to live? Your “Bucket List” can tell you a lot about what you were born to do.
If you’ve taken the time to look inward to find your life purpose, you’re ready to write your “Purpose Statement,” which will describe what your life of self actualization and fulfilled purpose will look like. Take your time with this, inserting and deleting elements and rewording as often as necessary until you feel it truly reflects what you’ve discovered your purpose to be.
Roger K. Allen, Ph.D. is an expert in personal transformation, leadership, and teams. His tools and methods have helped hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of people transform the ways they work and live. To learn more, visit www.rogerkallen.com.
