I just got done re-reading Start With Why, Simon Sinek’s incredibly inspiring book on inspiration.
I still remember where I was when I started to read it for the first time. It was around 2011 or 2012. I can vividly remember the Starbucks I was sitting in Elk Grove Village, an industrial/manufacturing area of Chicago. I was killing time between sales calls. That’s where I was physical. Emotionally and careerwise, I was desert, a barren wasteland.
The words of the book resonated deeply, as it was in stark contrast to the purposelessness that characterized my life.
Unfortunately, at the time, I missed the point of the book. I thought it meant that I needed to be doing something else, working somewhere else. So when a recruiter called, I thought it was a sign, I made false assumptions about the new company, and it led to continued and deepened fear and loathing.
I had to scrape around at the bottom of the barrel careerwise for a couple of years. Ultimately, good did come of it. God came good on his promise.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
I guess the lessons of the book have taken a couple of years to learn and apply, or embody. If you had told me that it might take five to eight years to get the point of a book, I’m not sure I would have embarked. And I’m not saying that I have the premise of the book nailed down. I still have a lot to learn.
I wrote a personal mission statement is to connect deeply with others so that they grow and experience freedom.
There is a scripture, describing the early Church, the first Christians, the says:
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.
Acts 2:46
I’ve always loved that image. I took it literally and tried to reach out and talk to another Christian every day. But the verse is not just about watercooler talk. It says glad and sincere hearts. It’s about being open an honest, not with everyone, but a trusted few, where you can share your heart.
It is a chance to encourage and be encouraged.
In a spiritual sense, that is WHAT I do. There is a difference between WHAT we do and WHY we do it. It’s the difference between and mission statement and a vision statement.
I thought that the purpose of my life was something I created or invented. And once I got it right, that would make everything right.
But the purpose for your life, something God has given us all, is something that we unearth and see a thread of throughout our life.
While I have moved along in the discovery process, I am yet to have a phrase neatly writing out.
You should definitely read Start With Why as soon as you can. It will help you see why a vision that is larger than yourself is so valuable. The book will help you find more meaning in your work. And it’s not a stretch to state, you can’t have a meaningful life, without meaningful work.
–
But they who wait for the Lord
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31