Excerpts

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Discover and Live Your Purpose
One thing I’ve learned about life is that it is a series of discoveries. It starts with discoveries and hopefully should continue that way. Remember how exciting it was to learn to ride a bike? Ever watched a child taking their first steps? It’s a momentous occasion. If we can capture that kind of excitement every day, I think we’re on our way to wisdom.

Albert Einstein said, “The mind that opens to a new idea never comes back to its original size.” I agree. Once you’ve learned to walk, why would you want to go back to crawling around? It wouldn’t make sense. We all have a purpose in life, and that’s to do our best to live up to our potential.

It’s really pretty simple. All we have to do is tune in to our talents and capabilities. Remember, I didn’t say it was easy—I said it was simple. Sometimes we get so distracted that it’s hard to tune out enough to be able to tune in at all. We are bombarded by outside information all day. The challenge here is to find the quiet time to be able to assimilate our own inside information in the midst of all the cacophony. You have to unplug before you can plug yourself back in.

I’m a busy guy, but I set aside quiet time every morning and every evening to keep my equilibrium as it should be—which is centered on my own path. I don’t like being swayed by anything that might be negative or damaging. When Emerson talks about leaving a trail, he’s right. That means you can’t be following someone else’s path. That means you’d better spend some time focusing yourself on your own path and your own purpose.

This is a serious issue, for worldly as well as personal reasons. The worst things in history have happened when people stop thinking for themselves and listen to other people and, even worse, start following other people. That’s what gives rise to dictators. Avoid that at all costs. Stop it first on a personal level and you will have contributed to world sanity as well as your own.

In business, I’ve discovered that my purpose is to do my best, to my utmost ability, every day. That’s my standard. I learned early in my life that I had high standards. Ever hear of intrinsic value? Intrinsic means basic, inborn, elemental. If you have an intrinsic value, it cannot be taken away or shaken. It’s a form of strength that can be unbeatable.

Discovery means finding out something we didn’t previously know. Purpose is an intention or an end to be attained. We have the tangible and the intangible in life. Let them balance each other out to your best advantage. I may be in a reality-based business, but I have a sense of the mystery in life that keeps me feeling like an explorer. Don’t put blinders or borders on yourself.

I could have very easily dismissed Mark Burnett’s idea for The Apprentice simply based on the fact that I was already very busy. But it was a new challenge and a new discovery for me. It served a part of my nature, which is that of an educator. Finding your purpose may be a lifelong pursuit or you may have found it when you were five years old. There’s no absolute timeline for anyone. That’s a good reason to never give up, to keep on discovering things every
day. It’s also a terrific recipe for a successful life. Following your own path will bring you to the places you were meant to be. Expand your horizons! In other words, think big and live large.

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