How do I work towards my bigger purpose?

From the beginning of my career, I knew that I had a bigger purpose. I wanted to own a business one day. Like my family, I wanted to build something from nothing and watch it grow.

My father had always been entrepreneurial out of necessity, because he put all of us boys through private school. He had to start other businesses, outside of his normal job, in order to fund his family’s life. I also watched my mother and my stepfather build a business from scratch. So, I always knew that one day, I wanted to have a life through leveraging something beyond myself. That was the bigger purpose I was striving for.

So, the question is: how do you know you’re striving after your bigger purpose? Do you have a bigger purpose? If you’re getting into a new career, knowing what your bigger purpose is can be difficult. Thankfully, I don’t think you need to know what your bigger purpose is on day one, but what you need to know is the characteristics that will allow you to attain a bigger purpose, at some point in time.

You might not know what your bigger purpose is right now. But, what I can tell you is this: Everything you do, starting right now, will either put you in play for a bigger picture or take you away from it. Right this moment, if you’re treating your job like it means nothing to you, if you’re half-assing it through your responsibilities, if you’re not intentional about showing up on time, connecting with other employees, ingratiating yourself to leadership and demonstrating an attitude of growth… you’ll never find your bigger purpose. If you don’t spend your evenings furthering your skill set, if you just show up, do your job, and leave… you’ll never find your bigger purpose.

Make a pact with yourself to go the extra mile. Spend your evenings furthering your skill set. Introduce yourself to the people who matter. Model yourself after the people you admire – the ones doing the things you want to do. Agree to train yourself, so that one day, when you do know what your bigger purpose is – you’ll be in the best place to succeed.