subject: It's Not All About You [print this page] "It's not about you." "It's not about you."
I recall reading these first four words in Chapter One of Rick Warren's best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life." I remember pausing and experiencing this quick conversation with myself that went something like, "Wait a minute, if it's not about ME, then who in the world can it possibly be about?"
Now, I would like to imagine that I was rather less full of myself when I read this book in 2002 than I used to be in my previous years. I had experienced my fair bit of personal and professional struggles, hurt, and brokenness. I assumed I had at least encountered enough trials and checks to determine the world didn't revolve around me any longer. But these four words sure hit me right smack dab in the center of someplace. That "someplace" ended up being a pleasant place.
You see, the actual question intended for most of us is, "What on earth are we here for?" I can't answer that question for you, but I'd suggest that we are either here for a terrific function or we're here only for the heck of it. Assuming we're here for some bigger reason than a chance accident, the next logical inquiry becomes, "What's our purpose?"
I want to take the liberty to encourage you with the realization that our lives signify a purpose far superior than our own personal satisfaction, joy, or happiness. To repeat the book, "The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That's because we typically begin at the wrong starting point - ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like what do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose."
We're here to serve.
we're all writing chapters of our life memories -- both good and bad. Our actions control the outcome of each chapter inside the book. But our book is also concerning other people.
The insurance trade gives us with an unbelievable platform to serve. After we peel back the sheets, we realize that literally everything we seek to accomplish is directly related to serving somebody. We serve our prospective consumer, and we end up having a customer. We serve our prospective new Agent, and we finish up with an extra member of our family. We serve the Companies we characterize, and we end up fostering the health and life of our work atmosphere. The Business serves the field force, and we end up having a field force who strives to defend the welfare and profitability of the Corporation. Every sole dollar of new business earnings generated as annualized life premium results from someone SERVING someone else.
we're here to influence and inspire.
John Maxwell is right on point when he says that we won't believe in the leader if we do not believe in the message. Lucrative firms work on what I refer to as the Law of Attraction. People end up being part of an business because they believe in it and the message they hear and see. They end up with the desire to desire what those in the Business have and believe if they partner with them they can get what they want. Our responsibility is to live out our life of influence and inspiration in such a way that we make obvious HOW to be triumphant, and encourage them with the drive to be prepared to do what it takes to get in place to succeed.
The more we comprehend, believe, and accept that it's not about us, the more we will discover ourselves blessed beyond our wildest imaginations. That's just the way it works.
