Joseph Iregbu

Purpose Guy

5 Principles for Living a Great Story

From Joseph: This post originally featured on The Story of Hope in 2013 and has been refreshed. I trust it will serve as a great reminder for you to live a life of purpose.

When I speak to young leaders, there is one question that always gets them to pause and think:

How would you like your story to be read in 20 years?

It’s a question that should make you pause and think too. It changed the course of my life. I got to a point in my life I decided to live purposefully and with intentionality; I wanted to make impact, influence lives and live a great story for God’s glory. Yes, I resolved not to waste my life.

Your Story

How would you like to be remembered?

The pain of lost years

Don’t bluff this out, don’t scorn this message; I know some who did and are telling a rather different and difficult story today. They ignored the signs that they were living a false story. They believed a lie.

The result of not living a purposeful, God-intended life can be damaging. The pain of lost years can be very deep. 

But you don’t have to experience that kind of unnecessary pain. You have a chance to ensure you don’t throw your life away. You have an opportunity to change course today, so you can live the story worth talking about now and after you’re gone.

mindset

5 principles for living a great story

I know of five practical and personal principles for living a great story. If you are serious about living (and leaving) a lasting legacy, you need to:

  • Realize: This is where you need to start. Where are you now? Are you living a great story? What is your destination? Do you know where you ought to be going? Have you deviated off course? Nothing changes until there’s a personal realization of your current state in relation to your expected end.
  • Resolve: Realisation  is not enough; you need a deep resolve to change, not a mere list of resolutions. And it begins in the mind and heart – when you change your mindset, you are more likely to act on the need for change. See Romans 12:2.
  • Commit: All resolve is wasted without commitment to the change process. What have you resolved would help you live more purposefully? Spend less time on social media? Don’t hesitate! Get a new job? See it through!! Serve in your local church or commit to a community cause? Do it!!!

Commitment breeds confidence; when you commit, you get better at living your story.

  • Connect: Solitude will kill your story – so connect! Serve others with your story, your passion and your talent. Connect with people who will help you grow on your journey.
  • Trust: The road ahead will be tough and painful. Living a great story comes with pain. But you need to trust the One who is the Author of the Greatest Story ever lived. Trust God with your story and let Him make ‘awesome’ out of yours.

Your outcome today is a product of yesterday and tomorrow will be the outcome of today. Don’t waste your life.

Image courtesy of Arjun Chhabra | Flickr

About Joseph Iregbu

From a homeless, near-school-dropout to living a story worth telling. Purpose is my passion. What's your story?

6 Replies

  1. Reap what you sow.
    Anything worth having is worth working for. It’s a lie that life should be easy and fun.

  2. This is powerful, Joseph. Great to meet you here. I AM living a great story. I’ve done some writing and speaking but I need to be more proactive to share my story to help others even more. I loved your point that solitude will kill your story. I have published two kindle books as well and am working on a third. Thanks for the encouragement. I am bookmarking your site. Looking forward to reading more. blessings, Amy

    1. Thanks Amy for the encouraging words. You’re definitely doing work that matter. Keep it up and see you here soon, again 🙂

  3. Commitment is the aspect that really stands out to me. So many people are resolved but after 6 months or a year that resolve has been lost because of a lack of commitment. We must push forward and keep trusting God no matter what life throws at us. In the end it’s “HIS” story not ours!

    Thanks for the great post!

    1. @disqus_PczE90NBqk:disqus Commitment is usually where we tend to get stuck. But I love your encouragement: “Keep pushing forward and keep trusting God” No other way. Thanks!

Leave a Reply

Get Regular Updates

Join other readers to get regular updates from my blog for free. Enter your email address to sign up. I won’t spam you. That’s a promise.