Joseph Iregbu

Purpose Guy

Why You’re Not Awesome… Yet

Average people live like this:

“Everyone else, especially the devil, is the cause of all my problems.”
 

Awesome people refuse to live in ‘blame-land’ and resolve to take responsibility for their lives, with God on their side.

By nature, we crave relevance. We want to matter. We want to be awesome. But awesomeness is not a factor of desire or wish but attitude backed up with firm decisions and actions.

awesome 2

Awesome people take a decisive stand on how they choose to live. It’s called intentionality or purpose.

I know of three reasons why people that desire to live with purpose but stop at the desire are not awesome yet. I shared these with my students during The Life Course Success Masterclass Program earlier this month. You must avoid these three mistakes too.

No clarity about your “Why” (Purpose)

Trying continuously to navigate through life without clarity about your “WHY” or purpose can turn a 3-month journey into 3 years.

Purpose is powerful. Seeking out and understanding what you’re called to do with this precious gift of life is foundational to breaking free from average.

Avoid every attempt to be confined to live without a sense of urgency and intentionality. You were created to do more than eat, drink and play. There’s more to life.

Distractions (they derail focus)

Avoid activities and people that distract from your goal and purpose. Not every relationship is healthy for you, especially if you’re on the road to awesome. Don’t lose the forest for the trees.

What’s your vision for 2014? What distractions have you battled with so far? What will you do about them (in order to regain your focus)?

I started off the year with a clear mandate to help university and college students acquire life skills to succeed in life. It requires significant investment of my time and commitment. As hard as it was, I turned down a few speaking opportunities so I can focus on developing and delivering the Success Masterclass Program.

Sometimes, you have to say no to secondary requirements, stay focused and fulfil your primary assignment.

Zero Challenge + Zero Risk = Average 

Average people don’t change the world, influence people or lead a successful team. Share this
 

A life of purpose and intensity requires stepping out of your comfort zone. Purpose and convenience are not always best of friends. How do you want to live? You decide.

This can be hard sometimes; choosing a challenge rather than chill out and be ‘normal’. Risk is not often a ‘user-friendly’ experience and the average mindset easily settles for the absence of one. But don’t be fooled by this illusion – not taking any risk is the most dangerous risk of all. Risk is indeed right.

Throw yourself into a cause you’re passionate about. Challenge yourself. Grow your capacity to face your giants and not run away. Awesomeness beckons and you must resolve to live like you’ve never done before.

Question: In your experience, what other factors hinder people from living true to their God-intended purpose and calling? Share in the comments.

About Joseph Iregbu

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

5 Replies

  1. I’ve seen fear hold myself and a lot of other people back from making progress on their God given dreams. I’m learning that fear is one of those things that will always be present, so they key is to take action in spite of the fear. Great thoughts here!

  2. I think clarity is the biggest problem I’m facing. Without knowing exactly what I want, it’s hard to know what decisions and paths lead toward or away from that goal. All the willpower and dedication in the world doesn’t mean anything if you’re not walking in the right direction.

    I also heard something recently that stuck out to me about risk. Doing something different is no more risky than staying the same. We only think that to be true because we’re accustomed to what we know, but really our perception of risk revolves around this idea that we are already doing the best thing for us, which of course cannot always be true. Made me think.

    Great thoughts.

    1. Hi Ryan,
      I’ve struggled with clarity a lot of times too. How do I handle it? Serve God, serve people. I pour myself into others. I hear God in the process of doing so and the needed clarity comes. To fold our arms and do nothing, in wait of clarity, can be dangerous as well.
      The concept of risk the way you put it is striking. Thanks for sharing and keep being awesome!

      1. TestifyTruth

        I also have issues with clarity. I’m about to round up a Masters program yet I still have no specific idea where my life is headed. I have heard the advice to pour myself into the service of God and people, and the clarity will come. Pray for me that I yield to this right now! So be it.

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.