Purpose

I watched Deion Sanders on First Take a few weeks ago and something he said caught my ear.

”I am where I’m supposed to be, God has called me to this place and time, this era and city. I’m in my zone. I’m in my purpose and I absolutely love it.”

I recently had a conversation with someone about finding your purpose. I’d been talking about how it’s a process and sometimes you don’t really know. Hearing Deion talk made me reconsider that.

Deion was responding to a question about if he wants to coach in the NFL. He was deflecting a bit and I’d bet that Deion does eventually want to be the coach of a truly powerhouse college football program. In 5 years I would be surprised if Colorado had not been a stepping stone to something bigger for him.

But at the same time, I believe him when he says “I’m in my purpose and I absolutely love it.”

Most of us live our lives waiting to feel certain that the thing we are doing is truly the thing we are made to do. We imagine that there is some qualitative difference between the feeling we experience when we think about our work and the things people like Deion Sanders experience when they go to work.

But what if it is nothing more than commitment?

In a way, we are all where we are supposed to be. God has called us all to the place and time we are in. That is true for everyone, but 99% of us don’t embrace it. Instead, we wonder if we are truly doing the right thing. We fret about what might might change if we do something different.

We get caught up worrying because we haven’t arrived at the destination yet, and we forget that we are on a journey. Roger Federer wasn’t a failure when he was struggling as a pro at 19 years old, he was on the journey to becoming one of the greatest of all time.

In the same way, the work you are doing right now is the thing that you were made to do, the thing that can help you become a better and more capable version of yourself.

If we work hard apply ourselves and embrace where we are and the opportunities in front of us, eventually we will grow to surpass our current situation. We will find opportunities where we can create a bigger impact.

But if you sit back and never really jump in until you are sure it is your life’s purpose, the most likely outcome is that you never find that thing.

What would change for you if you believed that you were in the exactly right place in life? What would change if you believed that the challenges you were facing were the things you were made to overcome?

There is an incredible power to people who believe what Deion believes.