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et’s start by talking about success, because at least most people are seeking it. My question is this: does it happen arbitrarily? Do you succeed by accident? Let’s say you wanted to become a President of some sort, do you end up a president by fluke? Of course not. I think the most succinct quote that comes to mind to nail this school of thought is by Zig Ziglar. He said:

“People do not wander around and then find themselves at the top of Mount Everest”

Frankly, “doing life” is a kin to climbing Mount Everest. First, you want to climb it as a challenge. Second, you prepare to do so. Third, you train to do so and then lastly you take a course of action to take you there. You recruit people who would help you, you do research and gather as much information as possible. John C. Maxwell calls it The Law of Navigation.

So as you can see, [ictt-tweet-inline]success in life is predicated by some level of intention[/ictt-tweet-inline]. Things don’t just happen. The world did not just come out of gases belching as scientist would like us to believe. Is it any wonder than that most atheists will tell you that there is no reason for life, no purpose for existence, that we just are?  We don’t belch success; we work to see it come to pass. [ictt-tweet-inline]Without intention, you can forget about success.[/ictt-tweet-inline] Pause and think about that. Can you tell me of any one person in life who succeeded unintentionally? Even those who win the lottery have their sights set on it, and that is why they buy lottery tickets!

What Purpose is

That argument alone tells us that [ictt-tweet-inline]purpose is paramount to success[/ictt-tweet-inline]. Purpose is the original intention for the creation of a thing. Ever seen a manufacturer who just makes a thing for no purpose? Look around your house or any surroundings near you: is there anything purpose-less there? Then why in the world would you think that you are purposeless? You know, I have come to realize that most people at the gut level are purpose oriented. People have a sense of purpose in their existence at least at the level of desire, instinct or intuition. However, most people never pursue it. Why is it so?

• Can you tell me that most people who are successful are purposeless?
• Is Bill Gates without a purpose?
• Was Steve Jobs purposeless?
• Was MLK purposeless?
• What is the Purpose that Elon Musk pursues?

[ictt-tweet-inline]I dare you to mention just one successful purposeless person worldwide.[/ictt-tweet-inline] I would love to fly wherever that person is and ask them some questions. There simply isn’t such a one. However, can you find me purposeless unsuccessful people whose lives are uninspired and unfulfilled? Can you find me a stuck person who does not have purpose? You do not have to go anywhere to search. These are in droves.

So what are the main reasons why people do not live to fulfill their God-given purpose?

1. Ignorance

Largely, we have not esteemed a life of purpose as we have a life of education and work. But interestingly, if we injected a life of purpose before we embarked on these two important aspects of life, things would change dramatically and in massive ways. A life of purpose is not in the consciousness of many people largely because of ignorance. This ignorance is on things such as to why purpose is important, when to inculcate it in life and how to incorporate it in our lives. It is not uncommon to hear people say, “the purpose of life is to be happy”, or something like, “there is no single purpose for me to be alive, I just am”. You are wrong. There is a purpose for you to fulfill and that is why you are alive today. If that purpose wasn’t there, you would not be around. As a matter of fact, the moment you have served your purpose on earth, then you are now ready to die.

2. Culture

The ignorance that I am talking about is largely due to the cultures we have adopted. We call ourselves a ‘civilized’ society and yet a large percentage of us do not know why we were born.  Mark Twain said it succinctly:

”There are two important days in your life: the day you were born; and they day you find out why”

We do not have a culture that fronts a life of purpose. However, we have a culture that is largely predicated by raising people through a school system. After attending school where we are taught very many things, we automatically start looking for a job (we thought that school was to help us get a job, and that is why at times we do not have projects of our own even while we are still at school). [ictt-tweet-inline]The greatest years of disillusion is always after school.[/ictt-tweet-inline] There are scores of people with grand academic qualifications but still “can’t find work” to do. Can you believe that? How can you not find work? Simple: someone told you that you need to present your academic papers, attend an interview and then get a formal employment. Until then, you consider yourself “jobless”, and by extension, “Useless” in life. That is what our culture has made us to be. How do I know this? I went through it. I am not from Pluto you know.

3. The Hustles of Life

There are two major things in the present world. There are dreams and then there is reality. We all have dreams. There is no human on earth who does not have the capacity to dream. However, life pulls us down and reminds us that we need to eat, drink, put clothes on our backs and basically survive. So we spend much of our time surviving and making sure that we fend for ourselves as much as we can. We forget about our dreams and purpose in the process. It seems to us like our dreams do not give us as much options as we would like. You see, hustling is part of life if you will. It is a process of growth, but not a condemnation in life. Therefore, if we are hustling we would better do it in the context of our dreams. It is time that we put some belief in the dreams that God has placed inside of us. Some of us need to record videos and impact the world. However, we are so bogged down with paying rent that our dreams are a distant luxury. Nothing condemns people from purpose like hustling does. However, we must keep our dreams alive and after fending for ourselves, find a way to pursue our dreams and purpose against all odds. That is the reason why we are alive. Not just to eat, drink, pay bills and die. I refuse that kind of life in Jesus Name!

4. Lack of Clarity of Vision

Vision is the closest link you have to a life of purpose. If you sat down to clarify your vision in life, you will for the most part draw closer to your purpose. You cannot hit a miss. God gave you a heart, desires, passion and emotions through which you can unearth your purpose. Most importantly, God gave you a brain to think. For the most part, people are waiting to hear God audibly telling them to do something. God is saying that you need to think, imagine and then let me partner with you:

“God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or imagine….”

Therefore stop thinking that imagining, dreaming and visualizing if a “carnal” thing. God is banking on it. He told Moses, “that very thing which you have spoken will I do”. Moses was not waiting for God! Let’s switch on our dream machines and let’s clarify our vision in life. Once we do this, we will be in the touching distance of living our purpose to fulfill it. Do not fail to have a vision because you feel that you do not have provision to bring it to the fore. [ictt-tweet-inline]Start with the vision and leave the provision to God. That is His domain.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

5. Lack of Passion

Dr. Myles Munroe in one if his teachings says:

“Do you know what is wrong with people? They do not have passion”.

He says that passion is a force greater than death. In the world today, we do not see as many passionate people as we should. The only passion I see is for football fans, supporting English soccer teams. That passion is unprecedented. In fact, some people have committed suicide because of bad results by their teams. Others have betted their wives and houses and lost them. We have misplaced passion around the world. And yet God put some fire inside of us that is flickering at a distant benign. If we tried just a little bit to fan that flame of passion, it will draw us close to what we are called of in purpose. Frankly, I shudder to think of living a life devoid of passion. I want a holy passion, a holy discontentment. I do not want to calm down and to settle down and to be comfortable. I want to be seen as a passionate man. I have been branded a radical in some quarters. It is because of my spirit of passion. May it live on as I fulfill my God given purpose.

6. Greed

This is interesting because those caught in it already do know their purpose in life. However, they just can’t help themselves but go on a different tangent because they are feeding their greed. There is a lie in their hearts that after they have achieved what they wanted, they will come back and serve their purpose. However, greed feeds more greed. That is why someone who is exploiting people of their money never gets satisfied. They just can’t see others benefiting in a righteous way. The greed has brought forth some jealousy and now it is unstoppable. It is a tough thing to be greedy.

7. Fear

The greatest friend of greed is fear. These two are joined at the hip. They feed one another. You get greedy because you are afraid. And so you easily go on a tangent to sashay your fear and pamper it. Fear at times cheats you that you cannot make it. It wants you to live in the predictable and measurable ways. That’s why it is easy to get a job and look for one with the most “job security”. Purpose on the other hand does not have job security with it. Purpose dares you out of your comfort zone. Does not promise you a salary at each turn especially when you get started. However, when that train has gathered full momentum, purpose will not only take care of you, but will also take care of your generations. So do not be afraid.

Let’s do this people. Let’s seek to live a life of purpose!