In the

upcoming book, Discover Your Purpose, I talk about ownership of that purpose at length. When you talk about writing plays and poetry, you know that William Shakespeare owned that purpose. When you talk about conquest and leadership, you know that Alexander The Great owned that purpose. When you talk about personal financial freedom, you know that Robert Kiyosaki owns that purpose.

A Name At Times Identifies Purpose

Purpose is always going to be a singular idea. For instance, the names mentioned seldom are identified with anything way further than what has already been related to them. You and I were born not to do all things, but to be minimalist in our effective existence to focus on the few things of our purpose pursuit.

This means then, that at some point in time, people must start to identify us with that purpose pursuit that we have dedicated our lives to. All of us have that opportunity to do this. I always say that my greatest villain is status quo because it teaches us not only to try and be the same but to try and do all things that we can.

Can There Be Purpose without a Villain

That is why purpose pursuit becomes the vehicle through which people can be delivered from that villain. Why? Because each person has a unique eye print, unique heart-set, unique fingerprints and a unique purpose that they are to deploy. Our call in life is to be as faithful as possible to our uniqueness of purpose.

We do not start competent with purpose. We grow through the process over time depending on our hunger, urgency, consistency, and direction we take in life. Ultimately, we become associated with the direction of purpose that we took at some point in time.

Signs of Purpose Ownership

Every one of those names mentioned in the first paragraph shows the following signs of purpose ownership:

1. They Have Products And Services

Your purpose will be effective on earth to the degree that you have crafted relevant products and services that people use to interact with. It is those products and services that are tools that change the lives of people. It is those products and services that are used to fight off the villain off of people’s lives.

It is possible that you can know what your purpose is but totally miss out on being effective. Why? Because you have not crafted the relevant products and services associated with it. Purpose ownership comes to you when you are identified with respective products and services that you have passionately built around your purpose pursuit.

2. You Are Serving People With Your Purpose

Of course, the heart of purpose is others. You do not find your purpose to use it for your selfish gain. The difference between people of purpose and people who are just employed to do tasks is the passionate service that they show on earth.

You will be identified with your purpose ownership when people know you for a particular thing—your service to humanity with your purpose. Thus Kiyosaki passionately talks about personal financial freedom, Alexander The Great delivers victories to his armies through his tactics and courage and so on.

You do not find people of purpose who have owned it doing anything other than what that purpose requires of them. Service with purpose is a great indication that you have owned your purpose.

3. You Have and Are An Authority

Authority comes from the root word, “Author”, I believe. Although it has a connotation of being the creator or the originator of something, it also has the idea that you are a mother to it. You conceived it, gestated it, and brought it forth.

Authority though also means that you have leadership over that purpose. You know the way for it and you are passionately going the way. People around you see you as the go-to person, the expert in the trade for it. You have scars and wounds to show for it because you have stuck with it for quite a while.

If people wanted to know that you own your purpose, then there will be an aura of authority around it. You will be seen as the thought leader in that area and people will quote you. They will listen when you speak because having owned that purpose, you know more than they do, or you are passionate than they are.

4. Dominion

One of the ways that we show our dominion on earth is through the ownership of our purpose. Dominion has to do with winning and installing a culture that rules. It has to do with rising up against what opposes, counterfeits, or corrupts what you stand for. It has to do with a victory over the villain.

Every hero has a villain, and the greatest heroes all over the world are people of purpose. Over and over again, they will rise up against their villains and will have dominion over them. There are many types of villains in the world: fear, oppression, status quo, poverty, poor leadership, you name it.

You own your purpose each time you are silencing and obliterating the villain in your life that rises up against your purpose pursuit.

5. Territory

This goes along with authority. The territory is physical or at least it is geographical. Authority is philosophical as well as it is psychological. A person who has owned their purpose knows full well the extent of their niche.

At times that niche can be purely geographical. Other times it can be demographical. Other times it can be specific to a villain or specific to a solution. Whatever the case, your purpose ownership will be identified when people can relate a particular territory to you.

So, if you think you are a person of purpose, it is time to gauge yourself against these five signs and see what’s missing or what you are excelling at. The more of these and even many more pillars of ownership you have, the better.