The Viable Alternative

With all the upheaval going on in the world, I’ve been recently thinking a lot about what it is to have a “purpose” in life.

As it is often said, most people are walking around fully asleep, carrying on the same old mundane routine of going to work everyday, buying things they can’t afford to impress people they don’t like, paying bills, getting manipulated by the messages of the media, without even questioning what they’re doing or why they’re here on this Earth.

Every now and then, among this crowd of sheep, a handful of people begin to wake from their slumber by questioning everything they’re doing and everything they’ve been taught and told as to what’s happiness and success is about and what they’re meant to do on here.

For these lucky few people, who discover their divine spark that emanates within telling them that they’re more than what they thought or were taught they were, this begins their relentless search for what their purpose is in life.

Such people often become frustrated, because after years of searching, they don’t feel that they’re any closer to finding their purpose.

Now, do I claim to have found my definitive purpose yet?

The answer is no. While I’ve gotten to know myself as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come more in touch with what inspires me. Inspiring people inspires me. Writing this blog, The Viable Alternative where I try to wake people up and shed light into dusty chambers of their souls inspires me, sharing stories of how people transform their lives inspire me, so does getting to the bottom of my own issues so I can finally get out of my own way.

However, I still can’t say I know my PURPOSE yet, beyond my “general” answer that I was put on this earth to spread “light,” or the “brutal truth” as some of my friends like to say…lol

So, while I don’t pretend to be qualified to tell you or anyone the specific steps of how to discover your purpose, not withstanding the fact that I personally don’t think finding your purpose is something you can oversimplify by breaking it into “steps,” I can give you some insights from people I know, observed, or read about that may be of some help.

I have a friend of mine that I met in college. In college he was a finance major and he had his sights of working in finance when he got out of college and eventually getting his MBA.

What was interesting was that when a group of us would be eating dinner, he’d have his head buried in the Entertainment Weekly magazine, or he’d be talking about an upcoming movie. Moreover, he’d often go to the movies by himself to see a movie he liked at an age when it was thought of as “uncool” or “embarrassing” to go to the movies by yourself.

After graduating college, he went to work for an insurance company, and after two years there he went on to one of the top business schools in the country for his MBA. He initially had his sights on working in management consulting for non-profit firms, but after he initially started his search for a summer internship in that field, he had a “light bulb moment” where he told me he said to himself, “You know what, I won’t be happy in life unless I was somehow involved in making films.”

There began his journey for working in the film industry to make movies.

A year after graduating with his Masters, he wound up working for a major TV network owned by Viacom where he started as a program director but eventually moved to the director of the Sports/Entertainment division. He overall vision was to get into an executive role in a company where he was actively involved in the production of movies with a goal of one day starting a production company.

Here’s the thing, along the way, he would constantly talk about movies and television he’d like to see created, and express disgust at the “low brow” shows and movies that African American directors/writers/producers put out as well as how some shows and movies portrayed them.

As an avid reader, he’d also read books of people in the past and present who led fascinating lives or did extraordinary things which carried phenomenal lessons for people and wonder why their stories weren’t told.

Finally, one day, he decided if no one else was going to tell these stories, he was going to do it himself. He started writing a treatment for a particular movie he had in mind in hopes of hiring a writer to write the story, but after finishing the treatment and getting feedback, he decided to write the story himself.

This culminated in the realization of his purpose: to be a writer.

He eventually quit his job a year and a half later and is now writing full time. He hasn’t “made it” yet, but he has what very few people on this planet have, a purpose in life fueled by his passion.

This purpose fueled by his passion emboldens him to do and endure things few are willing to do, and live at a level of excellence that most people shy away from.

There are a couple of lessons we can all learn from his story about finding your purpose.

First off, he always had a passion for movies but he didn’t even think seriously of making a living with it until his mid 20s. It shows how we often overlook the very things that are right under our noses that are given to us for free as a means from which we can create a fulfilling life and leave a lasting legacy.

If you like to fight, and were always getting into fights at school, discarding momentarily that you probably had a lot of anger, resentment and frustration festering within, maybe it’s your purpose to be a professional fighter, or to be a trainer or a coach or to own a school. I personally know someone I went to school who went this route.

If you grew up in a violent home, maybe it’s your purpose to mentor and teach kids or adults who grew up in similar situations to you.

If you grew up socially awkward, and were a complete loser with women who didn’t lose your virginity until you were like 25, but afterwards you were able to do the inner and outer work required to gain the confidence and character to become a man who’s consistently able to attract high quality women, maybe it’s your purpose to coach clueless men on how to develop their own self-esteem and confidence to attract what or who they desire, including women they’re attracted to. I’ve met a lot of guys who’ve done this.

Many times our purpose is hidden in our pain or our passion.

The second lesson from my friend’s story is that if there is a problem or need you see that you find yourself consistently concerned with or complaining about and that touches you emotionally in a way higher than “normal,” it’s a very big likelihood that it bothers you so much because you were the one who was meant to deal with it.

History is full of examples of people who answered the call to greatness. They saw a need or a problem, and through one of the pillars of The Viable Alternative, self-appointment, they took their destinies into their own hands and boldly appointed themselves the right to create the change they wanted to see in the world.

Many people are passionate about an issue, problem or need, but either they don’t think they’re big enough to address it, or they’re waiting for someone else to deal with it, or they’re waiting for someone to appoint them the right to address it.

They don’t realize that to all they need to simply start is the strong connection they feel to the need or problem and appointing themselves the right to solve it. Many people who take credit for solving or addressing some of life’s most vexing problems were clueless when they began, but by starting, they eventually were taken up on these amazing journeys where along the way they grew in extraordinary ways they never thought were possible.

Sometimes, discovering our purpose lies in simply paying closer attention to what we’ve had all along.

Okay folks, that’s all I got on this subject. 🙂

This is The Viable Alternative.

Hope this helps,

Ike Love