“The greatest gift you can give to the world is to perfect yourself.” ~ The Bhagavad Gita
“Love, then do as you like.” ~ St. Augustine
Welcome to the Mountain!
Hey Friends, Brett Wilson here – your host and Trail Guide at Mountain Zen Den, encouraging you to connect with Nature for mindfulness and personal growth – naturally! Come on in…
How are you? I am so excited to be back with you after an extended hiatus, where we have taken some time to get away, plan, and restructure things at the Den.
There is so much to tell you, and I cannot wait to share with you all the incredible human beings and resources we have been meeting and curating just for your well-being and personal development.
We are starting a new season here at Mountain Zen Den. Can you believe it? Season 6! Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to face some personal challenges, (aka personal growth opportunities — as do we all), doing some deep thinking, strategizing, re-purposing, and making new friends with some truly wonderful and inspiring people. We’ll be introducing them to you in the next several episodes — musicians, writers, documentary wildlife filmmakers, deep thinkers and spiritual healers — all beautiful souls who are deeply in touch with the natural world. Stay connected… you are in for a real treat!
The challenges, struggles and processes over the past few months have helped me realize more than ever how very short life is, as Michael Singer, author of Living Untethered points out – and I quote,
“Sitting on a planet through vast outer space for a handful of years — in the broadest sense, this is the human predicament. Earth has been here for 4.5 billion years, yet each of us is limited to roughly an eighty-year ride on the planet, give or take a few years.”
Well, I have committed to using what’s left of my eighty or so years to not only Grow to become to become the very BEST version of myself, my inner Daimon, to use the Greek word for it, but to take a whole bunch of like-minded folks along for the ride — in fact, on a Joy-ride, a Hero’s Journey through Nature. So if this sounds like you, and you haven’t already, I invite you to join the Mountain Zen Den Community by subscribing at mountainzenden.com. You’ll get updates and information, and a whole mountainful of resources in our Blog Cabin newsletter.
There is so much goodness and positive things happening out there that we’d like to share with you to help you in your journey for Personal Growth and well-being. I’ll just mention a couple of them today, and you can learn more and find the links to them on our resources page at MountainZenDen.com/Resources.
Finally, I’m excited to share some personal news. Over the past couple of years I have been writing a book based on some of the nature-based life lessons learned, insights and personal observations I have made relating to Nature and Personal Growth. The working title is,
Grow You — Cultivating Your Garden of Well-Being (Transform Your Inner World, Become Your Best Self and Enjoy Life to the Fullest). It presents Practical nature-based guidance and meditations for becoming the best version of yourself through Personal Transformation — featuring stories, practical ideas taught by experts, and daily meditations you can use on your journey of well-being.
Super excited. So stay tuned!
Now, on to today’s show. In the past, I have often found myself feeling like I am just barely able to keep up with the seasons; always rushing from one holiday or event to another, never feeling prepared or truly able to live in the moment and enjoy it. So today, I thought we could get a jump on New Year’s goals by getting a running start in November — before the holiday season begins, before all of the running around, shopping, parties, and bad-for-you junk food binging, before setting traditional New Years’ goals on New Years’ Eve, or the beginning of the new year…
Can you imagine what a huge advantage you will give yourself by getting a headstart on next year by starting several weeks earlier?
So hopefully we can make some forward thinking plans and resolutions that will be well in place by the time New Year’s rolls around, and avoid having to undo some of the damage that has been done over the holidays, making it harder to get a running start on the new year. New Years’ goals are great, but new days’ goals, lived day by day, lead to a life of excellence. And isn’t that why we are here? I hope so!
Today, let’s take some time to explore the concept of “Finding your Purpose” (with a capital “P”). After all, if you don’t know your purpose, how do you know how to make new years’ goals and plans?
So what do we mean when we say “Purpose with a capital ‘P’?
Your Purpose should be your highest goal in life. Different from your Mission, which evolves and morphs at varying stages of life, your number one Purpose is to nourish your soul. As Abraham Maslow points out in the hierarchy of needs, “What one can be, one must be.”
Now if this sounds selfish, or narcissistic, we need to remember the oxygen mask on the airplane example. If you don’t first take care of yourself, and aren’t healthy in every area of your life, how can you help or be of any service to those around you?
We all have the same purpose, and as I mentioned, that is to nourish our soul; to discover our unique calling and gifts. To grow to become the best version of ourselves, actualize our potential and then turn around and help others. When we find our Purpose and discover our Mission, and are on the path to being all that we can be, (as Maslow reminds us), we naturally give of ourselves, our greatest gift, in service to the world.
So once we discover our Purpose, how do we continue giving our greatest gifts in greatest service to the world?
I love the way Brian Johnson, creator of Optimize, and Founder and CEO of Heroic puts it: He says, we do it by closing the “Gap” between who we are and who we can potentially become by living with Arete. That is A-R-E-T-E, Arete – the Latin word the ancient Stoics used that can best be described as “Virtue” or “Moral Excellence”. When we live to our fullest potential from moment to moment to moment, we are living with Arete, thus fulfilling our Purpose in life. I’ve found that the most practical way of doing this and to stay on track is to, all throughout the day ask myself, “What would the best version of myself be doing right now?” And then, most importantly, do it! Easier said than done.
So what is the difference between our Purpose and our Mission?
Your Mission is your unique purpose. What is it that you, and only you can do?
It’s important to understand that we have many missions in life, depending upon where you are and what stage of life you are in. For example, if you have children, only you can be a Dad or Mom to your kids. Your Mission, or “Calling” if you will is to be an extraordinary father and husband, or mother and wife, and a present member of your family. Something I wish I understood better when my kids were younger…
Nature in the wild, and on the farm gives lots of great illustrations of what this looks like – Cows give milk, chickens lay eggs, horses pull plows and give rides, and bees pollinate flowers. Each of them offers a different product, or service to the planet that only they can fulfill. And it’s the same with people as well. Only, even more individualized.
So how do we find our unique purpose?
Your unique purpose comes at the intersection of four areas or circles in your life.
- What is it you love to do?
- What is it that you are good at?
- What is it that you and only you can do best?
- What does the world need?
At the point where these four circles converge is where your unique purpose shows up.
Now for some people, it takes nearly a lifetime to discover their unique Purpose. Sadly, for a great portion of the world. They never discover their unique Purpose. And for a very lucky few, they find it very early in life. But no matter. It’s not a race. It is a Journey. A Hero’s journey, if you will. It is your unique Journey that you are called to, if you are still enough to hear, and wise enough to follow.
We will talk about this a lot more in episodes to come, but for today, let’s just take a little time in our meditation, to ruminate and chew on those four questions.
- What is it you love to do?
- What is it that you are good at?
- What is it that you and only you can do best?
- What does the world need?
As we seek our Purpose and unique Mission in life, if we are on the path of True Love and service, every step we take will be a step in the right direction. Trust the process. Trust the calling…
For more natural goodness Listen on iTunes > Subscribe in iTunes
SHOW NOTES/LINKS:
Heroic + Optimize with Brian Johnson
Living Untethered by Michael Singer