Want to jump straight to the full book summary? Here you go—Eternal Purpose: “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren (Book Summary)
You may have heard one of the following quotes before:
Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. — Henry Ford
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. — Buddha
Watch your thoughts, they become words;
watch your words, they become actions;
watch your actions, they become habits;
watch your habits, they become character;
watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
— Frank Outlaw
The first quote is about beliefs. The second quote is about beliefs and behavior. The third quote ties everything together (Note: I often see this quote attributed to Gandhi, but some quick research suggests otherwise).
Recently, I came across an even more succinct and impactful way to get the same point across.
The Purpose Driven Life
I’ve been doing research for an upcoming eBook on life purpose. It’s nearly impossible to research purpose without coming across Rick Warren and his book The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Book Summary).
Whether you agree with Rick or the religious angle of the book, it’s hard to argue with the results: it’s the #1 non-sponsored book on Amazon if you search “purpose” or “life purpose” with 4.5 stars and nearly 5,000 reviews.
My research ended up taking me to a TED talk that Rick Warren gave in 2006 where he said:
Your worldview determines everything else in your life…what we believe determines our behavior, and our behavior determines what we become in life. — Rick Warren
You can watch the full video here:
Your Beliefs → Your Behaviors → What You Become
I paraphrased the above quote to “Your Beliefs → Your Behaviors → What You Become” or “Beliefs → Behaviors → Become.” This is a simple way for me to remember this continuous loop.
If you aren’t excited with where you are or the path you are on (what you are becoming), check your behaviors. If you don’t like the actions you are taking in life, check your beliefs. You can visualize the loop forward and backward to ensure you are making steps — even if they are small — on the journey you want for your life. Don’t forget you can edit your purpose at any time.
Interested in another perspective on life purpose? Check out ikigai, the Japanese “reason for being,” from the Blue Zones.
Have you read The Purpose Driven Life or already defined a life purpose? Let me know in the comments.
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