Get your mission clear!
What do you want to accomplish?
What do you value?
For me, I have often found myself thinking or saying: “Leave it better than you found it.” I have said this often to get myself through some very challenging experiences, so I would consider it a key value for me.
Even in trivial matters, you will see opportunities to follow your mission once you get clarity for yourself.
Here is one such trivial matter as an example: This morning, I went for a jog. I am traveling for work. I know the area because I travel here often, but as an occasional visitor, I have no personal stake in the area. As I am running, I notice a plastic bag from the grocery store stuck in one of the bushes next to the sidewalk. Nothing was in the bag, and it must have been blown into the bush by the wind. It looked clean enough, so I picked it up. As I continued my jog, I came across an empty beer can on the sidewalk. I picked up the empty can and put it in the bag I found. Then I noticed a candy wrapper, some old papers and scraps, and a popped balloon and a soda can.
By the time I finished my jog, I had filled the grocery bag with trash. As I am heading to my hotel, I passed a garbage can next to a business, and dropped the bag in the trash can.
I left that small area of my jog better than I found it. I did not prepare to do it, and it cost me nothing. The world literally provided everything I needed to act at just the time I needed it to honor my values.
I think the same kinds of things happen in many areas of life. In order to receive the help we need from the world and from “luck”, we have to be clear on our mission and looking for the opportunities when they appear. Recognizing the opportunity is very important, but none of that matters if you do not take action with the resources provided to you in the moment.
Take aways:
- Get clear on what your mission is!
- Look for opportunities around you all the time
- Take action immediately and seize that opportunity when it appears.