I seem to have been having conversations of late about personal Purpose, including being asked “how do you arrive at your Purpose?”. There is no one set way, nor a set time period for this, it is quite a holistic process.
That said, often part of the process is establishing a few keywords that really represent who you are when you are at your best and what you bring in service of others. These words then act as the engine that powers you to live your Purpose (which for me is #MakingPotentialPossible)
I call these your “three words”, and above those sit your “one word”, which is both the source of who you are and the outcome of you “being” those three words. I was reminded of this more in a recent conversation where to illustrate, I used my own words, words which sit on a piece of paper right in my eyeliner next to my screen.
My one word is INSPIRE
My three words are:
- INSIGHTS
- BRAVERY
- BELIEF
What does that look like in action?
- When I listen to someone tell their story I will see the potential I see in them.
- This will then bring forth from me both any INSIGHTS I then have, and also create space for me to demonstrate my BELIEF in them.
- These then encourage that person to bring forth the BRAVERY inside.
I always have these words as my anchors. If you read this and you know me through my work, I hope they also represent how I show up for and with you.
Oh, and the photo above? It is of one of my sons, aged 6, having travelled from Cayman to Jamaica on his first swim trip, and about to dive in to a 50-metre pool for the very first time.
As he stood there he knew that his coach and I both believed in him, we knew he had the ability and potential to race that distance and do it well. I look back on that moment (he is now 25) and hope that, in some way, we contributed to that brave moment.
Oh, here he is 14 years later, aged 20, competing in the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2018, #MakingPotentialPossible for himself.
