Written by Matt Zavadil
Updated January 5, 2021
As we move into Lesson 3, I’d like to point something out:
Life Purpose University™ is a process. There’s absolutely no way for me to know where your mental state or spiritual awareness was when we started. You may have gone through an amazing breakthrough this past week or you may have very well struggled with the exercise.
What I want you to be aware of is that you don’t need to feel as though you must progress through this process in a linear or “cookie cutter” way.
Don’t fall into feelings of failure if you aren’t ready to take on a new lesson yet.
Maybe you’d like to take another week to explore your inner child. By all means DO THAT if that’s what you’re feeling inside.
I’m here merely as a guide, pointing out exercises and thought processes which will help you get in contact with your authentic self.
No one will go at the same speed.
You might very well have been done three days ago and were chomping at the bit to get going with the newest lesson 😉
SO…
With all that said, I want you to consider doing the following…
Get Ready To Capture Your Thoughts At All Times
From now on, decide on a method that allows you to write your thoughts no matter where you are, no matter what time of day it is. This may be a small notebook that fits easily in your purse or back pocket. It may be your phone.
Here’s why… while you now have a Peaceful Place to find solace and work on your weekly lessons, your brain, heart, and soul don’t only operate once a week.
Right!? 😉
As a result of getting disciplined and working on your feelings, the power of your subconscious mind will kick in.
You’ll find ideas and thought processes popping into your mind at all times of the day or night. By having a way to record this information, you’ll move through this process more quickly and with improved clarity.
You might be thinking about something I’m going to have you work on during Week 6 (which will be all about the Power of Your Subconscious Mind, by the way) and you may find that it triggers something you forgot all about regarding Week 1 or Week 2.
See what I mean? The information I’m going to bring to you over the next few months is inter-connected. It builds upon itself to help you grow in an exciting and meaningful way.
This is why you want to have patience with yourself and move at your own pace, even if that means setting a lesson aside and sticking with the current one a bit longer.
As long as you’re working on you consistently from this point forward, you will end up living your Life Purpose.
Let’s Start Defining Your Life’s Impact
In today’s lesson, we’re going to be thinking about your death.
Now, don’t worry, this isn’t going to be morbid 😉
Although this exercise is going to bring you to the end of your life here on Earth, it’s really more about your entire life journey. It’s a look at your experiences and adventures.
Last week’s lesson should have gotten you thinking back to when anything at all seemed possible.
For many years as a child, I constantly talked about my dream to become a professional football player. However, I learned to eventually give up on that dream. I only grew to a height of 5 feet, 7 inches. I listened when people said I was too small to realize that dream.
I eventually quit playing football and gave up on my childhood dream. You know what, though? Even in this modern era of football, I can think of at least two 5 foot, 6 inch guys that had pretty good careers. They didn’t listen to the talk I did.
Now, did I possess the talent for football they did? I know I didn’t. I wasn’t an especially gifted athlete, but I loved the game. Who knows what would have happened if I had given it my best shot?
The point I’m trying to make here is that you had dreams as a child. In your “child mind”, these dreams didn’t depend on whether you measured up correctly to others. In your “child mind”, these dreams didn’t depend on the opinions of others.
You simply wanted to do something in life that you felt passionate about and that was that.
There was a time when no one would have been able to say anything to convince you to give up on that dream. Just like there was a time as a child when I would defiantly tune out anyone in my family who gently tried to convince me that maybe professional football wasn’t in my future.
But, eventually, I did listen, didn’t I? At some point, I told myself that they were right and I was wrong. They were so right that I quit playing the game in my junior year. That’s right, I didn’t even play out my final two high school years in a game that filled me with so much passion and joy from the age of 5.
All because I allowed the child inside to die (regarding that particular dream).
What Dreams Did You Allow To Die?
This isn’t supposed to be depressing. I’m not sad about my football story and that’s only one of many lost childhood dreams I’ve identified in my own Life Purpose process.
I’ve come to terms with them. My process has turned me into the person I am today. My process has identified my Life Purpose.
In fact, I’m fulfilling a part of my Life Purpose right now writing these words for you.
So, I don’t want you to look at this week’s exercise as a negative experience. On the contrary, this is simply an awakening for you. Thinking about the end of your life is a joy once you eventually see clearly the correct journey you’re supposed to be on to get you there.
The exercise you’re going to go through this time is to vividly envision your funeral. Imagine that your spirit is there watching the entire ceremony in peaceful serenity.
Imagine the people you would most like to see there celebrating your life.
Now, Exactly What Would You Like Your Loved Ones to Say About You?
- When they discuss your life achievements, what should they be saying?
- More important than your accomplishments, what should they be saying about your character, your values, your morals?
- What should they be saying about your Life Mission… your Life Purpose?
- Are they talking about how wonderfully you lived that purpose?
- Are they talking about all the ways you touched the lives of others?
- What should they be saying about the value that your life brought to those you came into contact with?
Write this all down…
Don’t hold back…
Make it as wonderful and “pie-in-the-sky” as you want. See yourself being described as the person you dreamt about as a child… a person who fulfilled all those dreams and desires.
Now, if you died right now, would those things be said next week at your funeral?
Ouch!
Again, I don’t want you getting depressed or sad here. If you do, I’ve programmed this document with “sadness detectors” and a hand will reach out and slap you out of it if need be 😉
Seriously, though, this exercise is certainly a wake-up call. It was introduced to me years ago by a friend back when we were both sales trainers. Honestly, I blew it off back then. If you really take this exercise to heart, it can be a toughy.
You may have heard this exercise before, also. Did you blow it off like I did? Whether it’s new to you or not, please DO this exercise this week.
You’ve come into contact with your childhood innocence again. Now it’s time to envision and write down the end of your life where you’ve lived that innocence and joy for a lifetime.
You Might Need To Focus On Character, Values & Morals
I understand that you may feel fuzzy on the exact “what” you’re supposed to be doing from this moment on through to your last day. If so, then don’t focus so much on accomplishments and achievements in a material sense.
Focus more on your character, values, and morals. Focus more on the way people remember you for how you impacted them positively… how you made them feel… the difference you made in their lives…
(I hinted in Week 1 & Week 2 about how your Life Purpose will benefit many others, remember?)
If you already have a sense of which lifetime achievements would help fulfill your Life Purpose, then by all means write all this down, too.
Just write, write, write. Get it all down on paper.
Visualize all the wonderful things being said about you. Isn’t it magnificent? Isn’t it fantastic to see all those people rejoicing in the memories of your life? Isn’t it great to hear how much your life meant to them?
Ahh, the joy… the passion… the feelings… the aliveness of it all.
Yes, they’re talking about you. Little ole’ you 😉
An Aside…
I want you to understand something here. I don’t care where you are in life right now. I don’t care if you have a million dollars or can barely scrape together what’s needed to feed your family every week.
- YOU ARE SPECIAL.
- YOU ARE MAGNIFICENT.
- YOU ARE A HERO.
- YOU ARE YOU.
I know you may not see this right now. I know you may feel completely lost. I understand. I really do. I used to be there. I was so lost. I used to think about how passionate and alive I felt as a kid… so full of positive thoughts, full of dreams and ambitions… life gleamed and looked so promising.
But there was a time later in life where I found myself depressed, dejected, and lifeless. I felt beaten down by life. I was broke and in debt up to my eyeballs. Looking back, I couldn’t understand some of the decisions I had made.
What was wrong with me? What the heck happened to me? In my mind, I beat myself up over it all for quite some time.
What was wrong was that I never identified my one true Life Purpose. Sure I had this dream and that dream, but I never sat down and mapped it out. I never sat down and figured out what they were supposed to be saying at my eulogy.
So, yes, I understand if you feel lost right now and I want you to know that I’m going to get you feeling positive and loving toward yourself if I have to drag you kicking and screaming 😉
You are a special human being. Even if you don’t believe me right now, just say that to yourself.
Say it… “I’m a special human being.” Smile and say it again. C’mon, no one’s watching. And if they are, they could use this themselves, so don’ t worry about it.
OK, I’ll spare you more embarrassing compliments… for now 😉
Get to work on this week’s assignment and I’ll see you real soon.
This Week’s Assignment
Develop Your System for Capturing Your Thoughts at All Times:
Decide whether it will be a notepad, your phone, etc. and then begin utilizing it this week until it becomes a consistent habit.
Write Your Eulogy:
- What should they be saying about your character, your values, your morals?
- What should they be saying about your Life Mission… your Life Purpose?
- Are they talking about how wonderfully you lived that purpose?
- Are they talking about all the ways you touched the lives of others?
- What should they be saying about the value that your life brought to those you came into contact with?
Gain Some Perspective:
Set aside a few minutes this week to look at your work so far. Look at your notes regarding your childhood and your eulogy. Combine these ideas and realizations with the exercise from Lesson 2 where you wrote down what you’d change or do differently with your life if you were to die soon.
Sit quietly and simply allow all this information to kind of “gel” within you. Ponder it. Don’t think too much here. Just digest it all in stillness. You may very well have an “ah ha!” moment here… and you may very well not 😉
Regardless, some extremely important info is being downloaded into your mind and soul right now…