Are you making meaningful progress toward your life’s most important goals?

And no, I DO NOT mean getting that work project done, to fulfill someone else’s goals.

I mean YOUR REAL GOALS.  The ones that matter in your heart — not your head or pocketbook.  Yes, they may be goals that will also put fat stacks of cash in your bank vault, but they’re important because they’re about more than that.  They’re about purpose, not just achievement.

I’ll admit — I’m not always good about it.  And recently, I was being terrible about it.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day.  In the deadlines.  In the obligations you’ve created — obligations to others.

It’s easy to get caught up in earning the next paycheck, and the one after that, and the one after that.  (Whether they come from employer, clients, or customers.)

But the longer you get caught up in achievement, the more likely it is that you’ll feel rudderless.  Like you have a purpose in life that you’re not fulfilling.

And here’s the dirty truth about that.  The more you feel off-course — because you’re pursing achievement and not purpose — the less productive you’ll be.  Not just on those purpose-driven projects you’ve been putting off.  But all your other work and business and life achievements that you’re dedicating time to.

It’ll be harder to make progress.  To make your hours meaningful, in any way.

You’ll feel like your life is stuck in the mud.

And there you are, pushing and pushing, trying to get out.  All the while your tires are spinning and you’re going nowhere.

At first, you’ll think you just need to push harder.  The achievement you’re working towards is just beyond your reach.  And if you push harder, you’ll get it.  And then you’ll be freed up to do those things that are in alignment with your greater purpose.

But you’ll keep pushing, and keep pushing.

And you’ll just be getting more stuck.

Like when a car is stuck in the mud, and the more you spin the tires, the deeper it gets and the more stuck it becomes.

The solution to getting unstuck is NOT pushing harder for achievement.

It’s stepping back and making room for purpose.

If you are not living a life in total alignment with your purpose, you MUST make room for it…

I’ve started something new this week.  Being very intentional about this.  And I think you would benefit from trying it.

Here’s the thing.  You’ll make time for all your achievement goals throughout the day.  You have client projects to finish.  Something else you’re working on.  Errands to run.  Calls to make.  And so on.  Those will all happen in your day.

What won’t happen is that flexible time you could be using to make meaningful progress toward your life’s most important goals that involve fulfilling your purpose.

That won’t happen unless you MAKE IT HAPPEN.

And the way you make it happen is to carve out the time for it FIRST.  Before you deal with all the minutiae and daily tasks that will demand your attention.

I call this my Hour of Power.

I know Tony Robbins and others have used this term.  But here’s how I’m using it.

I carve out an hour at the beginning of my workday to dedicate to the projects I’ve been wanting to work on that are BIGGER in purpose than everything else I’ve been working on up until this point.  These are legacy projects.  Projects that could still matter in 100 years.  Projects you haven’t even heard about yet.

I’m finding that my heart is SCREAMING for these projects to get attention and support.  And so I’m making them happen the only way I know how — I’m carving out time for them before anything else.

I set a timer for 55 minutes, and go.  I work on these projects.

This choice has given me a brand new energy.  It’s given me a brand new clarity and focus.  I’m working toward my purpose, and I feel great about it.

But something else is happening.  The clarity that comes from this doesn’t stop when that timer goes off, telling me that my Hour of Power is done.  I’m finding it easier to get EVERYTHING ELSE done, too.  My achievement projects are breaking through the resistance that was there.  Because that resistance was my heart’s way of telling me that I also needed to be working toward my purpose.

Do this, and thank me later…

Carve out an hour.  Make it at the beginning of your day.  Because if you don’t do it then, it won’t happen.

If you have to, get up earlier.  Do it before your normal workday, if you need to for whatever reason.  Or at the very least, in the first hour if you can afford to carve out that block.

Make an appointment with yourself, and honor it.

And if you know you want to be working toward your life’s purpose, but you’re not even sure what the heck it is…  Sit down with a pen and a pad (paper is better than a keyboard for this) and let your mind tell you.  Make this the focus of your first Hour of Power — or your first few.  Just focus your thoughts on finding your purpose, and start writing.  There may be a lot of garbage and clutter you have to get out before the truly important goals come to the surface.  Your highest self has to trust that this is what you’re actually looking for, and you’re willing to set aside the rest long enough to dedicate your high-value time and energy to these purpose-driven goals.

I don’t know what your purpose is.  I can’t tell you this.  Your rational mind can’t even tell you.  Only your heart can tell you.

And it will change.  A life well-lived often involves fulfilling one purpose after another.  At one stage, it may be to launch the career that earns you the living that takes care of your family.  And at another stage, it may be to quit that career to build something bigger and better.

And just so you know, this doesn’t mean Breakthrough Marketing Secrets is going away.  It will likely only lead to even more exciting things and massive value for you in the months to come.

But that’s another topic for another day…

Yours for bigger breakthroughs,

Roy Furr