How to Find Your Purpose Today!

There is a pandemic of purposelessness poisoning young men in America today. It is a poison that threatens not just millions of individuals, but our society as a whole! I have tasted this poison myself and I want to share with you the antidote I have found.

But first, let me introduce you to my friend Loren Hollingsworth!

Loren Hollingsworth is one of the most inspiring, purpose-driven men I know. At age 87, Loren doesn’t bat an eye at jumping on a plane and flying from Alaska half-way around the globe to Thailand. What would excite Loren to cross 15 time zones when men two decades younger are content to relax in retirement? Loren has a tremendous love for God and it’s nigh impossible to keep Loren from his preaching and teaching.

Loren is known for facing life with intensity. After joining the army in his younger years, he was sent to the Special Forces where he set a world record for a high-altitude group jump at over 43,000 ft. After completing his military career, he would say, “How can I give any less to God than I gave to Uncle Sam?”

Loren’s intensity and vision led him to become a missionary in Thailand and Cambodia where he started a preaching school. Through Loren’s tireless teaching and mentorship over the course of many decades, thousands of preachers were launched into Asia. Countless people across Thailand, Cambodia, and beyond have come to know Christ because of the purpose and clarity with which Loren leads his life.

I am inspired every time I talk with Loren. I would love for you to meet Loren in person to experience his contagious intensity and sense of purpose. Or… perhaps, I should say I wish you could have met Loren in person. Loren passed away last month. At the age of 87, he was in Thailand on his teaching circuit – with a schedule that would have exhausted a man 40 years younger – when he had several debilitating strokes. He never returned home to Alaska. He passed away on the mission field around 50 years after first setting foot on it.

Loren would often say he would never live long enough to do everything he wanted to. He accomplished an incredible amount of work for Christ in his lifetime. He impacted countless lives and left a tremendous legacy. Yet, the truth is, none of us can accomplish everything! We have a limited number of days and can do a limited number of things. How do we know that we are making our lives count? How can I know that, when I reach my deathbed—like Loren—I gave life my best shot?

The answer to this question will change your life. If you implement what you’re about to read, your life is guaranteed to take on a new sense of purpose and clarity! Here’s the answer…are you ready for it? Here it is! Start with the end in mind!  No man can truly live until he realizes he will surely die! Let that sink in! On an unknown day—maybe in 50 years or maybe tomorrow—your time will be up! We are walking hour glasses, except we can’t see how much sand we have left before it runs out!

No man can truly live until he realizes he will surely die.

How do you start with the end in mind? Let me share with you an exercise that has given me a tremendous amount of clarity and purpose. This exercise—if you actually do it—will change your life. Here’s the exercise: write your own ideal obituary. Yes, you read that right! Write it out! What would it say?

This isn’t supposed to be what your obituary would say if you died tomorrow. This is what it would say if you lived your best, most impactful life with the greatest legacy imaginable! Make it 100% specific to you. What are the greatest things you can do with the gifts and talents God has given you? What would it look like if you lived out your biggest dreams? What would it look like if you gave more than you could even imagine to the people around you? In what ways could you leave this world a tremendously better place than when you entered it?

Put your phone on silent and shut down all distractions. Pull out a piece of paper or your laptop and start writing. This should take about 30 minutes. Make it compelling! Make it exciting and inspiring! It needs to be something you can read on your worst day to get you fired back up and reinvigorated with clarity. 

Can’t do the exercise right now? Do this instead: Pull out your calendar and make a 30-minute appointment with yourself within the next 48 hours that you WILL NOT miss. Do it then. Don’t miss out on this opportunity for a radically transformed sense of purpose!

There will be a huge gap between “you today” and your “future you” (if you’ve dreamed big enough). That’s ok. That might seem really overwhelming and you might ask, “how will I get there from where I am today?” Don’t worry about it! I will share that with you soon!  Until then, put your ideal obituary some place where you will see it often. As you read and re-read it, it will birth in you—like Loren Hollingsworth—momentous purpose and clarity. Remember, no man can truly live until he realizes he will surely die.

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