The Three Pillars of Life

We all have the power to change our lives. What differentiates between those who take the action to change and those who just sit on the sidelines are three basic human endowments. These three if understood and practiced have the power to initiate change within us. Lets take a look at them individually.

Purpose

A strong purpose provides us with energy. Purpose is nothing but the motivation to keep us going. It is like the engine of the ship. Its absence is taken by inertia, a feeling of being in the comfort zone and being there. People with a sense of purpose see a larger picture. They have the ability to gush towards their objectives simply by the motivation and the energy that their purpose creates for them.

Values

Have you ever applied a quick fix, fast acting, and fast track solution to a problem? Certainly every one of us has done it at one time or another. It certainly works in the short term but eventually it tears us down. Why is that so? This is because of the fact that quick fix solutions do not harmonise our purpose with our values. They just patch up the purpose with a sort of quasi values giving us an illusion of a solution. If you want your life to be in harmony, the first thing you need to do is to clarify your values both in your organisational and personal life.

To balance our values, we have to make a clear distinction between "our needs" and "our wants". Needs are essential to our survival and growth while wants are those extras that fuel our desires. What is interesting to note is that we are always in a crisis between our needs and our wants.

We live in a dichotomy. On one hand we all know that we will die one day but on the other hand we also know that we will live. This simple fact makes us complacent. But if you know that you will die say after a month, then what will happen? Your attitude towards life will change altogether. You will give more importance to your relationships! You will try to live as lively as possible! Nature will become dearer to you! You will start to appreciate your life more, just by the fact that you know that you will die in month's time. Crisis brings us clarity and appreciation in life. Think about it as you will die tomorrow and see what you really value in your life. You will be thrilled.

Vision

Vision is our ability to see beyond the present. It resides in hopes and dreams. It expands our horizon and reframes our world. It is through the process of visioning that we make experiences, as we want then to be.

All of us have vision. Some are dreams; some are hopes and others come to us as expectations. But what's important is to understand that they all have a sense of possibility impregnated in them. Even though we do not know but it resides in it. Vision has the power to change and coupled with strong purpose and aligned values anyone can do miracles as miracles are nothing but a possibility of the impossible.

"Another way of viewing our way home is to describe our universe as a big jigsaw puzzle, with a unique shape cut out for very living being, little space in the cosmos that only one person can fill. The miracle comes when, as you find your place in the jigsaw puzzle, you form the pattern for me to find mine. We serve each other powerfully by finding our place" --Alan Cohen

Amyn Lalji is a Creativity and Leadership Coach. He helps individuals and organisations unblock their creative spirit and create fulfilling lives. He is also the author of "Bumped into the Wall ? A Tool for Unblocking your Creativity and Releasing Your Creative Spirit" published in 2005. He is the founder of YouPerform, a Creativity and Leadership Coaching Company. For more information see http://www.youperform.com or email performance@youperform.com