Mission is the one unique thing that you can contribute to the world that no one else would be able to do as well as you. It will be different for everyone and operate at different levels for each person. For some it may appear loftier than others. For one person it may be their whole life and vocation, for others it will be a part of their life – perhaps a hobby which they simply must carry out. For everyone it is a contribution to the world and a role that cannot be fulfilled by anyone else but you. What’s your mission and are you living it?

Mission isn’t necessarily about giving up your job and doing something completely different. Your mission may be to be a fantastic account manager without whom there would be no smooth communication between clients and your company. If you weren’t the one taking extra trouble to iron out problems for your clients then who else would be taking so much care? Mission may also be about being the most wonderful mother or father. Mission is essentially about living your life to the fullest and having honest heart to heart communications with all people in your world.

But what if, deep down, you know that your mission isn’t about what you are doing now and that it will involve a major change in direction? What is the best way to achieve this?

My advice is – do it gradually. I’ll share my story with you. For many years I had been inspired by personal development speakers. It was 1999 and I had attended many seminars and always had the feeling that I too should be this kind of speaker. I also started writing around this time and enjoyed the creative process. This left me with two activities that I wanted to do but no real understanding as to how to make them happen and earn a living at the same time. After about eighteen months I decided not to give up my job as an IT consultant, but to do it part-time. This gave me the best of both worlds – money still coming in and time to write. I had yet to fulfil my dream of being a speaker but eventually, whilst still working part-time in my computer job, I started to develop some ideas. In October 2003 I gave a prototype Lead The Life You Want To Lead talk. Four years into this process it seemed the right moment to finally take the plunge and now I fully devote myself to my Lead The Life business and to writing.

Slow and steady progress towards your dream, or mission, will give it a strong foundation. It can also be more achievable than a sudden drastic change.

Moving towards your mission isn’t always easy. Lots of problems will try and block you including your own fear and procrastination. Inner resistance can show up in many forms – illness, other “things” getting in the way, family opposition or a promotion in your day job that you feel you ‘should’ take, etc etc. I’m sure you have many more examples of your own that you could add to this list! It is easy to find excuses not to achieve your mission but the truth is, you will never be deeply happy unless you do start working towards it.

Why do so many things get in the way of your mission? Ultimately it is the work of the small ego. It doesn’t want you to be happy. It doesn’t want you to start operating from your heart. It doesn’t want you to connect with your soul and carry out your life purpose. The small ego wants your life to stay as it is where it retains control. It wants to keep you in your comfort zone and it wants you always to be its servant. It prefers that it rules you, not vice versa. It is the small ego which says “You can’t do that” or “Who do you think you are to even think of doing that?”.

Fear not – the small ego can be beaten. All you need is persistence and a huge amount of passion for what you want to do. Then you just proceed one small step at a time, in a way that is manageable for you. You can then show your small ego who is boss and start to live from your higher self. You can move forwards despite your small ego’s best efforts to thwart you. And if it does win the occasional victory – don’t worry, just get back on your feet and keep fighting it. Eventually the pain of not following your mission will be greater than the pain of doing it and then you will have all the resource, motivation and impetus that you need.

I really believe that living in accordance with your mission is important and it is my mission to encourage you to achieve this.

If you would like help discovering your mission and making it happen then check out my Start The Future Now and Stop, Procrastinating, Start Doing workshops.