The communication barrier is a subtle deadly barrier that kills deals, relationships and makes religious zealots murders.  Make sure you are careful of your barriers.

One of the best selling books in recent history has been Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life”.  The reason that it is selling so well is that so few have developed a purpose for their life.

They are drifting from event to event with no passion or direction.  It is for this reason that the book was written and why so many have latched on to its precepts.  Rick is a pastor of a large church is southern California.  While there is an underlying spiritual nature to any really purpose driven life, it can be any spiritual focus that brings it forward.

Bringing purpose into your life is an art form and should help you define what you really want.  The starting place for this is to realize the symptoms prior to us moving to the solution.

So, what are the results of a lack of purpose?  They are far reaching and can actually result in the end in physiological manifestations.

First, the Mental Cost of a lack of purpose is confusion and an inability to focus on tasks because they lack the inner meaning that pushes you onward regardless of what barriers you encounter.  The confusion creates a lack of productivity.  The inability to focus creates a frustration that can lead to other symptoms we discuss later in the article.

The Financial Cost of a lack of purpose are bad as well.  If you are just going through the motions, your employer or supervisor will be able to read the signs and realize that you are just collecting a check.  This leads to fewer promotions and less money.  The market can tell when you lack purpose and passion.

The Spiritual Cost can be the most costly.  When you perceive in yourself a lack of purpose or faith in your direction or spiritual focus, this can cause Chaos.  Chaos occurs when you are incongruent with your core value set.  This can lead to apathy and it will ultimately lead to a lack of faith.

The Emotional Cost is the most subtle and can be devastating.  Depression is one of the first signs of this lack of purpose.  It leads to laziness, lack of energy and blaming.  It is the original cause of a lack of personal responsibility.  If you are blaming others for your lot in life instead of taking responsibility, you may be lacking purpose.

The Social Cost to a lack of purpose is also a subtle cost.  If your friends or family begin to withdraw and avoid you, you may be experiencing a lack of purpose.  This leads to isolation and can deepen any depression.

The Physiological Cost is an outward manifestation of the deeper issues that have been affecting you.  Research has shown that when mental or other problems are ongoing and continue to be ignored instead of addressed, those issues can cause a physical manifestation of those psychological issues.

Health can deteriorate as problems continue as a result of these ongoing issues.

The underlying lack of purpose can cause all of these challenges.  It is up to us to make the choices that will enable us to follow a course which we choose and are passionate about.

So, how do we do this?  Here’s one way:

First, answer these questions below and actually write the answers to those questions on a sheet of paper;

If you had $100,000,000 what would you do with your life?  If money were absolutely not issue what tasks would you perform?  Who would you desire to be with?  What industry would you most want to be involved with?
If you knew you would NOT fail, what job or career would you want?
What charities or causes would you support?

Next, ask yourself:
Are these realistic ideas that I can profit from today?
Can I feed my family and meet my needs with this path?
Do I want to do this?
Can I put my full passion behind this endeavor?

What is your purpose?  Why do you exist?  If you can answer this, you can create a life of purpose and true fulfillment whether or not money is the final answer.  Put a purpose in place and watch the results begin to flow in.  Become a doer instead of a watcher in life.

Rob.