We are innately built to do more for others than we ever would for ourselves. And to spend your time doing things you are passionate about is, no doubt, an amazing accomplishment… but to use your passions, talents and strengths to lead, serve and give to others creates a deep level of meaning around what you do—and that is not only a gift that keeps on giving, but in our opinion it is also the key to a fulfilling and purposeful life.
If you are taking a job because of X title or to get X amount of money so you can start living later, it will only get you so far. Of course, you have a right to that title, that amount of money and that lifestyle if that is what you have determined success to be. But if that is your only reason—if it is only about you and what you will gain— we can guarantee you’ll only get so far…
Because there is no doubt that sh*t will get hard. You will come up against changes and challenges. And if you are not doing what you are doing for a reason greater than yourself, you’ll just start looking for the next “there” that will make you happier or things easier….. In order to have lasting fulfillment, you have to be doing what you are doing, because you love it and for a reason greater than yourself.
Many of us conceptually understand the idea that giving makes us feel good, but this deeper understanding of why giving is the key to lasting fulfillment, which I learned from Neale Donald Walsch, really helped me understand even more why this is so important:
“When you give something away, you will no longer be “wanting” it, you will immediately experience having it—because the very act of your giving something away causes you to experience that you have it to give away, since you cannot give to another something you do not now have.”