Welcome back to the 4th week of our journey to discovering purpose. In my last post, I was inspired to write about someone else’s story and her inspirational journey in owning her purpose. Sharing Storm’s remarkable story allowed me to share in her victory and revealed how each of us have a story to tell that can be an inspiration to someone else.

There is nothing more rewarding and fulfilling than finally understanding why we were created. Living every day in confidence of your skills, passion, and purpose; there is just no better accomplishment. However, like any achievement in life, we need to always be willing to keep learning and never think we are self-sufficient in our abilities. Life has revealed that no one is immune to failure and disappointments. These stumbling blocks should not evoke fear but rather help us harden our resolve and commitment to discover our purpose.

If you are committed to your calling, you need to be aware of the curveballs that could throw you off your path to purpose. See below I have listed a list of things that may often deter or mislead us. We often overlook or trivialize some of these distractions, because we do not see the immediate threat, they pose to finding our purpose. The below list is to help us identify and avoid such distractions, especially if they are impeding our purpose and threatening to throw us off course.

7 Things That Can Take You of Course From Your Purpose

Good Things

Things that seem great, are not always. Life will always try to preoccupy you with different things. Not every ‘good’ opportunity will be beneficial to your purpose. It is important to know what’s right for your purpose and not what is considered right by others. A few examples include:

Trends
Stigma
Pop Culture

Procrastination

Procrastination Is possibly the biggest waste of time in life. The amount of time we spend on thinking about doing something outweighs the time we would have spent doing anything at all. When a thought or idea comes to your mind, jump on it and do it immediately. Daring people never succeeded without making mistakes, if you can do it today, do it now!

Procrastination will:

Destroy your focus.
Lead to failure.
Affect your self-esteem.
Lead to poor decisions.
Loose valuable time.

Attraction

We live in a superficial time and age where everything that is visually attractive is immediately appealing. From people to things, if it looks good we are conditioned to gravitate towards it. When we respond to what we see instead of what we know, we are easily swayed. Such distractions vie for your attention in an attempt to take you off course.

Distraction

There is so much going on around us – personally and collectively, that garners for our attention daily. So many distractions threaten to pull us away from our objectives, it gets harder day by day to stay rooted in your purpose. Below is a list of ways to help keep you rooted in your purpose and avoid distractions

Stay committed.
Perseverance amidst the confusion.
Remember your motivation.
Keep the faith.
Rest.

Relationships

One of the most common reasons for losing our focus or throwing in the towel is because of the people and the relationships we form. It is very important to have a good support structure however, not everyone in our lives has our best interest at heart. Our purpose often brings us to a place where we are forced to re-evaluate our relationships. We need to start assessing our interactions and the people in our close circles, because sometimes, the people closest to us are the ones impeding our progress. Wrong people do not leave your life voluntarily, often we need to make the decision to let go of relationships that are inhibiting our growth. Below is a list of ways to help you identify toxic characteristics in relationships:

Those who impede or derail your dream.
People who are focused on their own success and not yours.
Those who make you feel obligated to please them.
Those who find fault and make you doubt your vision.

Impatience

A lack of patience is common trait amongst most of us – we want what we want, and we want it now. The concept of waiting for the perfect time is hard, especially when it comes to something we have put so much work into. However, the true meaning of patience comes in faith. Waiting on something we fail to see or understand goes beyond our human inclinations and as a result we give up too quickly. Once we learn to understand that waiting is not in vain but can be a prelude to something far greater than we could ever imagine, we are able to appreciate periods of waiting a lot more effectively. It will happen when it is meant to. Learn to wait for the right time.

Compromise

We are so quick to either throw in the towel or bend to someone else’s will because we fail to see the value in our own opinions. Once we fully understand that our purpose is an individual journey designed uniquely for each of us, we will see that another’s opinion holds no validity. Do not allow what has been placed in your heart and mind to be easily swayed. Do not compromise, do not settle.

If you fear a setback, or the possibility of veering off course from your path of purpose, the only way to remain successful in your calling is to have and maintain a daily dynamic personal prayer life with God. Continual communion and fellowship with the Source of your purpose will guide your path, see you through and never lead you astray.