A Major Definite Purpose must be backed by a Major Definite Plan.
Have you ever walked through a beautiful home or building? Did it spontaneously appear? Not likely. Neither will your Major Definite Purpose. Every dream home starts out as someone’s dream. If you take that dream and you clearly define it (definite objective), create a timeline for completion (definite deadline), and spell out the reasons for wanting your dream (definite motivation) the dream home will transform into something much more concrete, it will become a definite purpose.
The prior post discussed how to develop your Major Definite Purpose. Having a major definite purpose is not only the starting point to all achievement; it is also the starting point to this series of blog posts, so if you haven’t read it yet, you may want to start there.
While a definite purpose is more concrete than a dream house, you still won’t be able to live in it. All good things in life start as someone’s definite purpose, but it is a definite plan and definite execution that brings those things to life. Look at your watch or phone, this started out as no more than a thought in the back of someone’s head. It went from a thought to written concept, to a drawing, to a series of drawings, to a non-working prototype, to a working prototype, then likely went back to the drawing board for several rounds of prototypes, until it finally found its way to your local shop and into your hand.
If you want to achieve your definite purpose you must have a definite plan.
Try to think of something, anything that you use on a daily basis, from the food you eat to the device you are using to read this article, everything around you was created by people with definite purposes, backed by a definite plan, and came to life through definite execution of that plan. In fact the only thing I could think of that spontaneously appeared was the fictional flux capacitor, which is what makes time travel possible.
There is a law in this universe that states that every cause has an effect.
This ultimately means that if you want a desired result, you must find the causes or actions that lead to the desired result and then you must do them. To put it another way, if you want anything from life, you must clearly define your desired objective (your definite purpose) and discover and define what must be given to obtain the desired result (your definite plan) and finally you must do the actions that will cause the desired effect (your definite application).
How to define your Definite Plan?
After you have a definite major purpose written down and clearly defined, decide what steps you must take to achieve your purpose. Start by deciding what you can give in exchange for what you want (Personal Contribution Statement) and divide your overarching Definite Purpose into the various smaller definite purposes (Divide and Conquer). These minor definite purposes should lead you to your major purpose and should also cover the important categories and values in your life (such as financial, home, work, education, health, spiritual, and personal).
Personal Contribution Statement.
One of the laws of success is that no one gets something for nothing. If you want the desired result you must give the prerequisite effort. Your Definite Plan should start with a simple statement of what you are going to give in exchange for achieving your major definite purpose.
A good example of this is Bruce Lee’s 1969 mission statement:
I, Bruce Lee, will be the first highest paid Oriental super star in the United States. In return I will give the most exciting performances and render the best of quality in the capacity of an actor… I will live the way I please and achieve inner harmony and happiness.
Decide what you can give in order to achieve your purpose? Everyone has something to offer. You must give something of value in order to receive the desired reward. If you need some additional knowledge, education, or training then include that in your personal contribution statement and in your definite plan and definite purpose: “I will develop the specialized skills and knowledge that I need by June 2020, and will use that training to benefit others by giving…”.
Divide and conquer.
Next break up your major definite purpose into multiple minor definite purposes, all with the same components as your major definite purpose: definite objective, definite deadline, and definite motivation, and a definite contribution statement.
If you are having trouble determining your Major Definite Purpose, don’t worry about it, just start here with as many minor definite purposes as you can think of.
While having a single Major Definite Purpose is great, the truth is many of us have a very difficult time coming up with a single overarching purpose. It is OK if you start with several definite purposes. In your home life you may want to be an exceptional parent or spouse (again without a clear definition of what this means to you this is far from definite, so be specific in defining your purposes). For your health life you may want to lose 25 lbs. or run a half marathon. At work you may want a specific promotion, or to start your own business. In your financial life you may want to get out of debt or earn your first million dollars. In your personal life you may want to learn a language, read more, learn an instrument, paint, or further your education…. Often after you have written several minor definite purposes you can combine the separate minor purposes into an overarching Major Purpose (To combine the separate purposes into a single purpose try asking the question Why; why do I want to get out of debt?, why do I want to learn another language? why do I want to get in good health? Why do I want to save a million dollars? Besides the fact that these are all intelligent choices which will maximize future options, you may find that there is a common answer for all of these questions. This common answer is likely your single Major Definite Purpose.)
After you have divided your Major Definite Purpose into a number of minor purposes, with all the sub-parts of definite objective, deadline, plan, and contribution, it is time to go on to the next step: Definite Execution, which will be the subject of the next Disorganized Intelligence blog post.
Quick Tip(s)
Your definite plan should including:
- Your Personal Contribution Statement, clearly stating what you will give in exchange for what you desire, and
- Many minor definite purposes, with each having the components of your major definite purpose.
After you have come up with your definite plan you will need the following tools to implement your major definite plan: (these will all be the subject of future blog posts)
- The aid of others. There is a law in physics that in a closed system energy in must equal energy out. This goes hand in hand with the law of cause and effect. However nothing in either of these laws states that all the input energy or causes must come directly from you. In fact, no one achieves anything great without the aid of others. So you will need to form what Napoleon Hill called the “Mastermind Alliance”. Find people with the skills you need but don’t yet have and combine efforts to reach your definite purpose.
- Burning desire. If you do not have a burning desire to reach you definite purpose then you never will. You may need to change your definite purpose until you find something that will give you the needed desire and motivation, or you may need to develop a burning desire over time. Either way, you must have a burning desire. An example of burning desire: I love skiing, I have no problem getting up at 5:00 AM to get to the mountain to be the first tracks on that perfect fresh powder day, and I stay on the mountain till my legs are burning and the lift operator puts a rope across the lift to block my access at the end of the day. It must be the same with your definite major purpose, you must fall in love with it, and create a desire so strong that you can’t wait to get up in the morning to start working on it.
- Positive mental attitude. This is what allows you to turn defeat into success. It is what enables you to get around the road blocks. It will also help you attract others and get them to work with you and help you achieve your definite purposes.
- Self control. If you can’t get out of bed, or turn the TV or internet off, and get to work on your definite plan, then you will need to work on your self-control muscle. We all have a self-control muscle, but most of us don’t exercise it nearly enough.
- Healthy mind and body. It doesn’t do any good to achieve your definite purpose if you don’t have the physical and mental capacity to enjoy your achievement. Make sure to include ways of improving your health and mind as part of your definite plan and definite purpose.
- Applied Faith. This was discussed in the prior blog post. The primary motivator behind all action is Faith. We will not be able to achieve our definite purpose without faith in ourselves, faith in our objectives, faith in others, and a timeless perspective (faith in Infinite Intelligence / a supreme being). So make time each week to strengthen your faith, pray or meditate each morning and in that prayer or meditation revisit your definite purpose each day. Discuss your purpose with your maker. While we can all see that everything around us was made for a definite purpose, it still comes as a surprise to many that each of us individually were made for a definite purpose, and even though we are allowed to define our purpose for ourselves, our maker may have some helpful input into each of our major definite purposes, and can give us insight on how we can achieve them.
Finally don’t be afraid to be flexible. Priorities, dreams, and objectives change. I like the quote “The road to success is always under construction”. Revisit your Major Definite Purpose and Major Definite Plan every day. This can help you form the needed desire and faith to achieve something great, and can also give you an opportunity to modify your plan as your Major Definite Purpose evolves and as you evolve into something better than you are today.
Start working on your Definite Plan today, and don’t forget to include sharing this blog post and commenting on what you liked and didn’t like below.