Something that will not surprise you: I like winning stuff. You probably like winning stuff, too. Bonus points when the stuff you win is actually useful stuff and not just another branded koozy that ends up sitting empty, waiting for a Diet Coke, taking up space in your junk drawer. (Though.. if you want to send me koozies, feel free, y’all. I’m not picky and I drink a lot of Diet Coke.) 

Anyway. My particular propensity to enjoy winning things (and my endless pursuit of the #whynot mentality) leads me to enter a bunch of silly sweepstakes and giveaways. Someone’s gotta win! Why not me! #whynot

Early in January, I entered a blog giveaway on Katie Ellisor’s blog for a copy of Lara Casey’s book Make It Happen. AND I WON, Y’ALL. It’s the third book I’ve read in 2015 (follow me on Goodreads if you want to get all up in my literary business) and I am glad I read it so early in the year. It has really put my mind in a good place.

Like many my age (and especially those aspiring to creative careers), I’m a bit of a goals junkie. Setting goals is fun, first of all. Who doesn’t like to plan to achieve something–hell, anything? It doesn’t really matter what. It could be losing weight or it could be trying every Frappucino on the Starbucks menu. I like the idea of crossing things off a list. I like the idea of doing things. Being productive. Doing stuff. Making things happen. Being a boss lady.

Lara’s book hit me in my heart hard, though, when while reading Lara’s journey, I realized that sometimes all of my planning is… well, not really useful. What am I setting goals for? What is at the heart of my planning? And perhaps most importantly, why do I spend so much time worrying about completing goals without purpose?

The concept of “intention” is a big buzzword right now, especially in the blogging world. I figure this is probably because [most] bloggers spend more time than others on varying forms of technology and/or social media. Time is spent typing up posts, researching topics, engaging with readers, promoting content… the virtual world is a very beautiful but very loud place. It’s easy to get so caught up in that noise that we don’t hear what really matters.

So, in response to this cyber cacophony, someone decided to start living with “intention,” which means purpose. What purpose, you might ask?

Well, I don’t know what your purpose is. I know what Lara’s purpose is from her book. Her purpose might be your purpose, too.

I know what my purpose is–and that’s something that I hope to share with you, bit by bit, as I continue to write on this blog and as I meet with you and talk with you and grow with you and fail with you. My purpose, as I share it, may end up looking a lot like your purpose.

I’m being intentionally (ooh, how punny) vague here because I don’t want to define your purpose for you. That’s not my job. I’m not here to tell you why you should live or how you should live. I’m just here to tell you that you should do it.

The point here is that no matter what it is, you’ve got to have a purpose. Your goals–and let’s specify goals to mean things that matter–must be backed by purpose or else they are, essentially, childhood dares.

And while I enjoy a good dare and a funny story, I don’t want to be solely remembered by the number of times I ate at Golden Corral. There’s a place in my life for funny, frivolous aspirations. But they’re not the things I want headlining my obituary.

That’s what I got from Make It Happen. I want to live on purpose. I want to live my purpose. I want to stop being busy and start being beneficial. I want to stop the glorification of “busy.” I want to strive for balance in my life–I want to aim for progress, not perfection, because the journey is more important than the end I may never reach. Lara says in her book:

“Purpose doesn’t go to work; it goes to love.”

That’s some powerful stuff, y’all, when you realize that sometimes loving is hard work. It’s hard to love sitting at a piano and singing the same four measures another ten times, but sometimes–it’s gotta be done. Love isn’t easy. Purpose isn’t always easy, but it is always worth it. We make things happen for ourselves when we reduce the number of distractors that take up our valuable mental headspace. Those distractions may seem harmless, but they take us away from our purpose, bit by bit.

Thank you so much to Lara for sharing her individual story with me and the rest of her readers and a million thanks to Katie for giving me the opportunity to read Lara’s book. If you’re interested in making things happen for yourself–no matter what your purpose is, start today. 

What a good way to live with gumption in the new year, wouldn’t you say?

(image sourced from Lara Casey Media)