Are you constantly chasing the dollar? Are you living the American Dream? Nice car, huge house, loads of money, etc. It’s good to be successful. No doubt about that.
But is your success tied in with significance?
Are you truly living your purpose? Are you giving value to other people?
Aaron Walker has an ocean of wisdom to share with all of us regarding this today. At 13 years old, he started working at a local pawn shop. At 18, he partnered with one of the largest insurance agencies, took a $150,000 loan, put up his own pawn shop, and paid off the loan in 3 years time. By the age of 27, Aaron was self-made. But it wasn’t until one fateful, untoward incident that Aaron’s life has changed forever and that led him to live his purpose. Today, he helps people find their own purpose through his coaching/consulting firm View From the Top.
Here are the highlights of my conversation with Aaron:
How to discover your purpose beyond just the success:
- Define what “success” is to you.
Discover what gives you energy. The things you would do for free anyway, makes you find your meaning.
- Laser focus: Be an inch-wide but a mile-deep.
Get the non-essentials out of your life. Check out Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism. Take your energy and tenacity and pour it on 1-2 things that you can become the expert at. Niche down to a point where you are the best at. Invest your time, energy, and resources into being the best.
- Be open.
Subject yourself to the scrutiny of others and interview them. Get different objectives and opinions from other people.
- Learn to be content in your present situation and be HAPPY!
Happiness is a choice. Elect to be happy. Attitude is the only thing you have 100% control over.
- Determine what metrics to use to determine if you’ve been successful.
Ex: choosing your own schedule, financial freedom, engaging family, clear conscience, leaving a legacy of wisdom
- Make your aim at how to enrich other people.
Lift them up. Take them to places they’ve never been. Pour into people. Being significant is being able to meet the needs of others. Learn to fully engage with people. Listen intently. Be human. Give because you want to. Help people even when it’s not convenient. Prioritize your goals with other people in mind.
- Have the ability to foresight and invest long term to potentially impact generations to come.
Look 5, 10, 20 years from now and have the ability to look long term to invest in the lives of others so you can change their family tree.
Now you’ve got success, significance, and a full, rich life!
Aaron’s Major Takeaway:
Fear missing an opportunity more than you fear failure. Success comes to those that venture out. Failure is in not trying, not in not succeeding.
Aaron’s Book Recommendations:
Greg McKeown’s Essentialism
Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People
Bob Burg’s Adversaries into Allies
Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit
Aaron’s got a gift for you!
Visit www.ViewFromTheTop.com/tse and download these free documents that Aaron made especially for TSE listeners.
- Free Personal Assessment
- 25 Questions to Get the Life You Want
- Steps to a Productive Day
Episode resources:
Follow Aaron on twitter @vfttcoach
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