The Path to Purpose (My Story)

​I am known for sharing stories from my life with clients.  This has always been important to me because in doing so I provide important insights and perspectives for their own progress and success.  The story I tell the most is the one about how I “found” my purpose.  As I focus on motivations and passions fueling purpose with my networks this week, I thought it worthwhile to share this story with you today.

Jessica Lauren Debry asserts in her short article that:  “Passion is your compelling emotions behind your dreams. Your feelings drive your passion.  Purpose is the why behind it all. Purpose is the deep reason for your existence."  I love how she uses a campfire in metaphor to drive it home:  the results of passion increase with purpose!

Today, it is very easy for me to see how the girl I was – the child with all the thoughts, the pushback, the questions, the thirst for experiences, and need to share what I knew – it is easy to see how she grew up to be who I am today.  But I can confess that for at least two decades, I felt lost and believed I was without a path or purpose.  I couldn’t translate the old me to the new, nor could I reconcile her dreams with my reality.  It was a true struggle…until the day I had an epiphany and chose my current purpose.

Coach Ebony as a child and college student.

See, I’ve always been quite annoying – ask my mother!  Raising a child with an insatiable curiosity and unnerving need to share what she’s learned must have been especially fun!  Oh, the things I got into – Mom taught me to have confidence, so there was nothing I felt I couldn’t learn about or learn to do.

It was never lost on me that passion connected to feelings like purpose to ideals – passion and purpose were MY thing, I was just too young to know.

Young Ebony, The Superstar

​From school, to work, to entrepreneurship, I’ve started with my ideals (of the time) and launched into strategic planning using all I knew. When I had productive feelings about what I was planning – and therefore doing – it created better outcomes for me.   I could realize and actualize the connection between passion and purpose in my own life and the results were good.

​Even as a young girl, I remember being intensely motivated by  spirited, open dialogue.  I enjoyed voraciously absorbing information from every person and book I could get my hands on.  Adults and children alike suffered the wrath of my “teaching” them everything I had learned and could think to share.  I felt compelled to help others with what I had learned.

​These rumblings of motivation and passion speak to sparks of purpose. They are easy to overlook; in this process, don’t be sheepish or modest about YOU – it all counts!

As I got older, I realized that if I focused my motivations on things that fueled productive passions, that I’d have a better chance at living the life I envisioned. 

It took another decade to learn how to focus my motivations. 

Although it took another few years my epiphany came when I realized what I had learned during that decade:

• I was always on my path.
• The choices I made affected my journey and therefore changed which experiences and opportunities I had – good and bad.
• My purpose was ever-evolving towards an unknown end – an end defined by the limit of how much I can live before I die.
• Productive passions can be identified quickly; for me, they are the passions that incorporate what I ran to as a child:  learning, applying, and teaching.
• I could compare my motivations by prioritizing the effects of each motivation on my passions and purpose.  In this way, it’s clear that my most powerful motivation is open-mindedness for without it my passions and purpose become biased! I believe that YOU TOO will learn or have learned similar lessons about motivation, passion, & purpose!

​​It takes time to determine your purpose because it is born of your path and journey. 

A guru can guide you through things to consider and pay attention to on your path, yet no one can decide your purpose or passions for you.  Our motivations can be externally-influenced, yet we get to prioritize what ends up motivating us whether from nurture or nature.

My path and my journey led me to redefining my company and my brand in 2015 so that I could empower others by sharing what I know and have access to.  While taking care of myself and my family, running PLHB, building my coaching business, and being the friend and community member that I am, I focus on living what I know today as my professional purpose:  to diversify approaches and innovate solutions to cross-functional issues.

Ebony L. Green is a certified coach who is the creator and founder of the Desire Choose Act™ signature series of coaching & training programs that help you own, celebrate, and monetize your difference.

#CoachEbonySays: I specialize in connecting people with their Whole A.S.S.™ Authentic Self. I want you to stop being ashy out here in your life - personally and professionally. I am here so you can REALLY start securing the bag of self-love, self-care, and self-shine!

If you are ready to start stepping into the shoes of your desired Future Self, schedule your free consultation today!