Greatness is equally inherent in all, and may be manifested by all. Every person may become great. Every constituent of God is a constituent of man. Man may overcome both heredity and circumstances by exercising the inherent creative power of the soul. If he is to become great, the soul must act, and must rule the mind and the body.
What Would You Dare if You Knew You Could Not Fail?
Decide what would be the one thing that would wake you out of bed in the morning and get you fired up for your day?
Once you know your bigger purpose, it is easier to figure out your next actions. And, when you know your bigger purpose, it can help you funnel your time, energy, and effort into something that really matters to you.
Brian Tracy calls this your Major Definite Purpose and he defines it like this:
“The one goal that is most important to you at the moment. It is usually the one goal that will help you to achieve more of your other goals than anything else you can accomplish.”
Brian Tracy shares how you can find your Major Definite Purpose to make things matter, find your focus, and achieve your success.
6 Attributes of Your Major Definite Purpose
- It must be something that you personally really want. Your desire for this goal must be so intense that the very idea of achieving your major definite purpose excites you and makes you happy.
- It must be clear and specific. You must be able to define it in words. You must be able to write it down with such clarity that a child could read it and know exactly what it is that you want and be able to determine whether or not you have achieved it.
- It must be measurable and quantifiable. Rather than ‘I want to make a lot of money,’ it must be more like ‘I will earn $100,000 per year by (a specific date).’
- It must be both believable and achievable. Your major definite purpose cannot be so big or so ridiculous that it is completely unattainable.
- Your major definite purpose should have a reasonable probability of success, perhaps fifty-fifty when you begin. If you never achieved a major goal before, set a goal that has an 80 percent or 90 percent probability of success. Make it easy on yourself, at least at the beginning. Late on, you can set huge goals with very small probabilities of success and you will still be motivated to take the steps necessary to achieve them. But in the beginning, set goals that are believable and achievable and that have a high probability of success so that you can be assured of winning right from the start.
- Your major definite purpose must be in harmony with your other goals. Your major goals must be in harmony with your minor goals and congruent with your values.
Ask Yourself the Great Question
Sometimes to find our Major Definite Purpose, we have to go out on a limb and dream a little.
Tracy writes: “Here is the key question for determining your major definite purpose:
What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you could not fail?
If you could be absolutely guaranteed of successfully achieving any goal, large or small, short term or long term, what one goal would it be? Whatever you answer to this question, if you can write it down, you can probably achieve it. From then on, the only question you should ask is, ‘How?’ The only real limit is how badly you want it and how long you are willing to work toward it.”
Is Your Major Definite Purpose Any of the Things that Most People Want?
Material Things
- Big house
- Nice car
- Fashionable clothes
- Plenty of money for dining out
- A big enough budget for luxury travel
- Thin friends
- An attractive spouse
Self-Confidence Things
- To neither look nor feel fat
- To eat whatever, you want without gaining weight
- To hold your own in a political conversation
- To learn to dance without looking stupid
- To be attractive as you age
- To be the life of the party, at least once
- To know what you want and have the confidence to go after it
Adventurous Things
- Visit every continent
- Speak a foreign language — fluently
- Learn how to take professional photographs
- Go scuba diving, cliff diving, or skydiving
- Live in a beautiful, serene place
- Volunteer in a disaster zone
- Go to a major sports championship, like Wimbledon
- Pilot a plane
- Spend New Year’s in New York City
Spiritual/Emotional Things
- Have at least one true best friend
- Feel relief from social judgment
- Reconcile with an enemy
- Be remembered in a positive way after death
- Know that you made a difference in someone else’s life
- Feel important to others
- Know yourself and feel centered
- Live each day without regret
- Quiet self-limiting thoughts
Career-Related Things
- Reach a fabled level of success that makes you untouchable
- Create a positive work/life balance
- Feel as capable as others think you are
- Be more productive with each minute of the day
- Be recognized as talented or even brilliant
- Pursue your calling while supporting your family financially
- Publish a book
- Make enough money to care for aging parents
- Write a screenplay that gets picked up as a movie
Lifestyle Things
- Start every morning with a leisurely cup of coffee instead of a rushed, chugged one
- Travel the country in an RV
- Have satisfying, regular sex
- Not be afraid of intimacy
- Have many children and grandchildren
- Stay married to the same person
- Find meaningful work
- Find the best piece of pie, ever
- Give your dog a really happy life
Health Things
- Grow old without losing your mind or control of your body
- Recover from a painful or debilitating disease
- Not die from a painful or debilitating disease
- Have plenty of energy to enjoy each day
- Age gracefully, without wrinkles and without going bald
- Find a way to enjoy exercise
- Finish a marathon or an ironman triathlon
Is Your Major Definite Purpose Any of the Top Things that Most People Want?
- Having love in their lives
- Being healthy
- Having high paying jobs
- Looking better
- Losing weight and toning their bodies
- Learning new things
- Living longer with their families
- Being safe from perceived and real hurt, harm, and danger
- Being comfortable
- Having more pleasure to satisfy their appetite and desires
- Happiness.
- Money.
- Freedom
- Peace
- Joy
- Balance
- Fulfillment
- Confidence
- Stability.
- Passion.
- Certainty
- A sense of security
- Safety and comfort in the world.
- Variety – A sense of change, interest, and adventure.
- Significance – A sense of uniqueness, individuality and being special.
- Love & Connection – A sense of acceptance, belonging and support.
What Would You Dare if You Knew You Could Not Fail?
Keep Your Feet on the Ground
Brian Tracy shares a story of how an attendee at one of his seminars set a goal to be a millionaire within one year, even though she was broke and had just lost her job due to incompetence.
He warned her that we have to stay grounded in we can reasonably achieve given our current circumstances and possibilities. Otherwise, goals that are not grounded in our reality work against us and demotivate us.
Tracy writes:
“She informed me that I had said that you could set any major goal you wanted as long as you were clear, and she was therefore convinced that was all she needed to be successful. I had to explain to her that her goal was so unrealistic and unattainable in her current circumstances that it would only discourage her when she found herself so far away from it. Such a goal would end up demotivating her rather than motivating her to do what she would need to do to be financially successful in the years ahead.
Michael Kissinger
Phone 415-678-9965
Email: mjkkissinger@yahoo.com
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