“You can’t go around half-pregnant.” – A famous saying by my uncle.

Our mission here at Ontozoan – One Real Life is to motivate and inspire men to embrace Thriving Authentic Masculinity and to become the best possible version of themselves. Part of the way we accomplish this is through my passing along lessons I’ve learned along the way. Today’s post is one of those lessons.

Much earlier in my life and career, I had the privilege of getting to know Bob Shank when he spoke at a men’s retreat sponsored by our church. Bob had run a successful construction business in southern California and had begun the transformation that author Bob Buford describes as the shift “from success to significance.”

I’ve remained in touch with Bob through the years, talking occasionally, but reading the weekly email he sends in support of the ministry he founded, The Master’s Program. Bob’s focus is on men in that career phase where he was — having made money and ascended the career ladder, but seeking the eternal meaning behind it all.

He and I have talked about how younger men are less invested (no pun) in earning big bucks, preferring instead to launch straight into significance. This is part of the reason I set up shop on this corner of the internet.

Time to get rolling. But first, let’s fix this thing…
(Photo by Florian Klauer)

Three P’s

On one of his trips east, I had the opportunity to have breakfast with Bob. We talked about a lot of things, but he shared a very important set of principles that I’m about to share with you. If you want to live a life of consequence — of significance — you need to harness your passion, your purpose and your potential to whatever you’re spending time on. Let’s unpack these and see how they fit together.

Purpose

I’ve written about this before. Mark Twain said the two most important days in a man’s life are: 1) the day he is born, and 2) the day he finds out why. If you have received the gift of life — and if somehow, you’re dead and reading this, I won’t let it go to my head — you have a God-given reason for being here, and a unique mission to accomplish. That is, God has chosen to accomplish something eternal through your life and its circumstances. If your life seems to be going nowhere, I suggest you begin by discovering your purpose.

Passion

What do you love to do? What makes you come alive? What activities cause you to be so engrossed you lose all track of time? These are the questions at the heart of passion. The Bible teaches, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

This means we should devote our time and our attention to those things where we can deliver maximum enthusiasm. Conversely, it also means when we have to focus on things that don’t hold our attention in the same way, we are still to give our best. Still, I like this thought from Frederick Buechner: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Potential

Where are you gifted? What is it that you do that leaves other people shaking their heads wondering how you did it? These are strong clues. But note this: just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it’s necessarily your passion or your purpose. There are plenty of things I’m good at that I’d just as soon not do.

Putting it together

To have the greatest impact, we need to work at the highest expression of our purpose, passion and potential. Any two of these will result in a less-than-desirable outcome.

If you are passionate and purposeful, but lack potential, you have the makings of a great hobby.  There are a lot of amateur athletes and artists in this category. Even worse is that group of well-meaning high-capacity leaders working beneath their capacity — for example the CEO ladling soup at a soup kitchen. That guy should be using his executive abilities to address hunger on a grander scale.

People who have passion and potential but no purpose will waste their energy by jumping from task to task or cause to cause. If you know why you’re here, it makes it easier to see when it makes sense to say yes and when it makes sense to say no. Do this long enough and you might acquire wisdom.

Potential and purpose without passion is duty. Please understand that duty is an important if under-appreciated concept these days, but it’s hard to sustain without passion.

One more time: We’re looking to be three-for-three here.

Here’s proof that it can be done

Olympic great Eric Liddell who was also a devoted follower of Jesus said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.” Here in one statement is the summation of a man working according to his purpose, potential and passion, respectively.

Liddell’s remarkable story inspired the movie “Chariots of Fire” which won the Oscar for best picture on 1981. Working according to your potential will take you further than working against your nature — whether or not your story becomes a movie.

So how about you? What would it look like if you worked at the intersection of your passion, purpose and potential? Add your comments below.