Are you driven more by prosperity or purpose?
We all understand the concept of the American Dream, but have you ever really thought about how that concept impacts your outlook on life? I wonder if your followers have the same outlook on life. I think, at its core, the American dream is about prosperity. Prosperity brings happiness. The more prosperity I have, the happier I am. The sooner I can get prosperity, the sooner I can enjoy life. In this worldview, work becomes more of a necessary task and less of a purpose:
I have to work in order to get the money I need to be happy.”
“I need more money to increase my happiness.”
“The sooner I can get enough money, the sooner I can quit the work that is getting in the way of my happiness.”
All of these ideas tend to put work in a bad light. Not only that, the goal or endgame becomes a very selfish endeavor. There are many people who do not want their life to make a difference; all they really want is to be liked.
The idea that prosperity is more important than purpose has led us all down a path of whoring ourselves out on social media. We now have a platform to showcase our prosperity at every banal level. Whether it’s a new car, the birth of a child, a wedding, or the steak we ate last night, we want to show how mine is better than yours. Showcasing our prosperity has become as important as the prosperity itself.
Take five minutes and consider: Maybe the reason we struggle to provide a vision or purpose to our team is that we ourselves have no higher purpose than to get to the point where we can stop leading. You can’t sell something you don’t really believe. Consider whether your life is purpose driven or prosperity driven. In that reflection, you will see the true nature of the organization you lead. It reflects the people you choose to bring into your organization and it affects your ability to provide a captivating vision that they will join without reservation or hesitation.
