Striving, Taking Risks, and Finding Your Purpose
Looking to find some deeper meaning in your life? Start striving more.
Striving leads us toward purpose
I’ve been striving all of my life. It’s worked out pretty well for me. I’ve made plenty of mistakes though, from which I’ve learned plenty. Striving is how we discover what we want and don’t want, and can lead us to our purpose.
For me, striving helped me uncover my purpose of helping others maximize their potential. I’ve done this through being a salesperson, a CEO, a coach, an advisor, as well as a friend, husband, and parent.
I also said this in my latest newsletter: Advocate for yourself because you can’t count on others to do it for you! This doesn’t mean being selfish or arrogant. It means believing in yourself and going after life with confidence.
Here are a few things I’ve strived for recently that I’m proud of. Hopefully, they will inspire you to pursue the things you want out of life.
The Rich Minute newsletter
Speaking of my newsletter, it’s hard to believe, but I’ve published 18 monthly editions over the last year and a half. To think, there was a time I was very anti-newsletter despite so many people telling me I should start one. Now I look forward to and really enjoy writing them! A perfect example of taking the leap, letting go of expectations, and seeing what comes out of the process when you go all in.
The feedback I get on these is what keeps me going to write the next one each month, so please let me know what you think. You can subscribe here to receive the newsletter directly by email.
Tea With Rich Podcast
A podcast was something my pal TJ and I had rattled around for years. It always seemed like fun if we ever got around to it. Well, we finally did it (all credit to TJ for taking the reins) and we have recorded nine episodes that we’re really proud of despite our amateur radio voices and occasional technical glitches. We go deep with each other and special guests and friends from our careers on topics ranging from eCommerce to relationships to self-care. If you give it a chance, I think you’ll find our conversations are “real and raw” as we always promised they would be. That was our vision in those early conversations, and we have stuck to it. If we are going to take the risk of putting ourselves out there, we are going to do it our way and be true to ourselves.
Life Is Sales book coming 2025
I knew I had many stories and lessons from my business career, but would anyone want to hear them? Getting over this fear was a big hurdle in tackling this project, but once I decided to get out of my own head, start writing, and see where it went, it took off.
Another major decision to write the book was simply about helping others. I talk a lot about each of us maximizing our potential. Well, I wouldn’t be following my own advice or maximizing mine if I didn’t write this book so that others could benefit from it: the things I did right, the things I did wrong, the things I would do differently if given the chance, and more.
It’s been a super exciting project. We’re in the final editing process now, and I can’t wait to share it with you soon.
Life Is Sales the sales training program piloting now.
Similar to the book, I have been selling my whole life and gaining lots of experience in terms of what works and what doesn’t work. And sales is much more than tactics and techniques, as there is always another person sitting on the other side of the table. Relationships matter, and actually wanting to help and serve matters too.
So I took the leap and embarked on the project, and shot 26 videos about sales. A year of sales content. And we are working with a number of entrepreneurs and piloting this Life Is Sales sales training program. The program has three components: bi-weekly sales training videos on the hard and soft skills of selling; bi-weekly group sales meetings to discuss the content and provide accountability on activity and metrics; and monthly individual coaching sessions. We are kind of providing a sales training course AND working with the entrepreneurs and their sales management as an interim VP of Sales. It has been working great. We are planning to roll out the entire course in 2025.
Giving back gives meaning
Another lesson I relearned about letting go of expectations was when I had the opportunity to visit Iceland with friends and tour a whale sanctuary. I didn't expect to discover a passion for these animals and their caretakers, but that’s what happened. My wife Gertrude and I are supporting the release of two beluga whales into the sanctuary, and it couldn’t have brought us more joy. Striving led us to a purpose. Being open to new experiences led us to personal satisfaction. Now, we want to strive to make more money so we can give more away to causes we care about.
What will you strive for?
Taking a risk doesn’t have to mean making some huge, monumental change in your life. Most of the time, taking a risk means taking one small step. Do it and see how it feels. I look back on these things I started in the last couple of years and am so grateful for the courage to take them on. Seeing the progress and hearing from people who have enjoyed them feels awesome. It has given me nourishment.
The lesson in a nutshell: Stop overthinking and start doing. Make mistakes and learn from them. Work hard and play harder. Be yourself and use your unique gifts. Strive and maximize your potential!
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