Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy.

by Bob Goff

Swapping “able to” to “made to” involves constant change, a clear understanding of purpose, and undistracted, unwavering resolve to do what it takes to get there.

Not knowing how to do something doesn’t need to slow you down; let it speed you up. Finding what we are made to do means trying lots of things.

Most people don’t want better careers; they want more purpose. Here’s the great news: God said purpose is available by the barrel.

Listen, I need my family and you need yours. It’s easy to spend so much time providing for your family that you’re no longer providing for your family. Do you get me? Don’t wait until later to connect with your families. It won’t happen. Choose your family over and over, and you know what? When you’re older, they’ll choose you back.

Some people do a great job in the marketplace, and some do a great job with their families. The trick is to do both. Do lots of things. Do risky things.

Take all the goodness and beauty and freedom you experience back to the work you do.

When people ask my kids what I do for a living, they just laugh and walk away. It’s probably because we’re all still trying to figure out what it is.

You know those little sticks of honey you can get at the coffee shop for your tea? That is the life’s work of about a dozen bees. People who are focused on their purpose don’t want to rule the hive; they want to put their quarter inch of honey on top of everyone else’s and participate in making something lasting.

Even the honey buried with the pharaohs is still sweet. This is the kind of shelf life I’m looking for when it comes to the things I throw my weight into.

Purpose and joy will go the distance every time; distraction won’t get you ...

People who change the world may have many similar personality traits, but they all seem to have one thing in common: They’re curious about everything.

Don’t settle for just clothing and feeding yourself each day and calling it a life. Go learn something new, and you’ll find a new gear for living.

It’s going to take some time and effort to get clarity on what you are working toward. You may have spent ten years thinking about your next move and are now feeling scared or stuck.

Don’t put it on a list or wait another year; get busy right now building what the rest of your life will look like. I know you want to plan it all out—me, too, sometimes—but remember this: The builders of the Empire State Building were on the thirtieth floor building while they were still working out the details for the first floor.

Nobody gets it right the first try. Trust me. Just remember that the moment you stop working toward something, the building project has stopped. Let’s stop living as if the project is done and get back to the business of reconstructing our life and the lives of those we love back up to the sky.

If you want to honor and dazzle God, find the work He has given you, and do it until the job is done.