Discover Your Message — Synergy Step 1
Your message is something you feel compelled to communicate to the world, either explicitly or implicitly through your actions. It is the driving force within your life, the purpose waiting to break free, the reality you want everyone to experience.
If you say you don’t have a message, I say you’re wrong. You just haven’t discovered it yet.
Discovering your message is the first step in leading a synergistic life. If synergy is a new self-improvement concept to you, I recommend reading my introductory article on synergy and the follow up article on the synergy process before proceeding.
My Journey to Discovering My Message
My message (which is certainly different than yours) is simple:
I want everyone to understand they are capable of overcoming obstacles, finding happiness, and living up to their potential. I want to tell people they can be more powerful than they ever dreamed, and I want to show them how.
Although I was not able to articulate my message until I was 34 years old, my first glimpses of my message were in grade school. I was an overweight child, shy and unsure of myself. Schoolyard bullies tormented me. I put up with bullies for the same reasons that people stay in abusive relationships or dead-end jobs – because I felt powerless. These childhood experiences eventually inspired me to help others be more powerful.
As I grew older, I noticed a common problem plaguing the world’s underachievers: lack of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is defined as a person’s confidence in his ability to accomplish something. In college, I tutored a great many students who struggled with their classes because they lacked confidence in their skills. And again, after college, I mentored several employees whom the company had brushed aside as incompetent for the very same reason. With a little encouragement and the right kind of training, these castaway employees and struggling students became successful.
And every time I helped someone learn new life-skills, I felt good about myself. Every time I helped someone increase his self-efficacy, I felt a little pang of hope deep inside my soul, a joyful feeling telling me I was on the right track. By living, learning, and helping, I discovered my message.
What have your life experiences taught you?
Discover Your Message
A quick search on the Internet will reveal several articles on how to discover the meaning of your life. The techniques advocated usually involve brainstorming or free writing, the idea being that the longer you write, the more likely your purpose will come bubbling to the surface. Some of these techniques are actually quite helpful. But I believe the most effective method of determining your message is simple analysis.
What truths do you believe in? What do you want the world to know? What lessons have you learned that you feel compelled to share with others? Certainly your life has taught you something of value. Identify the lessons you feel passionate about and you will discover your message.
Notice, I’m not asking you to figure out what job you want or what actions you should take. Actions are context specific, and we haven’t gotten that far yet. In my synergy-process article, we discussed how people tend to define themselves as a medium (a job) instead of a message (a purpose). Don’t make that mistake.
In other words, if your medium is writing, your message should not be, “I want to share my writing with the world.” Rather, your message is the underlying topic that compels you to write, the one topic that supersedes all others, the one you want everyone to read about. The ability to write is a skill, and the job of being a writer is a medium of communication. But the message, that’s the thing being written.
A message can be as general or specific as you like. For our friend the writer, a general message might be, “Books free the soul and inspire the mind,” whereas a specific message might be, “Genocide must be stopped,” or “Consumerism has a negative side,” or whatever else moves him. The writer’s message could be anything — absolutely anything. It’s up to him! The only requirement for his message is that it should compel him to write. And the same rules apply to you! In other words, your message can be whatever moves you. You decide your message. The only requirement for your message is that it should compel you to act!
You don’t have to be a writer to communicate a message. The question is whether or not your job is a suitable medium for your message, a challenge we will tackle later in this series of articles. For now, don’t think about your job or your skills. Just think about your message.
If you are having trouble coming up with your message, open up your word processor and start brainstorming. Write whatever comes into your mind. Your goal is to write a single sentence you feel passionate about and want to share with others. Think of it as your mission statement in life.
You Are Reading an Article Series — Synergy, The Key to Greater Energy and Happiness:
- Intro: Synergy, the Key to Greater Energy and Happiness
- 4 Steps to a Fulfilling Life Mission
- Discover Your Message — Synergy Step One
- Discover Your Strengths — Synergy Step Two
- Choose Your Medium — Synergy Step Three
- Choose Your Environment — Synergy Step Four
If you liked this article, make sure you subscribe to my feed via RSS or email.
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Monday, May 7th, 2007 at 7:25 pm under
[…] my introductory article on synergy, the follow up article on the synergy process, and my article on message discovery before […]
May 8th, 2007 at 5:42 pm[…] my introductory article on synergy, the follow up article on the synergy process, and my article on message discovery before proceeding. A complete list of the articles in this series can be found at the bottom of the […]
May 9th, 2007 at 5:49 am[…] Discover Your Message — Synergy Step One […]
May 9th, 2007 at 5:53 am[…] Discover Your Message — Synergy Step One […]
May 9th, 2007 at 6:02 am[…] have something of value to offer the world, including a series of articles on how to discover the purpose of your life and use it to find your dream […]
May 9th, 2007 at 6:01 pm[…] Discover Your Message — Synergy Step One […]
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May 21st, 2007 at 11:37 pm[…] Place presents Discover Your Message — Synergy Step 1 posted at johnplaceonline.com, saying, “I wrote a series of articles on how to find your […]
July 10th, 2007 at 9:49 amEven though I’ve read tons of articles on figuring out message, for some reason I didn’t realize mine until I read this article.
Mine is, “I want to teach people how to be happy and live a simpler way of life.”
September 24th, 2007 at 10:01 amI’m glad you found it helpful, Roy.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:54 amMr.JohnPlace,
February 10th, 2008 at 3:04 am“Discover Your Message-Senergy Step 1″, really touched home with me. I found myself crying, because some how I made the mistake, of defining myself by my job instead of my message or passion.
As a child I was abused, and when I grew up and after my own therapy, I felt a great need to help others with their own abuses. Before investing in college, I helped people by working in the community and was really good at it and I felt like this was my passion. I went to college and now eligible to take an exam to become an licensed counselor (I owe alot of money to student loans).
But, when I started to work in the counseling field, hearing the suffering, and feeling people in emotional pain caused me to re-experience my own past pain resulting in tremendous emotional stress. I cannot see myself experiencing this the rest of my working years. I want to live with more happy and positive moments, and somehow share this with others. I know what I need to do, but it will take so much courage and I feel like I have let everyone and myself down. Has anyone else experienced something as this? Thank you for listening, I am at a crossroads.
Hi Lynn,
Am I correct in my assumption that you still feel a drive to help other people deal with their issues? If so, the question is whether that message can be communicated in a medium other than the job you have right now, a job that’s less stressful, perhaps?
If your questioning the message itself, some serious re-evaluation might be in order. Exploring other options (taking college classes in a subject that interests you) perhaps, until you can find your footing again.
Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. All that stuff we’re told about life being a journey and not a destination is true, as corny as it might sound, and the best we can hope for is to keep moving toward some place more meaningful and enjoyable than wherever we are today.
Have you read “What Color is Your Parachute?” ? If not, it’s a very good career exploration book that might give you some ideas.
–John
February 10th, 2008 at 10:51 amHello John,
February 11th, 2008 at 1:41 pmThank you for responding so soon. You gave me suggestions that helped me to sort out my thoughts and feelings.
I believe my message has either changed or maybe I was on a journey of self-discovery from “my own” past issues. I plan to re-evaluate my message, discover a medium to express it and be true to myself. I will use your steps on synergy as a guide to start my new foundation. I am thankful you fulfill your message by helping others.
Sincerely, Lynn
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