Choose Who You Want to Become

Choose Who You Want to Become

If you want your purpose in life to become a
magnificent obsession, you must develop and
constantly review your personal mission statement.

In this lesson, you will learn to
• Recognize your true identity
• Choose who you want to become
• Cultivate the passion of personal mission
• Live more honestly, freely, and intuitively
• Craft an inspiring personal mission statement
• Align your goals with your purpose

Now that you have a working definition of success and understand
that God wants you to succeed, I want you to get on fire about the
prospect of maximizing your potential. Get passionate! You were
created in the image and likeness of God to do wise, wonderful,
and grand things with the limited time you have here on earth.
So why not dare to do magnificent things with, through, and for
God? After all, how does thinking small serve the world? Accept the
burden and blessing of success. Do you really believe that all the
vast plans of God have already been accomplished? Have the
greatest lives already been lived? Have the greatest marriages
already happened? Have the best books and songs already been
written? Have the best inventions already been created? Have the
best sermons already been delivered? Are the greatest high-tech
breakthroughs behind us? Have the ultimate medical advances
already occurred? Have the most creative businesses already been
launched? The best of everything may, in fact, be yet to come. Today
or tomorrow may very well be the most electrifying day of history.
In this lesson, I am going to challenge you to consider and
clarify your life’s purpose. We will also discuss uncovering what I
call your Genius and the role it plays in helping you understand your

purpose. Even more important, your Genius helps you live each day
with a greater sense of mission, with a greater sense of enthusiasm,
and with a real hunger to make a significant, positive difference with
your life.
Who Are You Now?
You are a beautiful, wonderful child of God! This is the truth,
whether or not you know it or believe it. Pause for a moment and
marvel at what this must mean. Think about yourself as a child of
God, one of the family, a kid of the King. You are an original
masterpiece. Your DNA proves it. There has never been anyone just
like you, and there never will be anyone just like you. God has not
made anyone else out of better clay than he has made you. It’s
critical to remember your true identity. When you perceive yourself
as a child of God, you will not see restrictions on the amount of
impact you can have in this world. How you see yourself on the
inside sets the ceiling for what God can do with you on the outside.
Your life here on earth is your special, unrepeatable opportunity to
magnify the greatness God has placed within you.
Who Are You Becoming?
Before you choose your goals, it is wise to first choose who you
want to become. This means deciding in advance how you believe
God wants you to change. As human beings, we need a sense of
purpose in our lives as much as we need food, water, and oxygen.
This sense of purpose provides meaning and significance. It makes
us feel useful and is a constant reminder that our life matters. When
you have a deep sense of purpose or mission, you live from the
inside out. This means who you are triggers what you do. Your outer
life accurately reflects your values, priorities, and principles. You
begin living more authentically, more freely, and more intuitively.
When you tap into the wellspring of your personal mission, you
become more creative, energetic, and passionate. You become totally
absorbed in the pursuit of your goals, like a child at play, because
your goals are in sync with what you are all about.

Today will take its place as a single tile in the mosaic of our finished
lives—to either add to its beauty and harmony or detract from it in an

undedicated, purposeless life.
—Earl Nightingale

Without a deep sense of purpose, life is devoid of true
significance or long-term meaning. This type of existence is
characterized by going through the motions, cynicism, pessimism,
apathy, and ultimately a life of mediocrity. It is living perpetually in
survival mode. It’s a life that constantly needs to be filled up with
things from the outside—busyness, distractions, and continuous
activity.
You have no greater responsibility than to determine what God
put you here on earth to accomplish. Why do you exist? Generally,
everyone shares the common purposes of learning, growing, and
contributing, but what about you specifically? How do you believe
God wants the world to be different because of your particular life?
Your True Place
You may not have uncovered it yet, but there is undoubtedly an
answer to that question. It is worth searching for, because the answer
reveals your purpose. And in this purpose you must find your true
place, or what we in The 1% Club call your Genius. Your true place
is your unique path to glorifying God. When you arrive in your
true place, you will know it. You will feel a sense of destiny as what
you most love to do merges with what you do best. This is where
you will spend your life in your own way, making the difference that
you are uniquely equipped to make. The more you experience your
true place, the more you will be drawn to it. The tinge of
dissatisfaction, which perhaps only you knew existed, will disappear.
You will enjoy invigorating surges of self-worth, as there will no
longer be a need to compare yourself with anyone else. You will be
healthier, more prosperous, and full of joy.
While each of us has many areas where we can do well, there is
but one Genius. God had one particular thing in mind when he made
you.
What’s Your Dream?
You might initially recognize this one particular thing as your
ultimate vision or dream. For some, this dream will shake the entire
world. For others, it will soothe just one tiny home. In either case,
the world will be left a better place.
Sooner or later, we are all confronted with the question of
whether we are living on purpose—whether or not we are heeding
our call and following our ultimate vision. No matter how far you

may have strayed from your true place, you can always find it again.
Your true place is always waiting for you because no one but you
can fill it. That’s a great thought! So take comfort in knowing that
every experience you have ever had, no matter how seemingly
unrelated, can be used to your advantage in your true place when
you finally find it. And you will find it . . . if you will
wholeheartedly look for it.

Do what you love, and you’ll stop being your own worst enemy.

Are you now serving God by becoming each day a little more
like the person he wants you to become? Your purpose is not
something to achieve; rather, it is something to be satisfied and
quenched. So who are you becoming here on earth? Throughout
your life, you will be changing constantly and becoming someone
new, either slightly or extensively different from the previous
version of yourself. With each change, you will either move closer to
your true place or move further away.
For most people, change just happens. Change is considered an
external event that occurs randomly and haphazardly. Most people
allow themselves to be molded and thrown off course by their
circumstances. But as James Allen writes in his book As a Man
Thinketh, “Circumstance does not make a man, it reveals him.”8
This is a critical principle of human nature.
Our Private Thoughts
Our circumstances are just a reflection of what is going on inside our
secret world of thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. What we think about
most will ultimately be revealed for everyone to see. In other words,
our private thoughts don’t stay private for very long. Human beings
are really “human becomings.” As we begin to renew our thinking,
our world changes with us. As we become better, our lives become
better. The prerequisite for changing circumstances is that you must
first change yourself. To have it any other way is like pretending the
tail can wag the dog. Living on purpose requires deliberately
deciding in advance how you are going to grow more like the person
God wants you to become. This decision requires that you get in
touch with your core desires. It is these high-intensity desires,

sometimes called the DNA of success, that reveal what role God
made you to fill. Later in this lesson, I’ll share some clues that will
help you identify your Genius.
I believe that God’s will for you is something wonderful and
glorious—far better than anything you could ever design for
yourself. So don’t conform to the average life. Fight off this pull of
mediocrity and stand out! Be unconventional. Be an original. Refuse
to let yourself be a common copy. Accept that you have been
custom-made by God to serve an exclusive function in this world,
even if that role and a plan to fulfill it are not yet clear to you. This
is your true place—and it’s up to you to find it. There are no extra
human beings. God has a plan and a place for everyone, and that
includes you.
Is Everyone Doing It?
So if God’s will is so compelling, why isn’t everyone doing it? After
working with thousands of ambitious clients over the last sixteen
years and undertaking an enormous amount of personal research,
I’ve developed some strong conclusions about how our talents, our
mission, and God’s will are intertwined:
• God has a particular objective for your life. I’ve touched a bit on
this already.
• This objective (or purpose for your life) coincides with your gifts
and talents and a host of other heavenly factors.
• Your areas of interest—the activities and pursuits that you find
most enjoyable and attractive—are the best indicators of strong
talent and giftedness.
When you engage in activities that demand your special talent, your
brain releases chemicals that trigger satisfaction as an incentive for
you to continue in this area. It is a positive reinforcement
mechanism that is all part of God’s perfect design. These talents then
get converted into strengths and eventually into Genius if we sustain
the course long enough.

Our unique conglomeration of character, talents, life
experiences, and personality merge and spark a dream within each of
us. The more often we engage in our strengths, the more crystallized
our ultimate vision becomes.
With this God-given dream imprinted on our minds, we become
intrinsically motivated, needing less and less prodding from the

outside. We become inwardly directed, and self-discipline comes
virtually without effort.
This whole process is countercultural. Instead of competing to
max out their God-given potential, most people in our society
compete to keep up with one another. They are in the wrong race.
Philosophically, they tend to desire comfort more than character.
Strategically, they often find themselves in the wrong career.
Tactically, they’ve resigned themselves to simply enjoying their
evenings, weekends, and vacations, with no long-term goals. Most
people underperform because they were sloppy in choosing the right
race for themselves in the first place. With three kids, a second
home, and twenty years spent in their current field, many people feel
trapped.

The dream God plants in your heart, in your DNA, will not
come to fruition by accident. Naturally, there is a price. In a
nutshell, the price requires that you surrender the concepts of safety,
security, and comfort in exchange for the higher rewards of living
the life God gave you and leaving your unmistakable mark on the
world. You must grant yourself a promotion and escape from your
personal comfort zone if you want to become the difference maker
that you were designed to become. Jump, and the net will appear!
All along the path, you will face resistance—institutional,
cultural, relational, financial, and mental. This is simply part of the
dream game. You must press on in the face of all the pressure to
conform. You must take action that leaves no doubt you are
committed to your ultimate vision—and you must do this before you
have the money, before you have the confidence, and even before
you have the blessing of those closest to you. You must first commit
unconditionally, then the plan will come and the resources will
emerge. Only after you give up all thought of retreat will you
become an unstoppable force.
Persistently ask God these three questions: Who am I? Why
am I here? Where do you want me to go? Ask God to reveal his
will for you through your desires.
Excellence Is Inevitable!
Now let’s move a little deeper into the concept of Genius, and in
particular, how it applies to your work. Your area of Genius is the
specific point where what you enjoy doing most intersects with
what you do best. This is where you are capable of making the
greatest contribution in the world. Excellence is inevitable once you
find this Genius.

How do you find your Genius? First, determine what you
naturally enjoy. Ask yourself what you’d do all day long if money
were not a factor. Only when you really love what you do as much
as a cherished hobby will you have what it takes to generate
tremendous results. A Genius is someone who believes in the ideas
that God sends and then takes action.
What is God whispering in your ear? What do you secretly want
to do with your life? Exercise the courage to honestly identify where
you have been uniquely blessed—where you have special talents and
abilities. If you don’t know, pray about it. Ask your spouse. Ask
your friends. But seek it out. I believe you have the ability to
become outstanding in at least one thing if you are selective and if
you throw your whole heart into becoming the best. You must give
up all hope of becoming excellent—and enjoying the abundant
opportunities that come with it—if you can’t lose yourself with
enthusiasm for what you do. As the old saying goes, “Do what you
love—love what you do.” Start thanking God it’s Monday!
Genius Is as Genius Does
I have been emphasizing the concept of Genius, which is the ability
to focus on your unique strength to the exclusion of all else. This is
accomplished by identifying your Genius and then over a period of
years eliminating all those activities that interfere with it or oppose
it. The concept of Genius is closely aligned with two major
principles of peak personal performance:
• The Strength Principle, which is that by focusing on your
strengths, you ultimately render your weaknesses irrelevant
• The 80/20 Principle, which is that 80 percent of your results come
from only 20 percent of your inputs
Let’s examine this by more closely defining your Genius. We’re not
talking about Einstein genius; we’re talking about entrepreneurial or
performance genius. Sometimes I call it Forrest Gump genius,
meaning it’s a way of acting. To paraphrase Forrest’s mother,
“Genius is as Genius does.” Your Genius is a set of related activities
that collectively produce superior rewards in the marketplace.
Whether you’re a star athlete, a pastor, a business leader, an FBI
agent, an entrepreneur, a stay-at-home parent, or a teacher, you have
a marketplace—a group of people you are charged with serving.
When you operate in your Genius, you produce outstanding results.
Best of all, these outcomes are generated with a disproportionately
small but extremely calculated investment of time and effort.

Your Genius is where you are most fully leveraged. You can
achieve far more with less time, effort, and energy. In many fields,
this means you will be able to work less and earn even more by
significantly increasing the dollar value of each hour of your time.
For others, you will simply be much more productive. By operating
within your Genius, you can do less but become much more. Your
Genius is where you’re capable of making the greatest difference in
the world.
Almost everyone has experienced brief glimpses of Genius, yet
only a small minority have capitalized on their latent potential and
transformed it into their daily operating system. Here are seven clues
that will help you identify your Genius.
Passion. Your area of Genius will always be characterized by
enthusiasm, intense interest, and pure fun. This passion will be
difficult to turn off, even when you’re away from work. You’ll have
boundless energy; working in your area of Genius will energize you
physically, mentally, and emotionally. When you do experience
fatigue, it will be accompanied by a powerful sense of satisfaction.
Rapid and Continuous Learning. In your area of Genius,
you’ll notice that learning new information takes little time. New
concepts are easily visualized and quickly integrated into your
existing knowledge base. Just as important, the learning process is
fun, and never-ending improvement comes naturally.
Strong Memory. Your area of Genius is characterized by a
vivid, clear, almost perfect memory. Facts, figures, dates, names,
conversations, and key points related to your Genius activities are
effortlessly recalled when needed.
Flow. When you’re operating in your Genius, you’ll tend to get
totally immersed in what you’re doing. World-class athletes
sometimes refer to being “in the zone” when they’re totally absorbed
in the present moment and able to shut out everything else.
Using Intuition. In your Genius, you’ll naturally tap into and be
inclined to follow your intuitive hunches, and most importantly, you
will be right. Expect to experience a strong, instinctual knowing that
helps you make quick, positive decisions to move you toward your
goal.
Absence of Burnout. By operating in your Genius, you will
insulate yourself from burnout. Since you’ll be doing what you do
best and most love to do, you will get more done in less time and be
happier, healthier, and much more balanced. Burnout is the mental,

emotional, and physical consequence of overwork in an area of
weakness or non-Genius. Burnout is the breaking-point result of
accumulated resistance to non-Genius activity.
Yearning. When you experience a deep desire that just won’t go
away, it’s a strong sign that you may be approaching your Genius.
Several summers ago, one of my sons kept holding a ball underneath
the water in the hot tub. When he released it, it would shoot like a
rocket to the surface and up into the air. He seemed to get a kick out
of this process, especially when the ball smacked his dad in the face.
No matter how deep he held the ball or how often he repeated this
exercise, the ball still shot up to the surface. And this is exactly how
a yearning works. No matter how often or how deeply you try to
bury it, it will keep emerging until you do something about it. Your
Genius is longing to be released once and for all.
The “Wing-It” Factor. Have you ever attempted something,
completed it with very little effort or preparation, and then received
tremendous feedback and praise? This means you “winged it” and
got away with it. This can be a great clue to your Genius. If you
have the talent to wing it and get great results, how well could you
do with a little more preparation? How well could you do with a lot
more practice? One of the biggest performance mistakes people
make is continuing to wing it because they can, rather than investing
the effort and time to make it to the top one percent. Where do you
still wing it? It’s worth thinking about.
Your Personal Mission Statement
In this next segment, I want to coach you through the process of
creating your personal mission statement. I will share with you an
exercise I assign to my 1% Club clients as they develop their
personal missions, and I will give you a simple recipe that will help
you generate the first draft.
A personal mission statement is a written articulation of your
God-given potential—as God sees it. It expresses your unique
purpose for living. Your personal mission statement encourages you
to change in a deliberate, preconceived direction. The process of
constructing the statement forces you to think seriously about the
vital areas of your life and to clarify your long-term direction.
Creating a personal mission statement requires reflection,
introspection, and considerable mental effort. For this reason, it is
not an exercise that is appealing to everyone.
A Powerful Exercise

A mission statement is a written, present-tense articulation of
exactly what type of person you believe God wants you to become.
More importantly, it states what you are willing to do differently in
the present to become that person in the future. A good mission
statement clarifies what is allowable in your life. It helps you say
“yes” to the right things and “no way” to the wrong things. It
reminds you of what is true and false. It is a bridge from intention to
action, an outward sign that you have accepted complete
responsibility for your life. Here’s a sample to get your creative
juices flowing:

My Mission

My mission is to set an excellent example by massively
contributing and serving others while I am continuously
learning, growing, and improving myself, all to the glory of
God. I am a child of God. I obey God’s commandments and
reap the natural benefits. I confidently claim the glorious and
wonderful promises that my heavenly Father has made to me.
I am grateful to God for each new day and the opportunity to
begin a new . . .
I experience and enjoy perfect health! Developing my
full potential and living consistently with my values is not
possible without being in excellent physical condition. My diet
is filled with life-enhancing foods. I exercise aerobically, take
the necessary time to relax, sleep, and practice deep
breathing. I have trained my mind to focus on my goals
and . . .
I am a loving, loyal, and fun marriage partner. I take
sufficient and meaningful time with my spouse, helping and
encouraging him or her in the areas of spiritual, mental, social,
professional, and financial growth . . .
I am a loving, wise, and fun parent. I develop strong
family unity. I take all the training and education in child
rearing I can get so that I am always improving as a parent. I
understand that my actions and habits as a parent speak
much louder than my words . . .
I am a master of my profession. I look for and find
opportunities, always making things happen. My clients trust
me, appreciate me, and seek my counsel without hesitation. I
plan my time wisely each year, each quarter, each week, and

every morning—and then I work my plan. I love my career,
and its rich rewards are a blessing to my family . . .
I am a super-learning machine! I am committed to
constant personal and professional development. I learn from
those who have gone before me and . . .
I am a super-learning machine! I am committed to
constant personal and professional development. I learn from
those who have gone before me and . . .
To study some additional sample mission statements, please
visit www.1percentclub.com/missionstatements.

When you have completed your mission statement, you will
have a clear picture of the person you hope to become, which
dramatically increases the odds that you will actually become that
person. Your mission statement will be the unifying element around
which you organize the rest of your life. And if you want your
mission in life to become a magnificent obsession, you have to
constantly remind yourself of that mission. If you review your
mission statement regularly, it will hold you accountable to changing
and improving in a deliberate, preconceived direction. As you travel
down the path of discovering your Genius and finding your life’s
purpose, always remember that your success blesses others!
Lesson 2 Questions for Reflection
If money were not a consideration—if you were taken care of
financially and could use your days any way you wanted to—
how would you spend most of your time?
What is the most important piece of career advice you would pass on
to your child?
In what aspects of your life do other people tend to be most
impressed with your performance?
What were four specific activities you loved doing when you were
ten years old?
What recurring activities cause you to feel distracted or “off
purpose”?

* * *

Whom can you influence with the ideas from this lesson in the
next forty-eight hours?
The Personal Mission Statement Worksheet
1. What three qualities would you most like to have associated
with your reputation?
2. What three activities do you find most enjoyable?
3. What three activities are most important to you?
4. What three things would you like to change about life if you
had no restrictions or limitations?
5. What six things do you want in life more than anything
else? Be limitless in your thinking.
6. Who are the people you admire most and why?
7. Of all the people you admire most, what one quality do they
all have in common?
8. What would you be willing to die for if you had to?
9. Why do you go to work in the morning?
10. What are your four most important roles in life (friend,
salesperson, entrepreneur, student, uncle, husband,
mother, etc.)?
11. What qualities would you like to be known for in each of
these roles? (For examples, see pages 48-49.)
12. What evidence would prove you have those qualities?
13. Which three metaphors accurately describe your outlook
on life? Why?
• Life is a game.
• Life is a bowl of cherries.
• Life is the pits.
• Life is a test.
• Life is a competition.
• Life is a gift.
• Life is a dance.
• Life is like a movie.

• Life is a cycle of seasons.
• Life is a struggle.
• Life is like a school.
• Life is a challenge.
• Life is a sprint.
• Life is a marathon.
• Life is a gamble.
14. What would you like to see written on your tombstone?
15. If you coule write your own eulogy, what would you want it
to say?

The Personal Mission Statement Outline
1. Statement of purpose (one sentence, in twenty-five words
or less):
My mission is to ...
On your Personal Mission Statement Worksheet, you
identified four roles (see questions 10-12). Answer the
following questions for each role:
2. Role A
a. Qualities/Description (1-2 sentences)
I am ...
b. Evidence, Actions, Responsibilities (1-2 sentences)
I ...
3. Role B
a. Qualities/Description (1-2 sentences)
b. Evidence, Actions, Responsibilities (1-2 sentences)
4. Role C
a. Qualities/Description (1-2 sentences)
b. Evidence, Actions, Responsibilities (1-2 sentences)
5. Role D
a. Qualities/Description (1-2 sentences)

b. Evidence, Actions, Responsibilities (1-2 sentences)
6. Summary and Conclusion (3-5 sentences)
My personal philosophy of life and success (see lesson 1)

Lesson 2 Assignment
Using the outline provided, compose the first draft of
your personal mission statement. Make sure it is
written in present tense as if it were true today.

Ideal Qualities

• accepting
• dynamic
• exceptional
• confident
• daring
• intuitive
• motivated
• gentle
• humble
• quick
• responsive
• patient
• precise
• unique
• charismatic
• sincere
• predictable
• assertive
• exemplary
• understanding
• achieving
• efficient
• neat
• congenial
• decisive
• kind
• responsible
• genuine

• humorous
• rational
• charming
• passionate
• smart
• expressive
• skillful
• thoughtful
• attentive
• open minded
• conscientious
• active
• empathetic
• reflective
• goal directed
• dedicated
• peaceful
• cheerful
• knowledgeable
• imaginative
• realistic
• fair minded
• results oriented
• productive
• considerate
• optimistic
• unpretentious
• tolerant
• attractive
• sociable

• good natured
• adept
• encouraging
• stimulating
• perceptive
• dependable
• logical
• clean
• spiritually sound
• independent
• receptive
• focused
• consistent
• professional
• unstoppable
• objective
• graceful
• trusting
• authoritative
• romantic
• persistent
• adventurous
• energetic
• strong
• spontaneous
• determined
• likable
• coachable
• cooperative
• insightful

• reassuring
• forgiving
• happy
• proficient
• vibrant
• organized
• personable
• trustworthy
• beautiful
• self-aware
• sexy
• affectionate
• enterprising
• sympathetic
• courageous
• direct
• loving
• committed
• helpful
• intelligent
• reliable
• friendly
• persuasive
• prominent
• vigorous
• orderly
• supportive
• truthful
• bold
• self-confident

• creative
• agreeable
• entertaining
• talented
• honest
• disciplined
• loyal
• poised
• compassionate
• innovative
• remarkable
• fun
• prudent
• warm
• original
• unbeatable
• brave
• sensitive
• ambitious
• enthusiastic
• teachable
• distinctive
• masterful
• competent
• introspective
• resourceful
• fun loving
• punctual
• wise
• outgoing

• unbreakable
• caring
• serious
• articulate
• steady