By:
B. Sanchez
People ask all the time, “I don’t know
God’s purpose for my life.” But it’s really easy.
Let me help you.
I tell them, “The easiest way for you to
know God’s purpose is to look for the intersection between your passion and
your potential.” In other words, find alignment.
Fulfilling your purpose may or may not
to earn you money. And that’s okay. Life is not about earning
money. This was my experience. For 20 years, I didn’t earn from the
intersection of my passion and potential—which was speaking. It was pure
ministry. I would speak anywhere and everywhere for free. I was very
happy but very poor. With my finances, I could never raise my family or
give more to the ministry.
So one day, I decided to go into
business. To earn money, I sold hotdogs, squid balls, ice cream, memorial
plans, and even engine oil. All those businesses
failed. Why? Because I went out of my two circles of passion and
potential…
To earn money, I had to go back to my
core—the intersection of my passion and potential. But I had to do
something else. If I wanted to prosper financially, I had to add one more
circle. (I borrowed this idea from Jim Collins’ book, Good To Great—just
changed the terms). The “Peso” circle consists of the various ways I could
earn. I asked myself, “Where can I earn the most?”
I realized that I could earn the most at
that sweet spot where these three circles intersect. That sweet spot for
me was still communication, but this time, I needed to find a way to monetize
it. Obviously, even to this day, MOST of my speaking is still for
free. I speak at the Feast each week without pay. But once a month,
I’m invited by companies to speak and they pay me more than what I used to earn
in a year.
Let me end with one last story…
Know
What You Want
There’s this one very special restaurant
in Singapore that my friends loved. In fact, its Hainanese chicken is so
over-the-top and out-of-this-world, the restaurant has become a minor tourist
attraction. If you visit Singapore, you have to visit this simple
restaurant.
And my two friends loved this restaurant
so much, they had this crazy idea. They wanted to be the franchisee of
this restaurant here in the Philippines.
So they flew to Singapore to talk
to the owner. And that was when they learned that they weren’t the first
people to think of the crazy idea. They were last in a long line of
people. The owner mentioned some very wealthy Filipinos who already visited
him, wanting to buy the franchise. These Filipinos were huge institutions
in the restaurant industry, the best of the best.
But for some reason, the owner turned
all of them down.
Obviously, my friends were
shaken. “If he turned down these gigantic Philippine restaurants, he’s
going to turn us down too!”
But that’s when they received the shock
of their life. After their long conversation with the owner, he looked at
my two friends and announced, “I’ll give you the franchise for the
Philippines.”
Later on, they learned why.
The owner used one big question to
decide. He asked every applicant, “If I give you the franchise, who will
come here to Singapore—to get trained in my kitchen—for 4 straight months?”
The other applicants—very wealthy
business people—said, “We will send our best chefs for your training program.”
KBZZZZZZT! Wrong answer.
But when my friends were asked the same
question, they raised their hands and said, “We’ll go!” In other words,
they said, “We’ll forget whatever we’re doing in the Philippines and focus only
on one thing—your restaurant.”
Are
You Willing To Give Up Everything?
The restaurant owner was a very wise
man. He was looking for people who know what they wanted.
I believe God is like that restaurant
owner. He wants you to franchise his love in this world. He’s looking
for His representatives. And He too is looking for an alignment between
passion, potential, and purpose!
Passion means knowing what you want and
giving everything you’ve got to get it. Passion is saying to yourself and to
the universe, “This is what I want, and I’m betting my entire life on
this. I’m putting my time, my future, and my comfort at stake
here. I’m unloading all my guns. I’m holding nothing back. I’m
sacrificing everything on the altar!”
That restaurant is now in the
Philippines—and they’re full every single day. They’re so full, you
can’t get in without a reservation. It’s a smashing
success. Why?
Because there was alignment.
Let me ask you today…
Do you know what you want?
Do you want it bad enough?
God waits for your answer.
I love saying this: When you want
something bad enough, nothing much can stop you. As the Bible says, If you
are unable to make up your mind and are undecided in all you do, you must not
think that you will receive anything from the Lord. (James 1:7-8)
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