#WheresYourNext - The Power of Purpose in Your Life and Business

It was over a year ago where I sat in an ice-cream parlor in Salt Lake City, talking to two entrepreneurial friends of mine, Josh Brecheisen - who at the time owned his own staffing agency and Ninh Tran - COO of Hiretual, after we had just kicked off SourceCon Salt Lake City's first meeting of the Chapter. There was some dialogue around Career and Work related topics and we arrived at a point in the conversation where I was asked point blank by both my friends - Mike do you know what your purpose is? It was a poignant question at the time, and has been since.

A few months prior I had presented at my first SourceCon conference - in Las Vegas. A blessing at the time it opened my world to a wide variety of opportunities. Since that time, I have endeavored to define and refine that purpose. It was in another conversation with my lifetime friend from my middle school days Dominic Wong, and another entrepreneurial spirit that I found some amazing answers. He challenged me to recreate my brand, and in due course I will make it out to see him in Silicon Valley at some point when time allows to create a personal career website, pull in all my Recruiting Content into one forum, rebrand my professional photo and rediscover a-new some important areas in my life. It got me thinking during our visit in Provo Utah a month ago, that same conversation surrounding purpose was again brought to bear at the forefront.

Purpose is a powerful thing. It's the culmination of a realization that you desire to give more, be more, and drive more than you ever thought possible. The reality is that life will give you moments where you will need to define your purpose, that thing that gets you out of bed, that defining reality that forces you to build your endeavors to culminating outcomes.

Could it be that you might have multiple purposes? I met in February earlier this year James Lawrence, the holder of the records for Iron Man Triathlons. That visit was inspiring. He had focused at one point that he would recommit to something greater than his purpose, and it led to amazing outcomes.

Today, purpose is the very thing that can carry you a few more steps forward to that goal, that outcome, that desired place you want to be. I once thought how can I get to this place that I want to get to, when the world is crowding in with multiple things, not all of them readily clear as to where the ship may be headed or the long term perspective.

Is it not in ambiguity sometimes that we must labor forward? I found that to be a reality that I had faced for several points in the past year. All the while trying to determine really "What was my purpose?" The truth is that your purpose definition comes together over time, where your vision of where you are, and where you "want to be" starts to come together. In the moments where life gives you ambiguity when you start sensing your purpose it becomes your driving force, your credo, your mantra in thick and thin, and in all things your very reason for existence.

So the question you may be asking - What is Mike Rasmussen's purpose? I suppose it starts with the basics - I live for my family first and foremost, my career is secondary to that purpose - my family is my most important asset, they who know me, my children who have my back any given day and my spouse who lifts me up through her efforts. When life is crowding in - when challenges seem overwhelming it is my family to which I focus first. They inspire me to keep going, to push a few more steps forward. Next, my Career - my vision for myself - I live to be the best I can be with my ethics focused forward, and a purpose that gets me out of bed in my career - that is to help put great people in great roles. Now in corporate staffing I find this must be paramount, everything else is secondary. It doesn't matter the crazy moments, or the circumstances that may be tough - it is this purpose most of all - to put good people in good roles. That is an important purpose. And for myself - to be my best self and to bring to pass amazing outcomes along the way. When everything is crowding in - my first purpose "To help my family" and my second purpose "To put great people into great roles" - comes together. As life continues to come into play - there is much more that needs to be defined. A 3rd purpose emerges - to get myself to a place of success such that purposes 1 & 2 can be fulfilled. That is to perform at my peak levels.

So it was no surprise when I consulted my friend Dominic in May that a new purpose emerged with a new tagline - #WheresYourNext - that beautiful hashtag is my call sign. It's the driving force to build the next layer of my brand. Appropriately, a 120 day reinvention goal also emerged which began on June 1st. #WheresYourNext is always at the front. It's always calling - it's always building for the long haul. When you know what your goal is - when it is front and center - when you seek to make yourself become legendary you will do everything, and strive to eliminate anything that might stand as a roadblock. The long term goal must be set to the path forward. Another purpose emerged in the last year - to build a local Professional Recruiter's/Talent Acquisition Association whereby others might grow professionally. This profession that has been so good to me, I had to lay the groundwork to build it. That purpose has had interesting moments - a start-up gave to me new challenges I hadn't yet faced.

So with a defined purpose, and with defined goals - I know that I want to grow in my career, and I cannot become stagnant - so with that I set out and chose to take on a few other areas of desired focus:

>Signed up for SourceCon Academy - to refine my Sourcing Skills.

>Committed to my 120 Day Reinvention Challenge

>Decided that I would focus on a personal performance goal to reignite reinvention.

>Chose to drive my way forward in the areas that would unite all these purposes in one over-arching focus - #WheresYourNext

>Committed to a rebrand of sorts to be completed by the end of the Summer

So it is with fixed determination I enter this new un-chartered territory. With one important goal in mind - to forever transform myself in a new experiential way. When Sept 30th comes it will be the most amazing outcome I hope of my career having lead to a new place of reinvention and fortitude. I intend to forever change myself to get to another level of achievement. I do not know where that road may lead, but I do know if I envision a place of success and will it to be so - then maybe, just maybe it will happen in a way I never thought, or dreamed possible. It sure seems like I am headed in that direction. 3 weeks in so far and everything seems to be on the right track. #WheresYourNext is my battle cry on purpose. So look out world, I am coming, and I am not looking back........