Evan Carmichael argues that a clear purpose acts as a decision filter. He turns down paid promotions that don't align with his mission to help a billion entrepreneurs, and says you should reject opportunities that don't bring flow, keeping every action pointed at what you actually stand for.
Chapters
What are you trying to do with your life, with your business? What do you stand for? What movement are you trying to create? Most people don't stand for anything. I'm trying to help a billion entrepreneurs. When you stand for something important, it not only motivates you to get up in the morning and go and work on it and beat on your craft, but it also helps guide your decision-making. There's been times where I've been offered opportunities. I've been offered opportunities by companies who said, "Evan, we want you to help us promote this product." And it just didn't feel right. You know, like, again, logically it makes sense. They're gonna pay me tens of thousands of dollars to do one video. But it didn't feel right because I don't want to just be hawking some product because I hadn't clearly defined what it was that I stood for. So when you have that clear purpose with your business or with your life, it makes those decisions easier. Those things that you don't like doing may not be aligned with your purpose. Why are you doing these things? If you don't know what your purpose is, then you're wandering all over the place, but you have these things that guide you towards your purpose, things that— where you do get into the flow, things that you do enjoy. Where you like spending your time, and that's what you need to focus more on and not the things that are pushing you away.
