Finding your purpose - the reason why God sent you to earth - is a surefire way to win at life:

• It forces us to live with intentionality

• Gifts us with fulfillment

• Launches us into greater levels of success

These are all great things.

But moving in purpose is a meaningless venture if we do not have an identity to go with it.

Our identity is in more than what we accomplish, or who we are surrounded by. It is the core of who we are that cannot be taken away no matter what life throws at us.

It follows us into every room we walk into.

While we bring our purpose along with us into these rooms, its presence does not negate that our purpose is a series of goals.

When we set our sights on goals whether it be in a career, health, or in finances - we settle for things that can just as easily be taken away.

A goal gifts us a moment while identity gifts us a lifetime of mastery. Similarly, purpose gives us a direction to follow, while identity is the grounding force keeping us in every direction we walk.

For example, a wise person will bring wisdom into every situation they face because they have become the very thing they aim to reproduce.

• Shifting our identity to encapsulate the heart of our goals increases our:

  • Productivity

  • Discipline

  • Result quality

  • Willingness to repeat the action

If we want to live the most fulfilling and productive lives we must change our mindsets from goal-oriented to identity-focused. This looks like prioritizing becoming a healthy person rather than just losing weight. Or, working to become a service-oriented person instead of simply looking to increase sales.

But there are levels to the types of identity we chase. There are the identities we choose for ourselves and then there is our God-given identity. Jesus says it best: “I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance” (John 10:10).

When we set our sights on Jesus and becoming the person He created us to be, we turn into people that continually produce results in every room we enter because that is what He did.

In the Bible Jesus tells us repeatedly to “Follow Him.” Part of that package is walking in:

• Strategic and effective movement

• Wisdom

• Productivity

• Creativity

• Joy

• Peace

• Purpose

• Healthy and fulfilling Relationships

Initially, this may seem underwhelming but let’s remember the top 5 regrets of the dying:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live true to myself and not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Unfortunately, these are all identity-related issues: knowing who they were and staying true to that would have relieved some of these regrets.