Last week I appeared on The Neil Cavuto show to offer my take on the scandal involving LA Clipper’s owner, Donald Sterling. I shared with Neil three things: 1) that Sterling would be banned from the NBA, 2) money can’t buy happiness or admiration and 3) no matter how rich a person is financially, that can’t make them happy, sane, or prevent them from having hate in their heart. While the media is focused on racism, privacy, freedom of speech, and the NBA, I think there is a more important story that can affect every business person.
My prediction of Sterling’s lifetime ban from the NBA, never being allowed to step foot on a court again was confirmed the following day. There was also a bigger issue that this scandal exemplified…this is what happens to a person with no purpose.
While money can buy a lot of things, it can’t buy happiness, sanity, respect or reputation. In life regardless of your financial situation, we all need a purpose. A person without a clear purpose that benefits more than just their own pocket book, will rot from the inside. Take a person with no purpose and add $1.9 billion dollars and you end up with a problem.
Billions of people are living a life without purpose; going through the motions of a routine – going to work, doing only what they must to get by. They wake up, go to work and do their jobs, go home, eat, sleep, wake up and do it again. This is a crime to the individual. I know because I lived some portion of my life afflicted with no clear purpose.
If you ever feel like this is happening to you ask yourself these questions:
- What am I doing?
- Why am I doing this?
- In addition to myself, who benefits?
- Does my purpose match my potential?
It’s not against the law to live a life with no purpose but why would you want to? If you ever find yourself caught up in the routine actions of your day-to-day be sure to stop a minute and clarify your purpose so you don’t end up old, rich and with hate in your heart.
