By Francis Ewherido

Last week, we advised governments at all levels to come up with programmes to stem the increasing youths’ unemployment. But youths also need to help themselves because “private victories must precede public victories.” Many youths do not live purposefully and are ill-prepared and ill-equipped to take advantage of available opportunities.

Over the next few weeks, I want us to dwell on purposeful living. I have been handling youths on this topic since 2008 and it has been quite impactful.

Purpose is why you do something, or why something exists. Before you engage in any activity, there should be a good reason for doing it, which should form part of a larger picture of your purpose in life.

Purpose comes from the paradigm that the individual is uniquely designed for a special destiny. You have a destiny for which you were created and to which you are called. Purposeful living can, therefore, be summarized as showing that you know what you want to do with your life by the way you live.

How do you find your purpose? First, you must acknowledge and internalize the fact that you are the greatest miracle on earth. This is not about pride, it is self-worth. Many youths have no self-esteem; consequently, they fall or go for anything and sell themselves cheap for all the stupid reasons in this world.

They are insecure because of their heights, complexion, looks and size of their bums, breasts and penis, the list goes on. As important as all the aforementioned might seem, a human being succeeds with what he has got between the two temples of his head (brain) and what he does with it.

Youths must be very conscious of their individuality. There is no one like you on earth, not even your identical twin brother/sister, because you are only identical, not the same. There is no other like you with your deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, not even your parents whose combination supplied the genes where your DNA is housed.

There is none with your finger prints. God created you specially and specifically; therefore do not diminish, or allow anybody to diminish, God’s special creation. In addition, even if your parents did not plan to give birth to you, that still does not make you an accident, because the God who created you is a master planner.

There is no accident in his dictionary. He knew about you long before your birth. Consequently, he created you on purpose for a purpose. Christiano Ronaldo’s mother never wanted to have him; she wanted to abort him. Today, Ronaldo is one of the five greatest footballers of all time.

You must express your genius. Now who/what is a genius? “A person of extraordinary intellect and talents.” “A strong natural talent, aptitude or inclination.” “An innate capability.” Happily, geniuses are not only born, you can develop and become a genius. “Expressing your genius is knowing what you want to do with your life and doing it because it expresses who you really are”.

Mark V. Hansen and Robert G. Allen

(One Minute Millionaire) list four characteristics of people who are expressing their genius. One, passion: They love what they do. If they were not getting paid, they would do it for free. Two, talent: they are good at what they do. Call it ability or genius, they have got it.

Three, values: doing what they do is extremely important to them. Four, destiny: They have a sense that they are doing what they were born to do—making their own unique contribution. There is a genius in each of us waiting to be discovered. Richard Hall (Success) says it is a tragedy not to discover what you are good at?

How do we tap into this genius? One very effective way is to do a self SWOT analysis. When we talk about the SWOT matrix, what occurs to many people is a company or project. But I consider it more important to individuals than companies and projects; there will be no projects and companies without people.

For those who might be unaware,

SWOT is an acronym of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. These variables are both within and external. To do the analysis, draw a vertical line, then a horizontal line across the middle of the vertical line to create four boxes. Label the top left box “S” for strength, that is, your abilities, talents, potentials and passions.

Then label the box below it “O” for opportunities: situations or factors you can exploit as a result of your strengths. Label the top right box “W” for weaknesses: those things you are ignorant of, not good at doing, or you hate doing but which are critical to your success or place you at a relative disadvantage.

Then label the box below it “T” for threats: these are risks you face because of your weaknesses, they slow you down or stop you from achieving your goals Experts say every person has a minimum of 50 talents or passions that he can explore to live a fulfilling life, but the truth is that nobody explores all these talents in a life time.

For a start, write two or three, your strongest, in the “S” box. These are your strengths. With these strengths, what opportunities are available to you? Do research, go online and find out the opportunities that are available to people with your kind of strengths and list them.

Then move to the “W” box; what weaknesses can hinder you from taking advantage of your opportunities? List them. These weaknesses determine the threats you face which is the last column. By the time you successfully complete this analysis; your purpose here on earth will become obvious.

Subsequently, take action: First, you need to develop yourself and enhance your capabilities. Then, ideas need to germinate from your talents and abilities (opportunities box). Third, you need to build a plan around your ideas. Four, you need a team and mentor(s), and finally, you need systems and processes to drive your dream.