By: Craig Stanland
After prison I landed a job at a gym in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I worked at the front desk at first but eventually moved my way up to general manager.
I was grateful for the job, and thanks to it, I met some of my now closest friends. But it wasn’t what I was meant to do with my life.
The camaraderie was awesome, but there was no sense of purpose, meaning, or fulfillment.
The skills required to perform the job well were not commensurate with all of my skills and did not fully tap into my potential.
I was leaving some of the best parts of me untapped and unfulfilled. It was no different (other than pay) from when I worked in the corporate world.
But I needed the job to meet my financial obligations, keep a roof over my head, and keep food in the fridge (the same as when I worked in corporate).
Something had to change; here are 3 simple ways I discovered purpose outside of my 9-5.
1. I practiced self-care.
I created, over time, and it’s still in development, a morning routine that serves my goals and the overarching life I want to live.
Embracing #3 was a critical component of this journey. There are so many gurus out there espousing their ideal morning, but I had to find what worked for me.
My morning routine includes meditation, movement (yoga or mobility training), expressing gratitude, and journaling.
My goal is to achieve flow when I sit down at the keyboard to write, and through experimentation, I found the routine that works.
2. I carved time out of my day to do what I love.
I worked a full schedule, but I found the time to write for two hours a day.
Writing is a part of my life calling, and dedicating 2 hours a day (something I still do) gives my life a sense of joy, purpose, meaning, and fulfillment.
It also cultivates a sense of worthiness because I’m allowing myself time to do what I love and pursuing mastery in the craft.
It also cultivates deep self-trust when I do what I love, do it with intent, and consistently keep my commitment to myself.
3. I gave myself permission to experiment, suck and fail.
Number three was a hard pill for me to swallow.
Most of my life was about the outcome and achieving perfection toward that outcome. My thought process looked like this,
“If I’m going to spend my time, it has to work perfectly.”
What I ended up doing was doing nothing at all.
When I gave myself permission to experiment, suck and fail, I liberated myself from inaction and realized the joy is in taking action.
Life became a process over outcome and a whole more enjoyable.
These simple practices took about 3 hours and completely transformed the remaining 21.
The gym was still the gym; it didn’t magically acquire purpose, meaning, and fulfillment.
But, and this is what I’ve learned, which is so critically important to how I want to live my life, I seized agency.
I wasn’t throwing my hands up like I did when I worked in corporate and saying,
“Oh well, it’s just the way it is.”
I identified the pain, gave it a name, created a plan to solve the pain, and executed that plan— all while embracing #3.
When I seize agency over my life, it transforms my life. I used to think massive change was required to create massive change.
The reality is – all it takes is a change.
Craig Stanland is a Reinvention Architect & Mindset Coach, TEDx & Keynote Speaker, and the Best-Selling Author of “Blank Canvas, How I Reinvented My Life After Prison.” He specializes in working with high-achievers who’ve chased success, money, and status in their 1st half, only to find a success-sized hole in their lives. He helps them unleash their full potential, break free from autopilot, draft a new life blueprint, and connect with their Life’s Calling so they can live extraordinary lives with purpose, meaning, and fulfillment. Craig is also a member of the Ministry’s White Collar Support Group™ that meets every Monday evening on Zoom.
We highly recommend Brent Cassity’s podcast, Nightmare Success, in which he interviews justice-impacted people from all walks of life. He is a White Collar Support Group™ member with a mission to be of service to our community. Please check it out on Spotify or on your favorite podcast platform.