I Connected With My Purpose and Everything Changed. Here’s what happened.

November 2022 was a huge month for my ongoing 15-Year Credibility Challenge. I achieved a number of new records:

1. 77 New Followers on Medium. More than double my previous record of 32 from the month before.
2. $63.73 USD in Medium earnings. More than triple my previous record of $20.44 USD from the month before.
3. 1st article to reach 1,000 views in its lifetime.
4. Most number of articles published in a single month (approx 30 depending on when they’re released)
5. Most number of days for the trading indicator program to operate unsupervised.

So What Changed?

For the first time in seemingly forever, I sat down and developed a strategy, plan, and execution schedule for what I felt called to do.

Not what people expected me to do.

Not what my perception of society informed me I should do.

Definitely not what felt comfortable or safe to do!

Let Me Explain

I’ve always found myself intensely connected to the process of learning, writing, teaching, and sharing. I remember moments of intense joy and excitement when I got to exercise these strengths growing up, and the corresponding times of intense effort I would put into developing these products/experiences/outcomes.

Somewhere along the way, these natural talents got smothered. I experienced a number of years in a wilderness of dissatisfaction as I tried to become someone I actually wasn’t.

I experienced great success in the metrics which I told myself mattered (earning power, team size, expertise), but something just didn’t seem right.

I was constantly stressed to an unhealthy degree.

I couldn’t sleep properly at night (note not because of any medical reason)

I felt a weird sense of dissatisfaction

I was dislocated from my purpose

I Made the Decision to Change

In May 2021, I made a life-changing decision. In partnership with my wife, and in the context of my faith, I decided to commit myself to resolving my Purpose Dislocation Complex.

I committed myself to authentically engaging in a purpose discovery process, exploring:

1. Who I am
2. Who I have been created to be
3. What I was created to do

Everything Changed

To say that ‘everything changed’ is quite the statement. Yet it is more true than I could have imagined.

Firstly, I changed my perception of myself. It became more accurate. Rather than comparing myself (often unfavorably) to others, I learned to focus on the gifts and talents I was created with. I learned to recognize the cool areas where I offer value and to celebrate others who offer value in other areas. As a result, I started to learn how to focus on being the best I could be in my swim lane, not looking around everywhere else.

Secondly, I learned to derive tremendous joy from my activity. I found that when I focused on what I was naturally gifted in, I loved what I did. It was amazing. I was more motivated and connected to my activity than ever before, to a degree I never even thought possible.

Thirdly, I found myself living in my purpose. For the first time in my adult life, I could confidently say: “I am doing what I felt called to do!”

It felt amazing.

The weird thing was that having given up on using metrics to inform me of my worth and value, I started to achieve higher levels on those metrics!

Without the unhealthy stress.

While still having many amazing nights of sleep.

While feeling connected to my purpose!

692 Days In: What’s Different?

So here I am, 692 days into my purpose exploration journey. What’s actually changed?

I’m glad you asked.

Writing and Sharing

Firstly, I’ve committed myself to writing and sharing. I derive tremendous joy and satisfaction from my writing — and I also need to earn money. I believe that for my family to live comfortably, we need to earn $10,000 USD per month. We’re going to see if we can do that through writing and sharing.

Last week I took a few days to plan my 2023 writing year. I’ve come up with a writing schedule that should see me:

1. Write 3 books
2. Publish ~250 articles
3. Publish 5–8 series

Working On My Writing Not Just In My Writing

I’ve definitely learned the value of being smart about my writing! These days I spend significant amounts of time researching SEO keywords/phrases/questions and modifying my message to suit. The results have been a 5x increase in traffic to my blog, and I believe that’s just the start. I’ve also learned more effective ways to structure my blog posts so they offer more value to my readers.

I’ve also learned the importance of consistently promoting my work on social media. It’s not a forum or activity I feel entirely comfortable with just yet, however, the results are undeniable.

All this activity will continue into next year, as I still feel I’ve got a ton to learn in this space.

Trading Signals and Trading Subscription Website

As I’ve devoted myself to learning about trading signals, subscriptions, and indicators, I believe there’s a huge gap in the market.

I also believe that I’ve got the skills to meet it.

As a result, I’m going to see if I can develop a product that offers real value to traders around the world, across FOREX, stocks, crypto, and resources. I’ve partnered with one of the best pattern-recognition individuals I know and together we’re going to see if we can develop an awesome product that helps tons of people.

Thank You To Everyone Who Follows and Supports Me

As I wrap up my little update, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who follows and supports me. As I well know, there are 1,000s of things constantly vying for our time and attention — and to know that you’ve given me some of your time and attention space is a true honor.

Thank you so much.

James