When we study the life of great achievers we find that actually one’s life purpose is carved from the wood and the stones that we find amongst us. No one gets a bolt of lightning from the sky or no diamond drops on anyone’s head.

Start where you are. Pick up the stones and rocks and wood you find around you and start crafting. Give whatever you have at hand your best and be curious about what else you could be doing or what else could be interesting. From this will emerge over a long period of time that which you are perfect for. 

Take some notable examples

• Frank Woolworth, the retail magnate who founded discount stores, started near his village working for free in a retail store. It was the first job he could find. It didn’t pay. He persisted. He learnt. He got better. He carved from the “ non paying job” a lot of “paying skills” which he used to launch his five and dime store and become one of the richest men in America.

• Oprah Winfrey the great TV host and motivational speaker came from a poor background and was abused as a child. With the help of her father, she focused on school and joined the high school debate team. That helped her sharpen per public speaking and she went for a beauty pageant. She did her best, preparing very well and she won it at the age of 17. From there a radio station invited her to be a host and the rest is history. At each step she worked hard to crack each step of the ladder.

• Thomas Watson started as a salesman and a bookkeeper selling pianos and all odd ball items he could find. He studied, worked hard and became a salesman at National Cash Register. Learning from the best by asking them to help him, he became a top salesman. He wrote down all his learnings to create his book of management. 15 years he worked in sales and general management in NCR and then was sacked due to differences with the management. He then went onto CTR which later became IBM and under his leadership grew nearly 50+ times to become the leading technology company of it’s time.

• Sam Walton did many odd jobs before becoming an intern at JC Penney to learn the retail trade. He then worked hard at it, learnt well and understood how to do it better. Post world war 2 he came back to set up his own stores. He worked tirelessly to make the stores better and make them grow faster and serve the customers better. It took him 17 years to learn and develop before he opened the first Wal Mart.

In all cases without exception the great achievers started wherever they found themselves and worked from there. 

They took the wood and the stones and rocks they found and carved on them till the master pieces emerged.

Start where you are. Your path to your purpose begins there.