Fear To Passion - Issue #075

In this edition of "The WelderDestiny Compass":

Fear To Passion
Business With Purpose
Rule No 1
The New Fuel

Fear To Passion

When we started this project, we started from the perspective of fear. Fear of what the world holds when the machines take over our jobs and leave us destitute. It was clear to us that robotics and automation had the potential to make a large number of jobs totally redundant.

Within this framework we have looked at the technological drivers that are busy shaping our future. We also looked at the fundamental principles driving economics and human interaction. We came to the conclusion that a very likely outcome of the machine age is a world of micro-entrepreneurs. In all likelihood, micro entrepreneurs that interact with each other, and our clients, through decentralized autonomous organizations. (DAO's)

We then spent some time trying to wrap our heads around the types of skills that may be needed in such an entrepreneurial world.

Will all this come to pass exactly as we predict? Almost certainly not! But, even if we only get it half right, we will still be streets ahead of those that are not thinking about these things at all.

Today we head into a slightly different direction. In the past year and a half, we have been keen to gain knowledge and understanding. Today we try to gain motivation to not only understand how to operate in the machine age economy, but to actually look forward to it! We want to move from fear to passion.

If you would like to add your ideas to this week’s discussion, then please send me an e-mail with your ideas, (Send your e-mails to: compass@welderdestiny.com) or add a contribution directly into the comments form on the bottom of the e-zine page on the WelderDestiny website.

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Now let's get stuck into this week’s topics...

Business With Purpose

Many people work for a paycheck at the end of the week or month. For them, their work does not hold a lot of meaning. This is an unfortunate situation. The first and most important role of leadership is to get people to understand why the work they do is important. Why their work has meaning, because meaning generates passion.

In a world where most of us end up being entrepreneurs in our own right, we will need to find that meaning for ourselves. In short, we need to find a purpose in life. Once we have this, we can develop a business with purpose.

What could such a purpose be? Well, it will be different for everybody, because we are all different. It is about finding something that is important to you, over and above money, and using that to guide your decisions about how you are going to go about structuring your business.

Do you care about the environment, and are active in the welding industry? Develop a business that assists others to be more environmentally friendly when they perform welding, or design, build or distribute a product that can help reduce litter or some other environmental contaminant.

Do you care about poverty? Create a welding business that adds value to poor people's lives. The value does not necessarily need to be money. It could be an opportunity for unskilled workers to learn welding, or to allow them to provide some low technology product into the welding industry.

If you are feeling disillusioned, don't run for the hills. Rather look for a purpose where you are and start working towards making the world into the place you want to live in. If you can do this while earning a living, then suddenly you will have a business with purpose and passion.

Rule No 1

Here is my rule no 1:

Whatever you do, maintain your sanity.

When deciding on living a purpose filled life, you could end up being so selfless that you run yourself into the ground. This is not the intention. If you burn yourself out, then you are getting it wrong!

As with any business, it needs to be sustainable and profitable. It also needs to be uplifting rather than draining. If you think that you can solve the world's problems, then you are just being delusional. The best you can do is contribute and leave the world a better place than you found it.

If you solved all the world's problems, then what are the rest of us going to do? It is not a sin to leave a problem for somebody else to tackle. They also need purpose in their life.

Also keep in mind that success in meeting your purpose will only be possible if your business is making good money. The money is what gives you the freedom to contribute to your purpose.

After you have decided on a purpose, it is always a good idea to go through a process to get comfortable with the purpose. Once you are comfortable, and have thought through the business model that will achieve not only your purpose, but will also give you the income you need, then you are in a good place to start up that purposeful business.

The New Fuel

For much of the industrial age, businesses were run on either fear or greed. The fear of failing, or greed to collect as much money and resources to your business as possible. Lately this focus of fear and greed is slowly changing in some businesses.

Many businesses, even large multi-nationals, are finding value in developing a purposeful business. Apart from the normal vision, mission and values, they are also establishing a purpose. In doing so, they find that their employees are more engaged and like to come to work. Their customers are also more loyal, because they understand how the money they spend with that company also contributes to making the world a better place.

In the old economy the fuels for business were fear and greed. Now, purpose is also becoming a fuel driving the new economy.

If you want to stand out, stand for something!

Yours in welding

Niekie Jooste

P.S. Do you work for, or do business with a purposeful business? Do you think that having a business with purpose can lead to greater satisfaction than just working for money? Please share your stories, opinions and insights regarding today's topic, directly on the e-zine page on the WelderDestiny website.

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