As African Americans, we must be proud of whom we are and proud of our ancestors who endured the grueling plight of slavery. It is because of their strength and endurance that we all exist today. We must never forget the sacrifice of those who have gone on before us. We must believe that we are a people of Power, Passion and Privilege. We must give ourselves permission to be free and let no one or anything hold us back from reaching our true potential and greatness. We must become knowledgeable and proud of the incredible contributions that our ancestors have contributed to this great nation and ensure that our children and all African Americans that we come in contact with are aware of these mighty works as well. We must connect with our true potential and discover God’s divine purpose for our lives.

You were not born by accident, but you were created to contribute, to live with a purpose and to live abundantly. Fulfilling your purpose is about ridding yourself of habits that are preventing you from accomplishing your goals. To do this you must be willing to have a complete “paradigm” shift. A paradigm shift is simply changing your thinking from one way to another in order to maximize your vision and accomplishments.

The term, “paradigm shift” became very popular when used by Steven Covey, author of the best seller, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. The rationale behind it is that you cannot get positive results using the same thought patterns that got you negative results before. For example, if your goal was to write a book, but you tried many times by sitting down at your computer and waiting for your thoughts to come, but they never did. It wouldn’t make sense a few years later to restate your goal of writing a book and just sit at the computer, wait for your thoughts to come again and expect results different than the last time. Instead, you must have a completely different shift in your mindset, including empowering yourself with the information and experts that can teach you the best system to use in writing and publishing a book.

In his book, “The Principles and Power of Vision”, author and international motivational speaker, Myles Munroe says:

“The poorest person in the world is a person without a dream. Maybe you’ve never known what you wanted to do with your life. Or maybe you had a dream once but lost sight of it through discouraging circumstances or the busyness of day-to-day living. No matter how much money you may have, if you don’t have a clear vision for your life, you are truly poor. It has been said that if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. What’s worse, you won’t even know when you have arrived. Unless you have a definite idea of where you want to go, the chances that you will get there are remote.”

What’s your purpose? How will you make a difference in your life and the life of others? The answer lies within you and you must stand bold and be willing to step outside of your box and make it happen! Through the Black Business America Knowledge Center, we become your partner in providing you with articles, worksheets and resources you’ll need to step into your purpose. Please take advantage of them and get started on a journey that you’ll never want to end.

Here’s to fulfilling your purpose!