“Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose, and devote yourself unreservedly to it.”
- James Allan
David Jones was a British teenager who wanted to make a career out of his love for music. He was playing and performing his music before he ever graduated from school. He become a leader of several bands and finally recorded his first album.
The album received positive reviews by England’s harshest music critics, yet it sold little. In a matter of months, David was homeless and living on the streets. To make matters worse, a new popular London band called The Monkeys was roaring across the headlines and the country with a bandleader who had the same name that he did!
David thought he’d never be distinguished from this new star when it came to marketing himself to the record labels, but he did not give up his definite aim in life.
In the earlier 1970’s, David recorded a song on a cassette tape while sitting on a sofa in a friend’s
apartment. The song, “Major Tom,” rang a cord with the record company. The entire world was raptured with the American - Soviet rush to space dominance, and David’s song quickly topped the charts.
The rest is history for that English boy who had a definite aim for his life. Today, David, David Bowie that is, is one the wealthiest musicians in England.
Now you may not be a musician. You may not even appreciate David Bowie or his music. But David’s story ought to jar you into asking yourself some tough questions about your own calling in life.
Questions like: Do I have an aim so strong that even poverty and homelessness couldn’t stop me from pursuing it? Have I crystallized my definite aim in life or am I content to “go with the flow” or put up with “come what may”? Am I a meaningful specific or wondering generality?
Having a definite aim will pull you through the tough times. It’s easy to lead the organization that’s growing and prospering. It’s not so easy to address the staff when revenue declines are demanding personnel cuts.
It’s easy to preach to a full church, but not as easy when the majority of your membership hasn’t shown up for weeks! It’s easy to visit with the employee who is your greatest supporter. It’s not so easy to visit with the employee who has been opposing you at every turn.
It’s easy to lead your family when your spouse is happy, the children are drug-free “A” students, and the dog doesn’t have fleas. It’s not so easy leading your family when your spouse is threatening divorce, and your teenage daughter has just informed you that she’s pregnant.
Having a definite aim says, Okay, we have problems, but we have not been called here to die in failure but to succeed despite our failures. A definite aim says, as the old adage goes, Tags: Durkac, goal setting, goals, Leadership, management