February 1, 2024 • 11 mins
In this episode, Ray Sanders explores the search for meaning and purpose in life. He highlights the common questions many people have about their purpose and the desire to make a difference. Sanders emphasizes that making a difference doesn't always require leading a massive organization but can start at home. He encourages listeners to find opportunities to make a difference everywhere they go, whether it's through a simple smile or a kind word. Sanders also introduces the Find The One Challenge, where individuals are challenged to wake up every morning looking for someone to encourage, help, or love. Takeaways
- Many people wonder about their purpose and desire to make a difference in the world.
- Making a difference can start at home and in everyday interactions with others.
- Small acts of kindness, such as a smile or a kind word, can have a significant impact on others.
- The Find The One Challenge encourages individuals to actively seek opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others.
Chapters 00:00 Finding Meaning and Purpose in Life 03:08 The Search for Meaning and Purpose 04:06 Making a Difference at Home 05:33 Making a Difference Everywhere 06:29 Framing Life Around the Good 07:26 The Power of Reaching Out 09:25 The Find The One Challenge 10:54 Reflecting on Making a Difference
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ray (00:00):
Welcome to the Ray Sanders Leadership Podcast. I'm Ray
Sanders, and it's great to haveyou along for the ride. As
always, I had a few questionsfor you today. Do you ever
wonder if you were meant formore? Do you wish life had more
meaning and purpose?
Have you ever asked yourself,what on earth am I here for? Why
(00:22):
was I created? How am I making adifference? If you have
questions like these, you aren'talone. On today's podcast, we
will unpack a little idea Ithink might just have you waking
up tomorrow with a whole newoutlook on life.
(00:45):
Hello, everyone. I'm RaySanders, and you're listening to
the Ray Sanders LeadershipPodcast. I don't know where you
are today as you're listening tothis podcast. Maybe you're
driving down the highway orworking out of the gym or busy
with a long list of chores. Iknow I have those from time to
time.
Either way, I'm glad you'rehere, and I think you're going
(01:06):
to enjoy today's podcast. As youprobably know, I spent the last
25 years spending time comingalongside leaders, helping them
navigate the challenges theyface in life and work. And it
might surprise you to learn thatdespite their success, many of
those leaders wonder if they aredoing things that they ought to
be doing. Are they making adifference in the world? Are
(01:29):
they really living a life ofpurpose?
They get to the top, and they'reasking, now what? They probably
have a big house, maybe a secondor third house, a lake house, a
sea doo, a boat. Maybe they'reon their 2nd or third marriage,
and maybe their kids are doinggreat or maybe not so great. But
a lot of them are standing atthe top of their corporate
(01:51):
ladder looking back with a bagof money in their hands saying,
is this all there is? Is thisit?
Now what? Well, you know, MarkTwain was famous for saying the
2 most important days in ourlives are the day we were born
and the day we figure out why.How about you? Have you asked
yourself, what on earth am Iliving here for? Do you wish
(02:13):
life had more meaning andpurpose?
Do you ever wonder if you weremeant for more? If you ever ask
yourself these questions, let meassure you, you're in good
company. Every night, millionsof people lay their heads on
their pillows wondering if theirlife is heading in the right
direction. Am I making adifference? Does my life have
(02:34):
meaning and purpose?
Now get this. Other than theBible, do you know what the
number one selling nonfictionbook is of all time? Would you
believe it's The Purpose DrivenLife by Rick Warren? Do you know
what the most watched YouTubevideo was recently? It was a
video by Simon Sinek entitledstart with why.
(02:58):
You see these books and thesevideos all have one thing in
purpose or, yeah, in purpose,and that is people are trying to
find out the meaning and purposein life, and it's something that
everyone is interested in. Foryears, I was the CEO of an
organization that provided cleanwater to millions of people in
remote regions of the world.I've literally traveled all
(03:20):
around the world and slept inthe bush and really, by the
light of the moon, thinkingabout all the wonderful things
that we were accomplishing. Itwas a true it was truly an
amazing opportunity for me. Andwhile we were saving thousands
of lives and impacting hundredsof communities, I was often
reminded that making adifference in the world doesn't
(03:40):
require leading a massiveorganization on a global scale.
Sometimes the opportunity tomake a difference was right in
front of me. Allow me toexplain. I'm a true believer. I
really do believe this, that youare only as good of a leader as
you are at home. You're reallyonly as good as a person as you
are at home.
The whole world may see youacting and doing certain things.
(04:03):
When it comes right down to it,you're really only as good as a
leader and a person as you areat home. The greatest leader I
ever worked under once told me,I never want this job to be the
reason you and your wife get adivorce. What a great reminder.
What he said really hit homewith me.
And so many times, we rush outthe door to make a difference in
(04:25):
the world when in reality, theopportunity to make a difference
is right under our own roof.That mean my that might mean
taking time to mend a heatedconversation with your spouse. I
know I've been there. How aboutyou? We're discussing problems
at about school with your childover a bowl of cereal.
(04:45):
You see, opportunities to make adifference in the world are
everywhere. Sometimes, somethings are as simple as making
or giving a smile to someone ormaking them feel valued or
appreciated. After all, a smileis a smile in any language.
People love to acknowledge andand be recognized. I mean, a
(05:06):
simple smile, it doesn't matterif you speak English, doesn't
matter if you speak Spanish, itdoesn't matter what you speak.
People love to be acknowledgedand recognized, and a smile is a
great way to do that. So whetheryou're making a daily stop at a
gas station or a conveniencestore or paying your waiter at
the restaurant or checking outat the grocery store, smile.
(05:28):
Make eye contact. Use people'snames. You'll be amazed at the
reaction you get.
So many people feel invisible.They feel unimportant and
insignificant. But here's a funidea. The next time you're
interacting with someone at alocal store, cafe, or shop, as
they're checking you out, lookthe person in the eyes, use
(05:49):
their name, and ask them, what'sthe best thing that happened to
you today? Wait for it.
There will be a pause. They'llsmile. They may give you an
interesting look, but don't besurprised if they just kinda
look at you and struggle a bitto answer the question. Isn't
that amazing? What's the bestthing that happened to you
today?
Let me ask you. If I were to askyou, what's the best thing that
(06:11):
happened to you today? It'sinteresting how if we begin to
frame our life around what'sgood, how how good things
actually begin to happen. Sooften we think about what's
wrong in the world. What wouldhappen if we started encouraging
one another to look for what isgood in the world, not just all
the doom and the gloom?
Here's another idea. If someonecomes to mind, shoot them a
(06:35):
text, send them an email, orgive them a call. Simply let
them know you were thinkingabout them and hoping and hoping
things are going well for them.You know, one day, I was driving
down the highway when a friendcame to mind, and I felt the
need to call them. And then Ifelt the need to recommend a
specific book to them.
(06:56):
So I called and thinking theywould probably answer, but they
didn't. And I got voice mail,and I was kinda chickening out.
I thought, well, do I leave avoice mail, or do I hang up? I
decided to leave a voice mail.So in the voice mail, I let my
friend know that I was justthinking about them.
And in fact, I had a book that Iwanted them to consider reading.
(07:16):
Now 2 or 3 days went by, and youknow what happened. I got a
callback, and my friend said,hey. I'm curious about
something. Why did you call andrecommend that book to me?
I said, man, I don't know. I wasjust prompted, and I just
thought maybe you should readthat book. And he said, you're
not gonna believe this. The veryday that you called and left me
(07:38):
that voice mail, I was drivinghome, got your voice mail, got
home. And that night when Iwalked into my house, would you
believe that it was late and themy wife had set a book out on
the table with a note to me.
You need to read this book. Itwas the exact same book that you
had recommended. Now I don'tknow how you feel about things
(08:00):
like that, but I think there'ssomething going on in the
universe, and I believe god evensometimes prompts us to reach
out to people at veryinteresting times. Here's
something else I know. I know of2 people, 2 2 instances where a
person felt prompted to callsomeone, and when they did, they
later found out that the personwas about to commit suicide.
(08:22):
In one situation, the personactually had that cold barrel in
their throat in their mouth. Imean, talk about timing. Now
every call you make is probablynot gonna be that dramatic, and
I can't say you're gonna savelives with every call that you
make. But by golly, if you feellike somebody's on your mind and
(08:42):
you need to call them, pick upthe phone, text them, email
them, check on them, make surethat they're doing okay. That
simple call helped these peoplerealize that somebody cared.
So here's my big guy my myhere's my big idea. It's a
simple idea, but I think it's abig idea. I would like to
challenge you to take the findthe one challenge. What if you
(09:07):
woke up every morning lookingfor someone to encourage, help,
or love? What if you did itevery day?
You will have impacted 365people in just 1 year. I know
it's simple. It seems easy, butthink about if you didn't do it.
But what if you did do it? Youjust woke up thinking, I'm gonna
(09:28):
find someone.
I'm gonna find at least oneperson to encourage, help, or
love. What if you found 2, orwhat if you found 3? What would
be the effects of that? Well,you would have reached more than
a 1000 people in just 1 year. A1000 people, you, in 1 year.
(09:48):
Trust me. You'll soon realizeyour life has meaning and
purpose when you do it. Can youimagine what would happen if you
and I could get just 10 peopleto take the find the one
challenge? In 1 year, those 10people would have reached more
than 3,650 people. That's 365.
3 hun 3,650 points of contact.That's a lot of people. Tonight,
(10:14):
when you lay your head on yourpillow, ask yourself, how do I
make a difference today? How didI make a difference today?
Wouldn't it be fun to reflect onthe people you made smile as you
made them feel seen andimportant?
You can find purpose and meaningin life when you wake up looking
for someone to love, to help,and to encourage. Hey. Thanks
(10:38):
for listening in. If you wereencouraged or inspired today,
why not share this podcast witha friend? And that's all we have
for you today.
Now get out there. Go find theone. And remember, we're in your
corner for life in work.
Welcome to the Ray Sanders Leadership Podcast. I'm Ray
Sanders, and it's great to haveyou along for the ride. As
always, I had a few questionsfor you today. Do you ever
wonder if you were meant formore? Do you wish life had more
meaning and purpose?
Have you ever asked yourself,what on earth am I here for? Why
(00:22):
was I created? How am I making adifference? If you have
questions like these, you aren'talone. On today's podcast, we
will unpack a little idea Ithink might just have you waking
up tomorrow with a whole newoutlook on life.
(00:45):
Hello, everyone. I'm RaySanders, and you're listening to
the Ray Sanders LeadershipPodcast. I don't know where you
are today as you're listening tothis podcast. Maybe you're
driving down the highway orworking out of the gym or busy
with a long list of chores. Iknow I have those from time to
time.
Either way, I'm glad you'rehere, and I think you're going
(01:06):
to enjoy today's podcast. As youprobably know, I spent the last
25 years spending time comingalongside leaders, helping them
navigate the challenges theyface in life and work. And it
might surprise you to learn thatdespite their success, many of
those leaders wonder if they aredoing things that they ought to
be doing. Are they making adifference in the world? Are
(01:29):
they really living a life ofpurpose?
They get to the top, and they'reasking, now what? They probably
have a big house, maybe a secondor third house, a lake house, a
sea doo, a boat. Maybe they'reon their 2nd or third marriage,
and maybe their kids are doinggreat or maybe not so great. But
a lot of them are standing atthe top of their corporate
(01:51):
ladder looking back with a bagof money in their hands saying,
is this all there is? Is thisit?
Now what? Well, you know, MarkTwain was famous for saying the
2 most important days in ourlives are the day we were born
and the day we figure out why.How about you? Have you asked
yourself, what on earth am Iliving here for? Do you wish
(02:13):
life had more meaning andpurpose?
Do you ever wonder if you weremeant for more? If you ever ask
yourself these questions, let meassure you, you're in good
company. Every night, millionsof people lay their heads on
their pillows wondering if theirlife is heading in the right
direction. Am I making adifference? Does my life have
(02:34):
meaning and purpose?
Now get this. Other than theBible, do you know what the
number one selling nonfictionbook is of all time? Would you
believe it's The Purpose DrivenLife by Rick Warren? Do you know
what the most watched YouTubevideo was recently? It was a
video by Simon Sinek entitledstart with why.
(02:58):
You see these books and thesevideos all have one thing in
purpose or, yeah, in purpose,and that is people are trying to
find out the meaning and purposein life, and it's something that
everyone is interested in. Foryears, I was the CEO of an
organization that provided cleanwater to millions of people in
remote regions of the world.I've literally traveled all
(03:20):
around the world and slept inthe bush and really, by the
light of the moon, thinkingabout all the wonderful things
that we were accomplishing. Itwas a true it was truly an
amazing opportunity for me. Andwhile we were saving thousands
of lives and impacting hundredsof communities, I was often
reminded that making adifference in the world doesn't
(03:40):
require leading a massiveorganization on a global scale.
Sometimes the opportunity tomake a difference was right in
front of me. Allow me toexplain. I'm a true believer. I
really do believe this, that youare only as good of a leader as
you are at home. You're reallyonly as good as a person as you
are at home.
The whole world may see youacting and doing certain things.
(04:03):
When it comes right down to it,you're really only as good as a
leader and a person as you areat home. The greatest leader I
ever worked under once told me,I never want this job to be the
reason you and your wife get adivorce. What a great reminder.
What he said really hit homewith me.
And so many times, we rush outthe door to make a difference in
(04:25):
the world when in reality, theopportunity to make a difference
is right under our own roof.That mean my that might mean
taking time to mend a heatedconversation with your spouse. I
know I've been there. How aboutyou? We're discussing problems
at about school with your childover a bowl of cereal.
(04:45):
You see, opportunities to make adifference in the world are
everywhere. Sometimes, somethings are as simple as making
or giving a smile to someone ormaking them feel valued or
appreciated. After all, a smileis a smile in any language.
People love to acknowledge andand be recognized. I mean, a
(05:06):
simple smile, it doesn't matterif you speak English, doesn't
matter if you speak Spanish, itdoesn't matter what you speak.
People love to be acknowledgedand recognized, and a smile is a
great way to do that. So whetheryou're making a daily stop at a
gas station or a conveniencestore or paying your waiter at
the restaurant or checking outat the grocery store, smile.
(05:28):
Make eye contact. Use people'snames. You'll be amazed at the
reaction you get.
So many people feel invisible.They feel unimportant and
insignificant. But here's a funidea. The next time you're
interacting with someone at alocal store, cafe, or shop, as
they're checking you out, lookthe person in the eyes, use
(05:49):
their name, and ask them, what'sthe best thing that happened to
you today? Wait for it.
There will be a pause. They'llsmile. They may give you an
interesting look, but don't besurprised if they just kinda
look at you and struggle a bitto answer the question. Isn't
that amazing? What's the bestthing that happened to you
today?
Let me ask you. If I were to askyou, what's the best thing that
(06:11):
happened to you today? It'sinteresting how if we begin to
frame our life around what'sgood, how how good things
actually begin to happen. Sooften we think about what's
wrong in the world. What wouldhappen if we started encouraging
one another to look for what isgood in the world, not just all
the doom and the gloom?
Here's another idea. If someonecomes to mind, shoot them a
(06:35):
text, send them an email, orgive them a call. Simply let
them know you were thinkingabout them and hoping and hoping
things are going well for them.You know, one day, I was driving
down the highway when a friendcame to mind, and I felt the
need to call them. And then Ifelt the need to recommend a
specific book to them.
(06:56):
So I called and thinking theywould probably answer, but they
didn't. And I got voice mail,and I was kinda chickening out.
I thought, well, do I leave avoice mail, or do I hang up? I
decided to leave a voice mail.So in the voice mail, I let my
friend know that I was justthinking about them.
And in fact, I had a book that Iwanted them to consider reading.
(07:16):
Now 2 or 3 days went by, and youknow what happened. I got a
callback, and my friend said,hey. I'm curious about
something. Why did you call andrecommend that book to me?
I said, man, I don't know. I wasjust prompted, and I just
thought maybe you should readthat book. And he said, you're
not gonna believe this. The veryday that you called and left me
(07:38):
that voice mail, I was drivinghome, got your voice mail, got
home. And that night when Iwalked into my house, would you
believe that it was late and themy wife had set a book out on
the table with a note to me.
You need to read this book. Itwas the exact same book that you
had recommended. Now I don'tknow how you feel about things
(08:00):
like that, but I think there'ssomething going on in the
universe, and I believe god evensometimes prompts us to reach
out to people at veryinteresting times. Here's
something else I know. I know of2 people, 2 2 instances where a
person felt prompted to callsomeone, and when they did, they
later found out that the personwas about to commit suicide.
(08:22):
In one situation, the personactually had that cold barrel in
their throat in their mouth. Imean, talk about timing. Now
every call you make is probablynot gonna be that dramatic, and
I can't say you're gonna savelives with every call that you
make. But by golly, if you feellike somebody's on your mind and
(08:42):
you need to call them, pick upthe phone, text them, email
them, check on them, make surethat they're doing okay. That
simple call helped these peoplerealize that somebody cared.
So here's my big guy my myhere's my big idea. It's a
simple idea, but I think it's abig idea. I would like to
challenge you to take the findthe one challenge. What if you
(09:07):
woke up every morning lookingfor someone to encourage, help,
or love? What if you did itevery day?
You will have impacted 365people in just 1 year. I know
it's simple. It seems easy, butthink about if you didn't do it.
But what if you did do it? Youjust woke up thinking, I'm gonna
(09:28):
find someone.
I'm gonna find at least oneperson to encourage, help, or
love. What if you found 2, orwhat if you found 3? What would
be the effects of that? Well,you would have reached more than
a 1000 people in just 1 year. A1000 people, you, in 1 year.
(09:48):
Trust me. You'll soon realizeyour life has meaning and
purpose when you do it. Can youimagine what would happen if you
and I could get just 10 peopleto take the find the one
challenge? In 1 year, those 10people would have reached more
than 3,650 people. That's 365.
3 hun 3,650 points of contact.That's a lot of people. Tonight,
(10:14):
when you lay your head on yourpillow, ask yourself, how do I
make a difference today? How didI make a difference today?
Wouldn't it be fun to reflect onthe people you made smile as you
made them feel seen andimportant?
You can find purpose and meaningin life when you wake up looking
for someone to love, to help,and to encourage. Hey. Thanks
(10:38):
for listening in. If you wereencouraged or inspired today,
why not share this podcast witha friend? And that's all we have
for you today.
Now get out there. Go find theone. And remember, we're in your
corner for life in work.
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