Check Twitter, post to Facebook, check in with FourSquare, explore Google+, glance over that new blog post, email someone, IM someone, text someone…repeat.
How much of the above is a tragic waste of time and potential? The internet was supposed to empower us (and it certainly does), but what about all the time we spend procrastinating, flapping our arms, not really moving anywhere? We’re too overloaded with the immediate urgency of the present to do meaningful, future-building work.
But…what if there was a better way?
Thesis
The Laser of Focused Purpose
With a clear, compelling, personally meaningful goal you can cut through the hammering chaos of web 2.0. Without such a goal, well…have fun procrastinating.
Absent of any other test subjects, I’m going to use myself as an example. I recently started using Google+ to interact with thought leaders as a way of sharpening my own thinking and building important relationships.
I did this because I want my startup, Viibrant.com, to succeed. I want this more than almost anything else. Viibrant hasn’t launched yet, but I hope that it will one day transform online education. And that is a powerful, compelling, meaningful vision that gets me up in the morning and keeps me awake at night.
With this clear purpose in mind, I know exactly what I should be doing when I engage with people on social media. I should be swapping ideas. I should be helping everyone grow, creating win-win situations. I should be diving into relationships and working to understand the triumphs and struggles that online experts experience so that I can build Viibrant to better suit their needs.
When was the last time you felt fully alive, living at the edge of your capabilities? When was the last time you launched a project so inspiring, so scary, that you knew you could never turn back? With a mission like this, distractions and productivity traps fall away and you are left stronger, smarter and faster.
There’s something about epic journeys that bring out the best in us.
Think about the most purposeful, driven people you know. What makes them different and special? It all comes down to strengths and passion, as we’ll see in a moment.
Action Steps
Are you doing meaningful work? If not, take some time to think about what you are doing when you’re at your best. Then think about the things you care most deeply about.
If you can a way to use your most powerful strengths to aid the cause that is most important to you, I promise that your life will never be the same.
Purpose is at the Intersection of Strength and Passion
For me the cause is education/development of human potential, and the strength is building teams and visions…I hope 
If you figure this out, please email me or leave a comment below. I probably don’t know you, but I want you to succeed and flourish, and I want to help in any way I can.