Purpose or Popularity

Mark Coley talks about his experience at the Brandon Bouchard Coaching Summit and emphasizes the importance of purpose over popularity and profit in entrepreneurship. He discusses how the desire for popularity and validation can distract from one's true purpose. He encourages listeners to focus on serving others with their gifts and not be deterred by the number of followers or likes they receive. He reminds them that even if they don't become famous, their impact can still be significant and that serving is the highest honor. He concludes by inviting listeners to join his weekly masterclass on spirituality, purpose, mindset, and motivation. My name is Mark Coley, and you're listening to the ePortal. Today is Sunday, September the 17th. The time is 8.47 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. I just got back from Austin, Texas. I went to the Brandon Bouchard Coaching Summit, and it was super amazing. I am definitely a new fan of his. One of the things that I really enjoyed about being in that space is the energy that was in that room. Of course, going to a conference like that, you're going to get so many nuggets. You're going to get so much revelations. You're going to get so much aha moments. You're going to get the connections with others, which is in itself very beautiful and very beneficial for your journey, whatever that journey may be. One of the things that he said that really struck a nerve with me, and I wanted to share that in ePortal about purpose over popularity and purpose over profit, really. I believe that the space of entrepreneurship is so saturated with messaging about get more money and the come up. It's also tied to some conversations of generational wealth, which are not bad conversations to have. I believe that we all should be striving for financial abundance, but also in that there are some things that need to be addressed or some things that need to be discussed in that because there comes a point in your journey where you start to crave popularity and you forget about purpose. You start to crave more followers. You start to crave the validation that these numbers bring you and you start to lose sight of why you are truly doing what you are doing. One of the things that he said about that really just struck a nerve for me. We will easily complain and some of us have even been into space and let me not even say some of us. Can I be completely transparent in this space? I've been in that space as well, where you're starting to question your purpose because of the lack of popularity or the lack of it catching on or the lack of it going viral or the lack of comments and the lack of all of these different vanity metrics, if you will, that really start to get you in a place of feeling that the numbers determine your impact, the numbers determine your legacy, the numbers determine what you were truly created to do. And I have to bring myself and I also have to bring you back to reality that before there was a way to measure the thoughts, the pictures, the photos on a public platform, you had purpose, you still have purpose, you still are called, you still are assigned to do whatever that which you are assigned to do. And I don't want us to be drunk with the illusion of if this doesn't go viral or if I don't have X amount of followers, then I am not worthy to serve in this purpose. Now I said a word there, I said serve. And that's something that we have to remember that something that he hit on multiple times about you are here to serve. Never forget that you are here to serve. You're not here to be popular. You're not here to be necessarily the most liked. You're not here to have the most followers on Instagram, the most likes on Facebook, the most viewers on YouTube. And none of those things are bad. Keep in mind, none of those things are bad because it begins to demonstrate to you that there is a greater hunger for what you are putting into the earth. But I don't want those things to determine whether you show up or not. Some of us are in a place where if we don't have the fanfare, we don't believe that we're purposeful. But once again, I want to bring you back to this reality that has grabbed me that I'm here to serve. I'm here to serve humanity with my gift. I'm here to serve humanity with my calling. I'm here to serve. And the greatest honor on earth is the ability to serve others with your gift. It doesn't matter if it's one person. It doesn't matter if it's two people. It doesn't matter if it's a thousand people. It doesn't matter if it's ten thousand people. Yes, we want things to grow. We want things to be spread. We want things to reach other places in different communities. Yes, those are great. But now I'm just in this place that if it doesn't, I'm okay. Can I pose this question to you? If your purpose, whatever that be, maybe acting, maybe singing, maybe drawing, maybe a designer, maybe a writer, maybe an author, maybe a poet, maybe an actor, a doctor. If you don't get an opportunity to become famous or a global wonder, but you served in your gift, do you believe that your life was impactful? I do. I think your life is very impactful. I think your calling is very impactful. There's something called the ripple effect. That simply gives us a visual demonstration of our impact. That one ripple creates another, creates another, creates another, and creates another. That simply means that we may not even know the impact that we've had on families, people, ideas, because we're stuck on that which is a like or that which is a subscriber. I've decided to myself to remind myself consistently that I'm here to serve and that serving may not always mean popularity, but I'm also in a place of understanding that the desire to be popular is a thing of validation, popularity, or being liked by a lot of people, meaning that you're embraced or you're accepted. The way to overcome that is simply to learn that I accept myself. I love myself. I love who I am. I love to do what I do, doing what I do. Doing what I'm called to do is the highest form of living for me. No matter if my branding is perfect. No matter if my aesthetics are perfect. No matter if everything is just right. The ability to serve in your gifting is the highest honor of your soul. I want to remind you that if you never become popular, if you never hit 10,000, if you never have a viral TikTok, if you never have a viral reel, if you never have a viral post, if you host an event and five people come, that you are still damn impactful, that you are still changing the world, that you are still a force to be reckoned with, that you are still chosen by God, and that the number of people in the audience does not determine the impact that you have had on the audience. So take a deep breath. It's okay. If your video has 45 views, you've impacted 45 lives. What a privilege. What a gift, and I'm wrapping this up, I swear, but what a gift, the age that we live in, the age of the internet where your gift has the ability to impact people that you may never even meet in person. What a time to be alive. What a time to be alive that I can hop on social media or hop on the internet and share a message or share insight or share revelation or share my experiences, and it impacts somebody 500 miles away from me. What a time to be alive, and here it is that we are crying because we said it's not enough, and we're measuring ourselves with others who cares. Serve. How did you serve today? How did your gift make a difference in the world today? Whose life have you impacted today? And I believe that when we begin to focus on that and when we become grateful for the opportunity to serve, I believe that it is then that we are trusted with more. Because you're not even focused on more. You're not even focused on, I just want this day. Nah, it's then that you just, I'm doing the work. Do the work. Do the work. This is Mark Coley. Thank you for listening to the ePortal. I would love if you would join me every single Monday for Mastering Life with Mark via Zoom 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. It is an interactive and immersive masterclass where we're covering all things spirituality, all things purpose, all things philosophical, all things mindset, motivation, all of those things that will truly assist you in the journey of life. And so if that is of interest to you, I would love for you to join me and some amazing others every single Monday at 7 a.m. You just need to register. So wherever this is posted, go to the link in the bio or you could go to the link in the caption if it's clickable and click that bad boy and I would love to see you on the other side. Until then, it's Mark Coley. Let's continue to evolve.