{"id":17478,"date":"2018-12-12T16:37:35","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T05:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/margiewarrellold.flywheelsites.com\/?p=17478"},"modified":"2018-12-12T16:37:35","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T05:37:35","slug":"pursue-a-cause-bigger-than-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/margiewarrell.com\/pursue-a-cause-bigger-than-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursue A Cause Bigger Than Yourself!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wired into our psychological DNA is the desire for security, safety and<\/g> status – which can put us in a bind.<\/g> Because once our basic needs are met, we have a deep human hunger for meaning and purpose which can only be fulfilled by embracing vulnerability, and risking that very same sense of safety, security and status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research shows that people who have connected to a purpose that is greater than themselves– bolstering their ego\u00ad or furthering their power –are happier, more contented, enjoy richer relationships and are more resilient in the face of adversity than those who haven\u2019t. They are also far more inspiring leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linda Cruse<\/a>\u00a0is one such leader, albeit not a conventional one. Described by Richard Branson as someone who \u201cmakes the impossible, possible,\u201d Linda has spent the last\u00a0two decades\u00a0living out of a suitcase on the frontlines of humanitari<\/g>an<\/g> c<\/g>rises. Two of her\u00a0innovative\u00a0initiatives, Be The Change and\u00a0Race4Good<\/a>, tap the brain trust within business<\/g> to elevate challenged communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Linda shared with me during our very inspiring conversation on my Live Brave Podcast<\/a>, “Tapping into the expertise, entrepreneurial skills, ingenuity and passion within business makes a far bigger impact than any size check.” Organizations such<\/g> as Deloitte, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline and<\/g> Virgin have got on board, contributing their commercial acumen and innovation, not just their dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Linda Cruse in Peru and in post-cyclone Pakistan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of course, we\u2019re not all like Linda – whose book Leading on the Frontline<\/a> gets to the heart of courageous leadership. Nor do we all have some epiphany moment as she did many years ago when she experienced temporary blindness and realized she couldn’t go on as she was. But just because most of us aren\u2019t struck by a “blinding stroke of insight” that compels us to over-haul our life doesn’t mean we can’t take it upon ourselves to take a hard look at how we’re “doing life.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallop employee engagement surveys consistently find that a large majority of people go to work each day pushed along more by inertia than inspiration. In a recent study in the U.K., over 90% of respondents reported that they\u2019re often just going through the motions, as though on auto-pilot, feeling anything from mildly disinterested to outright disillusioned by how they’re spending the best hours of their days and best years of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it\u2019s easy to get caught in the trap of thinking we don\u2019t have any choice. That’s rarely the case. More often it’s a convenient rationalization that spares us the inconvenience of making a change.  “The truth is, we always have a choice,\u201d  Linda said, recounting a stark moment of choice that she faced when she arrived in Thailand after the devastating 2004 Tsunami that killed 230,000 people and left millions more homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was in the taxi heading to the worst hit area. There was devastation everywhere. I asked the taxi driver to pull over as emotionally I didn\u2019t know I could go on to the survivors camp where 5,000 people in a terrible state were waiting for help. I got out of the car and sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. It was full of dead bodies, just floating. I felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the suffering and what I was heading into. Part of me wanted to tell the taxi driver to take me back to the airport. But then I flashed back to when I was 18, in nurse training, and my Matron said to me: \u2018It\u2019s not about you. It\u2019s about what you\u2019re here to do\u2026 to be of service and help others.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n