The takeaway idea from the podcast story, In Bloom is actually an exercise from my course, Design Your Life: Like an Architect. The story and this takeaway idea are both inspired by the show, Doctor Who. It’s the last exercise from Part I of the course which is all about discovering, uncovering, and defining your purpose (click there to read a blog post about why purpose is so important).
Inspired by, Doctor Who
You might ask, why today? Why am I giving you this exercise today? It’s because this story (In Bloom), and this exercise, are both inspired by the same tv show: Doctor Who. If you are a fan of the show, I’m sure you noticed many connections between my story and that show. That’s because the whole story started as an idea to write a piece of fan-fiction.
You see, if I could write for any television show, it would be Doctor Who. And to avoid legal troubles, I decided to take away specific terminology from the original show, and alter things (it’s also just a lot of fun to make things your own). I imagined if I were to reboot the show in some way, how would I do it?
So, for fans of the show, and people who have never heard of it, let me explain briefly all you need to know to be able to do this exercise, which might be my favorite one in the entire course… not might… it is.
Some Necessary Backstory
In the show, the main character is a time-traveler from another planet, from a race of time-travelers. He/she is the last one of his kind and he calls himself The Doctor. In his culture, a person’s name is a sacred thing that you don’t tell anyone, except your life partner. So, what they do instead is they all adopt a name or title that they choose. This title is meant to define them, or rather define who they desire to be. It’s an outward exclamation of their purpose.
So, The Doctor’s purpose and mission is always to save lives. There are a lot of titles that could be used to encompass that purpose, but it’s also how he wishes to save those lives that ultimately makes the title, The Doctor, truly fit this character’s… character.
Now, I’m sure you see where this is going. In part one of my Design Your Life (DYL) course we do a series of short exercises, questions to ponder, that lead you to writing a sentence-or-two definition of your purpose. Then, we get into The Doctor Who exercise. It’s my favorite exercise because it’s fun to work with people to help them decide on their title and I’ve seen some interesting ones and some more obvious ones. However, they always fit that person and it becomes something to hold onto as you journey forward.
This Is Me
I thought, to illustrate this idea more clearly, I’d tell you my title and also explain how purpose differs from passion. The line between them can be thin, but there is a line.
So, can you guess what my title is? Yep, it’s The Teacher. This is my core pursuit or mission in life. It is my deepest purpose. Now, teaching, to me, involves a lot of things. It means being a learner and a questioner, an explorer of sorts. It means being a leader as the best way to teach is to do so through how you live, through example. It’s to know you’re going to be wrong and have to say I made a mistake, to know that learning is never done. And lastly, teaching goes beyond a classroom and doesn’t necessarily mean teaching math or science… although I do do that too (Tutoring).
Anyone who knows me well will have heard The Teacher come out of my mouth and thought… yep, that makes sense. I’ve since taken that idea and gone further with The Roaming Scholar. That title I’ve given myself encapsulates my purpose and what teaching means to me. Now I’d like to give an example of my purpose in action and how it differs from my passions.
Purpose In Action
One of my biggest passions is to create. There’s obviously writing, from crafting a sentence to an entire story or a whole new world. There’s music, drawing and painting, podcasts, trailside chats, courses, a new approach for teaching a subject, a new product for my online store. I love creating and can’t stop, won’t stop.
Here’s where purpose comes in. I can create music, I can write stories, and I can create a business, and I can do all that for the mere fun and passion of creating. However, if those creative projects are lacking an element where I can teach something, the amount of fulfillment that project brings me drops significantly as time progresses. Hence the very concept of this podcast. Yes, I can write stories… but I love that I have these takeaways to open up a conversation about a different idea. Whether that’s an idea I believe in, or an idea I’m testing out and learning more about. That’s what brings me that level of fulfillment from a project. I can sustain the creative energy only for so long if it lacks the teaching energy.
You can even use this as a test in your own life. If there’s something you’re passionate about, but are losing steam on it, you might be missing that element of purpose in the project. Either rekindle that part of it, find a way to infuse it, or you may want to consider finding the next project that stokes your inner fire, your purpose.
What’s Your “Doctor Who Title”?
Ok, so, what do you think your Doctor Who name is? Take some time and write a bunch of ideas down. If you know it, definitely share it with me, because I love hearing them. If you’re struggling with this, struggling to pin it down, I of course recommend you give my course a try.
We’ll walk through a series of steps before this Doctor Who exercise to help zero in on your purpose. Then, the course explores our Desires and Passions, and how to take those—along with your purpose—to design your life. It helps you to choose your college major, your career path, a more fulfilling career path. Whether you choose the Do It Yourself option or incorporate one-on-one sessions with the Guided and Beyond options, this course can help you shape a life that is truly fulfilling.
Thank you all for reading. Remember to join me on Instagram or Facebook to tell me what you want to hear next on the podcast, your Doctor Who name, and to just say hello and connect.
I hope you’re all filling your days with something good. If you’re in need of some daily goodness, check out The Word.