Let’s start with the unlikely proposition that a writer has to, at some point, seek to better understand his own journey as he writes. I said it’s unlikely because if we suppose, which we must, that books non-fiction and fiction alike; are a highly structured form of narrative that helps us make sense of the world, then it is fairly safe to assume that the writer who writes them has a deep sense of understanding of the world that is being created through their words.

That assumption however, safe as it may seem to make, is not a given. To illustrate this better consider that the world is a puzzle made up of many unconnected pieces. A book then is just a piece of that puzzle. But if the book itself is not part of the whole it may well end up being a piece of the puzzle that simply refuses to fit in. A writer could be an exquisitely skilled maker of puzzle pieces but unless those pieces can fit well together then the bigger sense that we crave is never going to take shape.

That makes sense, right?

I’ve said before that a book, as a whole, works best when it can be summed up in a single line answer to a question. Google Semantic Search, for instance, answered the question of “What do I do to market my website and business in a semantic search world?”. The Sniper Mind, had an even simpler question: How do I make better decisions when under pressure? The question directed at Intentional was even pithier: How do I behave?

Even this approach of boiling a book down to its core essence is not enough when it comes to writing books for a living. Giving piecemeal answers to questions fails when those answers and even the questions themselves are not part of a grater whole. You can call this, as I often have, purpose or you can call it vision. In a different context it may equally easily be called strategy.

The label is immaterial. What matters is that it is a roadmap that makes every step you take meaningful because it is getting you further towards a destination you seek. For me that destination is empowerment. In Google Semantic Search, for instance, I made a point of saying that knowledge is power but only if it leads to comprehension. In The Social Media Mind that predated it I said that social media is the empowerment of the individual at the expense of the system. In The Sniper Mind I wrote that. “To know who you are in a crowd gives you control over your own destiny.” Each book was a step towards a greater sense of empowerment and a greater sense of control over our life.

In Intentional the standout quote is the one that synthesizes personal confidence with beliefs, values, attitude and grit. every book has been a carefully crafted step taking my readers towards a destination where they can feel more, achieve more and be more.

Has all this been by design? In retrospect, obviously. But in truth not really. In crafting this writing journey I let myself be led by my own passion and my own vision that refuses to accept the arbitrary limitations imposed on the individual by the system. My writing makes sense in retrospect because each choice I made and each book I wrote, made sense to me at a deep, personal level at the time. Purpose gives meaning to action in the same way that structure gives meaning to data.

Life is a series of actions. Make yours a meaningful one. Have a deep sense of purpose and stay true to it no matter what.

Intentional: How To Live, Love, Work and Play Meaningfully