NOTE — This is the third in a continuing series on social network marketing. Earlier posts focused on why most people fail and others succeed and on the importance of forming relationships.

Many people who are successful in social network marketing, or in other endeavors for that matter, are in touch with why they are in business. This is, one might say, their highest principle. Most of those at the very top of their craft have also learned how to help others to discover why their in business.

The first issue is not as easy as it may seem. It takes soul-searching, heart-wrenching, tear-causing effort.

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

The second issue is equally hard, because no one likes soul-searching, heart-wrenching, tear-causing effort.

Truth is, the angst and the anguish are worth it. Times 10. Or more.

Moreover, understand that deep down people want, even need, to know the reason they exist. That’s why Rick Warren sold millions of copies of “The Purpose Driven Life.”

Getting to the core of your existence is vital to living life to its fullest. When you understand yourself on that level, it’s a freeing experience. The feeling defies description.

One of my mentors recently forwarded me an e-mail that he had received from someone who had discovered the answer to his “why?” The note really got to me. It revealed the person in a significant way. It was if he had given the reader a glimpse inside the depths of his soul.

The person talked about how he felt as a child that he was destined for greatness but somehow fell into the trap of merely existing, of not living with joy and wonder. Now, as an adult, he sees “mundane life” taking hold of his children.

The writer says he knows that before he can expect his kids to change, he must change. When he seizes his life, he will become the positive model for them.

“True success is knowing that you’re living. Knowing that you short time here on earth was not just waiting to die,” he says. “Life is meant to be experienced, soaked up, shared.”

This is someone who has looked into his soul and, instead of a reflective abyss, found hope. That is the linchpin on which the journey to such discovery relies.

Someone who has found his or her reason for living will overcome any obstacle. Nothing can stop a person with a purpose.

Here’s some questions that will help you get started in finding out why your in business.

• What do you love to do? Think about those things that stir your passion, that get your motor running.

• When you have free time, what do you? And if you say, “Watch television,” I’d suggest turning the thing off for a week and doing something that feeds your soul, then answer the question again.

• If you had all the money you ever needed, what would you do? Yeah, I know we’d all live on a beach in the Bahamas or the like, but that would get old after a month or two. What would you do then?

• What are you searching for in life? Outside of money, what is your driving desire?

• What did you once dream about? Think back to your childhood and remember those long lost desires that once kept you up at night. It’s not too late to rekindle those embers.

• What do you want the person doing the eulogy at your funeral to say? I know it might sound morbid, but by thinking about it now, you can decide what that person will say then.

By looking back and facing forward, you can find out why you exist, why you want to be in business. You can discover your “why.”

After you’ve found what gives your life purpose, pass on what you know. Tell other people about the journey and how it gave your life meaning.

You’ll change your life by changing other lives.

Steve DeVane