Forbes’ Mission

For the last seven weeks I’ve watched dozens of Change Agents transform their lives and you seriously won’t believe the results until you experience it for yourself.

If you’ve got objections or skepticism let me stop you right there and save us both the energy: this article isn’t for you.

If you know, (not think, not believe, but deep down KNOW) that your life is destined for more, this article is for you.

Hi, I’m Forbes, and I’m a kindred spirit.

Like you, I know I’m destined for something greater than myself. The black wolf of the family. The type that is determined to disrupt the past patterns of my ancestry to create a better future for the generations after me. Like you, I too felt that calling while not understanding what it looked like.

Now I know what my vision for myself is, and it involves helping you find yours; to transform my generation by creating one million Change Agents.

When I was a kid, I did what was expected of me. I had the highest grades in my class, I was captain of my hockey team, I was socially involved in my community—I even had the jazz band saxophone solos. I got into all of my dream schools, the University of Michigan, Toronto, and Chicago.

Then came the first big choice I ever got to make for myself—where to go to college, and what to study. For once, I had my opportunity to create my vision for myself. The freedom was thrilling.

I decided to major in Non-Profit Management at Arizona State University.

If that sounds like it came out of left field, that’s because it did. I didn’t have a clear articulate vision for myself. I was unable to answer why I did anything. Before I knew it, I got even more confused as I pressed forward with no plan.

Just like any trip, if you head out without a map, you end up somewhere you know you’re not supposed to be. Without my map, I spent my post college days with the wrong crowd doing the wrong things. I found myself as a bartender, and a two-bit stand up comedian that made enough money to pay for rent and happy hour.

I didn’t know where I was supposed to be, yet I knew I was pretty far from it. As a result, I spent most nights laying in bed filled with existential dread.

You know the dread I’m talking about. Didn’t get enough done today. Life is passing me by. How is it already Monday again?

So you, like me, know you want to change but you don’t know where you’re going. You know you have to make a change. And someday, you will.

Someday, as we both know, turns into months and years in an instant.

Well, I’ve got good news for you. Today is someday. Every decision you’ve ever made has led you right here, right now, reading this. This is the most important moment of your life, if you’ll let it be.

This is the next stage in the article where I wish another chunk of the audience farewell because the idea of today being the day you start to pull it all together is too much. See ya later—someday!

For the rest of you that are sticking around, I’ve got the formula for change and how to find your personal vision. I know because I did it myself, and I’ve watched dozens of my peers do it as well.

Where did we leave off? Oh yeah, the part where I’m a victim and life sucks and I’m helpless blah blah blah…

Life, turns out, is really easy when you’ve got a plan. At the Change Agents Academy, we call that the Mission—the ultimate massively transformative purpose that will take a lifetime to achieve.

So you’re asking yourself—well Forbes if it’s so easy and fun, why doesn’t everybody change?

Because they’re happy as they are. They are where they want to be. Ignorance is bliss! I’d imagine that when you’ve reached your full potential every day feels like the first day of summer vacation.

Then there’s the rest of us, that know we have more left to give. We are the people that change, adapt, and evolve to climb new mountains only to see the next challenge at the top. To others, they see an obstacle. To us, that’s the first day of summer feeling: “what will I conquer today???”

So, I decided I needed a change. I re-connected with a mentor of mine, Aaron Bare. I told him I had more to give, and didn’t know how to start. I did all of what society expected me to do — I graduated top of my high school class, got a full ride to university, got my degree, and then, fell into purgatory.

While I knew I had more mountains to climb, I couldn’t see through the fog.

Sound familiar?

Aaron gave me the XMBA — a repeatable seven week process to develop an eXponential Mindset Beliefs and Attitudes. The XMBA gave me something priceless: clarity. The tools I have let me see exactly what needs to happen, and what needs to be done. There is no more guess work, the path unfolds before me, and the more I strengthen and deepen my trust and relationship with myself, the easier the journey gets.

So, the big scary dragon part of the story—for me, it was a daunting, seemingly impossible question to answer:

What am I doing this for?

This was a question that freaked me out to think about. There were so many things I was doing—mainly writing, comedy, and community building—though it lacked a concrete “Why.” Without the “Why” I didn’t see the path forward. I viewed these things as hobbies, and not a realistic way to build the life I wanted. Without a map, I thought it was impossible to get where I dreamt I could. As a result, I went nowhere, reliving that groundhog day cycle of struggle.

However, with my magical mentor the XMBA, and my friends and allies at the Change Agents Academy, we slayed that dragon. We found my Mission, the “Why” that was eluding me. Let me tell you how…

In the second module of the XMBA, we delve into finding our purpose and the habits to live an intentional life towards that purpose.

The accompanying workbook exercise for that module is IKIGAI, the art of finding your highest purpose that’s an intersection of your passions, talents, and what the world needs.

At the intersection of this venn diagram emerged three key findings: building community, empowering others, and performing.

I combined these three findings and my vision appeared—to transform my generation by creating one million Change Agents.

My life’s purpose is now so massive that everything I do fits inside of it. Everybody I meet is a potential Change Agent. Everywhere I go is a place I can leave better than I found it.

The best part is, my Mission can help you, too.

My Mission of creating one million Change Agents is a self-fulfilling prophecy with an exponential network effect built in. When you take the XMBA, you’ll have the secret formula for change that we cracked. When you become a Change Agent, you’ll create other Change Agents by default.

Whatever your dragon is, we will slay it together.

If you’re ready to change and let go of the life you’re selling yourself short on, join me on my Mission and I promise to help you with yours.

We can be the change we want to see in the world. Join me in transforming my generation by creating one million Change Agents.

—Love, Forbes