My Life As A Recovery From Substance Addiction - 1849 Words

My life’s purpose; why am I here and what do I want to accomplish? Clearly, having gone through something as significant as recovery from substance addiction, my idea of what my purpose in life is changed significantly some years ago. While I don’t intend to victimize myself for choices that were my own, its significance and impact on my life cannot be understated. When I ask myself what I want to accomplish, I have a tendency to answer the much larger, broader questions. Rather than simply think of a career path I’d like to embark upon, or accolades I’d like to earn, my mind instead wanders to more metaphysical accomplishments. For example, I desire to accomplish things that can only be possible when a group of people are working†¦show more content†¦It will forever be easier to set personal goals than to set goals that involve the participation and cooperation of others. Just because something is easier, though, doesn’t mean it is bet ter; I consider â€Å"good† decision-making to be a practice that encompasses our fellows, rather than simply focusing on ourselves. To me, this is intrinsically linked to successful leadership; the leaders that I have observed as being most successful are the ones who do not only think of themselves. Core values that guide my behavior Personally, it is not difficult to identify the core values that I hold dear, that guide my behavior. It is, however, much more difficult to rank them in terms of their importance to me. If I’m paring down a list of important values that I believe are most influential to me, responsibility, sacrifice, laughter, and integrity stand out as those that simply guide my behavior on a regular basis. If I’m attempting to put them in order, it would be as follows: 1. Laughter 2. Responsibility 3. Integrity 4. Service Laughter and responsibility are really more like a â€Å"1A† and â€Å"1B† to me. Laughter is so summarily important because one of the most consistent lessons I have ever learned is that life means little without it. Business environments are not excluded from this proverb. While there is certainly a time and a place for everything, one of the things I have always been most grateful for is to have found a potential career with an employer that