Creating My Next Chapter!
- Jamelle Sanders
- Aug 14, 2017
- 5 min read
As I write to you this week, I am a couple of days away from my birthday. More importantly, I am a few days away from a major milestone in my life. Everybody has been asking me how I am feeling about August 19th. However, I have made a conscious effort to downplay it and not make it too important. Sometimes we focus too much energy on numbers and not enough on the impact that we are making with our lives. Personally, I stopped looking at age a long time ago. Instead, I have chosen to focus on the number of lives that I can touch in my lifetime. So this week is special but I choose to keep my focus on doing meaningful work that will outlive me.
What is my birthday wish? What will the next chapter of my life look like? What wisdom can I share as I cross this major milestone in my life? Honestly, my birthday wish is very simple. I want to always live a life that keeps on giving. In everything that I do, I want to awaken the world to greatness, increase awareness of personal significance and empower people all over the world to live their greatest lives. One of the things that brings me the greatest joy is seeing lives changed. My wish is the dream that I hold for every human being on this planet. Ultimately, I want to see every person fulfill their purpose and maximize their greatest potential. My hope is that you will access the power within you and discover the treasures that have been deposited on the inside of you. If I can inspire someone to pursue a greater life then I feel like I have succeeded.
At the moment I am still figuring out what my next chapter will look like. I have a plan of the direction that I want my life to take. However, I have learned a lot over the years. Nothing is more comical to God than our attempts to tell Him what our plans are. I’ve learned the hard way that only God’s plan for my life will prevail. I had a plan carved out but God had a completely different plan for me. Since this year is a milestone for me, I have spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting on my life. I’ve been blessed more than I could ever imagine. I’m so thankful to have a life that impacts people all around the world. I have been moved over the last few weeks as I finally started to understand the magnitude of the influence that God has given me. More importantly, I have been able to understand the power of my decision to say yes to the divine will for my life.
My next chapter will be filled with intentional living. If you follow my work then you know I believe greatly in the power of intention. However, as I realize just how precious time is, I am working with greater focus and clear priorities. I want to make the most of every moment of my life. Also, the next chapter of my life will be filled with impartation. The last few weeks have been incredible. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at length with my mentors and advisors. The wisdom that they have been sharing with me has been amazing. The next half of my life I want to impart more wisdom. In other words, I want to write more books, give more talks, do more hands on mentoring and speak into the lives of more people. I know that there is a big impartation that I have been called to make in my generation. Furthermore, the next half of my life will be about impact. I have encountered so much adversity and opposition on my journey. Some dreams I allowed to slip. Other things I let people talk me out of. However, I have been challenged over the last few weeks to get back to those things. In my learning stage of business, I allowed people to shift me away from my original mission. JSI was never a coaching company. JSI has always been a research and development firm. I started this company to provide tools and resources to empower leaders and entrepreneurs to succeed in life and business. Unfortunately, over the years I have drifted from that mission but I have my focus back. It is time to make greater impact in this era. Essentially, JSI will be creating more resources, providing more tools, introducing new research, leading key discussions and presenting new ideas to the world. My next chapter will be about me living in the center of my assignment. Only in the center of my assignment do I thrive.
While there is lots of wisdom that I could share, I think I will focus on one key thing. You cannot live your life for other people. You have to live your life to please God. Not everybody will celebrate your decision to fulfill your purpose. This journey has taught me that everyone has an opinion about your life. More importantly, everyone has a plan for your life. When you are insecure and wrestling with an identity crisis, you will give other people the power to manipulate your destiny. However, when you stop being political and start living purposeful, you will take control of your own destiny. You will stop acquiescing to people and circumstances. You will understand that you must live your life to please God. In reality, pleasing God is the most important aim in life. I can tell you from personal experience that you will disappoint many. You will be criticized, ridiculed, mocked and even humiliated but you must fulfill your purpose. Too many times I have allowed the opinions of others to become the obstacle to greatness in my life. Love people but never give them the power to limit your potential.
In closing, it has been such an honor to do life with you. As I celebrate this major milestone this week, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak into your life. Thank you for sharing your stories with me. Thank you for the moments that you have encouraged me. Thank you for letting me know that the work that I do every single day is making a difference. This has not been an easy journey at all. However, I will say that it has been worth it. All I ever wanted was for God to take my life and do something powerful with it. God has done that and so much more over the years. It is amazing how God took me from being quiet and reserved to a voice of change to the nations. My life is the proof that in a moment you can move from despair to destiny, fear to courage and limitations to limitless possibilities. Many kind words will be spoken about me this week. However, the most important thing that anyone could ever say is that I exhausted every ounce on my potential. That’s the kind of new chapter that I am creating!
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