The Decisions That Shape One's Destiny: Find Your True Purpose, Passion and Destiny in Life.

The Decisions that

Shape One’s Destiny

Find Your True Purpose, Passion and Destiny in Life.

All of what you were supposed to become is not always who you were destined to be.

Lloyd N. Moffatt

AuthorHouse™

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Phone: 1-800-839-8640

© 2011 Lloyd N. Moffatt. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse   05/04/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-5318-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-5316-0 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-5317-7 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011904215

Printed in the United States of America

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expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgement

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Preface

This book is written for the human soul who desires more in life and is willing to do whatever it takes to make his or her dreams become a reality. I was not an extraordinary person growing up. I was an ordinary individual who had extraordinary ideas. I am no different from you or anyone else in the world. This book was written because I feel that people need to make important decisions to find the answers and purpose to their lives. Each man, woman and child was born with a purpose.

No one could exist in life without one. Some have lived and died without an opportunity to define what their true purpose or calling in life could have been. Their path and steps in life could all be wasted without a purpose and an identity. For every step you take, you leave a piece of memory and moment behind. What matters is not what you left in the past but what you will accomplish in the future. Where you are in life does not necessarily determine you will be there forever. Change will and has to come. Once you acknowledge how much time you have let slip by, you will realize there is a world out there waiting for you to conquer.

You just need to make a decision to go out there and conquer it. Time is of the essence, and when it comes down to decision making, the right decisions will forge you into making better decisions with the time you have. I hope that the words in this book ignite your spirit to take action and control of your life.

Something in your heart and mind is crying out to do more and be more than you thought you can be. It is hurting because you have yet to achieve the things you want the most in life. It is searching because you know something is missing that will make your life complete. We all want to be successful. There is not one man; woman or child who has not envisioned what his or her life will become when he or she overcomes all the obstacles and challenges in his or her life.

The desire to be more and do more is all inside of us. The problem is that life has so many circumstances and challenges that when you are confronted by these obstacles and situations, if you are weary, they can easily sidetrack and steer you in a different direction. My purpose for you is to have an understanding of whom you truly are, what you were meant to be and what you feel could be the driving force in your life. You have made a great decision in purchasing a book that will help you improve your decision making, direction in life, relationships and who you were destined to be in this world.

I challenge you to never lose sight of who you are and what you could become. The world doesn’t need to be on your shoulders. It just needs to be in the palm of your hands. Go out there and take it head on! You must believe that everything you desire to accomplish will come to pass. It is all about making the right decisions that will give you the momentum you need to drive the nail further and further through the wall. It is by then you will resurrect many of the emotions and drive that has long been buried internally. It will be at that time you will also have an answer to many of the decisions you need to make that will forever shape your life and line your destiny.

Lloyd N. Moffatt

Acknowledgement

First and foremost, I would like to thank God for giving me the inspiration to use my talents and abilities in allowing my dreams to become possible. I believe none of my endeavors and accomplishments would ever be real without Him. I would also like to extend thanks to my beautiful wife Chinwe Okeke-Moffatt who has helped me embark on this journey. She has been extremely supportive and has provided endless encouragement in allowing me to work towards my vision.

In addition, I would also like to give special thanks to my uncle Errol Shaw who has guided and has been my mentor throughout this process. His incredible work ethics as an author of several published books of his own have inspired me to continue to believe and never lose sight of my end goals. Furthermore, I would also like to thank my mother Dorothy Moffatt who has honored and accepted many of my decisions. She has stood behind all of my desired dreams and goals. To those whose names I have not mentioned, I also want to express my gratitude in the impact you have had on my life. Your relationships, along with the overall experiences I have had and the decisions I have made, has given rise to this moment in my life.

Lloyd N. Moffatt

Chapter 1

Find and Define Your Destiny

I met someone many years ago. Meeting him has inspired me to write a story on my life and look closer at the things I need to change within myself so that I can become a better and wiser person when it comes to life, its experiences and decisions that I need to make regarding it. I knew through him, he will be able to guide, walk with me and stand up for me in times of great need. It was only a matter of time before I realized that as much as he made himself available to me there will come a day and time where I will be on my own and I will be left to make choices for myself that no one else could make for me. I will learn then what is right from wrong but it will not change the fact that my decisions will still become a defining purpose that could make or break me for many years to come.

Even though I have crossed over so many bridges in my life, I can share with you that I have made many critical mistakes in my lifetime that unseeingly became the defining moment in every stage of my life. These errors that I committed made me fortunate enough to be alive today to write this story, but it would forever change the way I see others, see myself and see the rest of the world. It is through some experiences and many other ones I’ve had that made me learn more about my life in one day than trying to spend the rest of my life figuring it out on my own.

I am grateful to be alive, and I have found out there is more to life than just breathing and there is more to it than just existing. I find that now that I am able to live to tell this story I am not only going to make a difference in my life, but I am going to help others make a difference in theirs. The story of how decision making began to play a pivotal role in my life all started many years ago when a turn of events led me to meeting someone who would ultimately change my perspective towards life forever. I never knew my life would change for the better by meeting this person, but once I did, I was able to rid myself of a lot of negative thoughts, draw closer to my family, feel protected, loved, live a purposeful life that made me feel the true value of what it is to be alive and to appreciate the things I honor the most. After all, I never knew what it meant to value anyone, especially someone above myself. I also never knew what it meant to love or be loved because when I searched for love I never could find or define the love I wanted. I always chased after the things in life that would make me feel satisfied only to realize when they were attained, there was still an unexplainable void that was eating away at the very core of my heart.

It was apparent to me that getting a college education, overcoming personal hardships, landing a job on Wall Street in a top firm was not good enough. Something was still missing! I just could not understand what it was. It was a feeling of emptiness that followed me everywhere I would go until I had to find the answer inside of me to fill this mysterious void. I would find the answer eventually, but it had to come at the expense of losing my own life. I learned that day of what it meant to lose my life and surrender to something that was far more rewarding and fulfilling than anything else in this world.

The man you are about to meet is a great man. He is the greatest that ever existed. By tapping into his power, you have the ability to transform your life and create a pathway that is free from all burdens, worries and obstacles. When he speaks, his words pierce through your heart like a sword with two edges that cut you once when it enters and cuts you a second time when it has been removed. He is a man that can bring forth clarity like you never seen and erase any confusion you ever had with your life.

He is an individual who makes you look at your life and examine it for what it is worth. You can evaluate all the areas in your life, but without him, there is no meaning and purpose to whatever you decide to pursue and accomplish. Through his power, your life has meaning and a purpose for its existence. I could clearly remember when I was young, I wanted to rely on my own ideas, opinions and strengths, I would later find out that my thoughts and power in life was limited without this individual. I was left with no other choice but to take an inventory of my life. By doing so, I would see that I was a person who was filled with extreme skepticism of what matters the most in my life compared to the lives of others. I was a young adult who constantly saw people’s lives change but did not know exactly what was changing it. I tried to do the same things they were doing, however, after a while, I realized that they have a gift I don’t have which defines who they are as individuals, which ultimately separates me from them. When I examined my talents and abilities, I knew I possessed certain characteristics that no one else had. The problem that I had was I just did not know how to use them to the best of my ability. As a result of my ineptitude, people exploited their skills and utilized their talents for what they were worth. In doing so, their lives developed on a much faster and broader scale than mine.

As I reminisced on all my strengths and weaknesses, I knew I could never be the greatest public speaker in my class nor could I achieve something extraordinary and maintain it. While other people reaped many rewards from their labor, I kept chipping away at the very things I wanted to create in my life because I believe all I can do to make a difference in my own life was to be myself.

I never strived to be anyone else I couldn’t become because each time I tried to do what someone else did I simply failed or rejected it in the long run. Ultimately, I was comfortable in my own skin and my own personal space. I felt that there was nothing wrong with being myself. The only problem that I had with being myself was that I got tired of not seeing any changes in my life as I kept getting older. I seemed to be the same person day in and day out and I was getting exhausted and frustrated with everyone else’s lives changing except for mine.

When I tried to make changes, I feel the changes I made would take too long and life was too unfair for not showing me the results I needed to see quickly. When it was much easier for people to see change, it would be much harder for me to see my own changes. It would take me much longer to accomplish my goals and to see the results I expected to see from my accomplishments. I would then question my life and tie them to my experiences and ask myself, Why am I so unlucky in this world? Why does life treat me this way? Why do I deserve this? When I realize how challenging and undeserving life was and continued to be, it made me see that the path to my destiny will never be an easy one.

I would encounter many trials along the way. Through it all, it is the experiences, hardships, obstacles, and choices in life that I have come across that will surely shape me into the person I am destined to become. To that fact, I would like to introduce you to someone who has defined greater moments in my time and who has helped me to make better decisions by giving me a true purpose in life and the meaning it should bring. I introduce to you a friend that I can call on at anytime—one who will be with me wherever I go and who will always love me more than anyone else in this world. I introduce to you the greatest friend that anyone can have and he is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Throughout my life as a follower of Christ, I have read many passages in the bible and was amazed by this man’s incredible effort that displayed his love and sacrifice to the world through God. In any and every decision that Jesus made, he relied on God’s power through his word to guide him in every step of his life. This man never made the wrong decisions. All he wanted to do was save the world and free mankind from all their sins. In turn, he lost his own life, but the messages through the scriptures are still alive today through God’s word. He is a perfect example of a man who came on this earth with a clear determination and purpose. No matter what happens his destiny was already set to be with God forever in heaven. No matter what also happens in your life, your destiny in this world is also predetermined by God.

As you read this story, I will share with you some of the decisions, which I feel, are critical to your success and ones that are liable to shape your destiny. Take note of the fact that success is not the only key to making someone feel content with his or her life. If you are successful, but not happy with your life, success clearly has no meaning. I was not able to make important decisions all in one day. It took years of learning and going through many phases of trial and error that helped mold and shaped me to be the person who I am today.

It made me aware through the midst of it all, for one to find and define one’s destiny will never be easy. First of all, no one is going to take you to your destiny and no one is going to drive you there. You have to be the one to put yourself in a position where you have to take and drive yourself to your own destiny. For some, the task is daunting. Many years could come and go without someone ever to know the true meaning of success. Even decades can pass without some people being able to climb the ladder to their destiny. Life, in turn, is difficult. It is not easy for some people to know and find their destiny because people constantly ask themselves questions, questions that can’t be answered by anyone else but themselves. The bible talks about how there is not one person in the world who does not question their own existence.

God has set eternity on all the hearts of man. So there is not one person alive who doesn’t want to know the reason as to why he or she is alive. People were truly born to ask themselves questions. The problem is if the questions they ask themselves will ever be answered. Many of these questions start with…

Who am I? Where am I going? What is in my future? Where do I fit in this world? Why was I born? What is my purpose? The questions never seem to end for how one can define one’s dreams and destiny in life. The questions also persist as to how people can find the answers that will help them find their purpose. It is these questions that people ask themselves to define the true meaning of their hearts. It is also these questions that determine the true steps of the mind. The questions that are set on their hearts are ones that link their hearts and minds to one single chain, so they can make a connection with where they belong in this world. However, these questions do not just come out of the ordinary. These questions have been set on people’s hearts from the very existence of time. Every man, woman and child in this world can only question the future that remains with the time they have left to live. The efforts are tireless as many of these people try to see how they can adapt and fit into this world. For some, finding the answers are not easy.

For others, their destinies have been carved out and handed to them way ahead of time. Many of these people were probably born with a silver spoon in their mouths or fortunate to get a great inheritance from someone later in their lives. However, how many of us are that lucky? Just how many of us have had that kind of fate predestined before our existence. If that were the case, then there will not be anyone begging on the street corners for food or money. There will be no person enrolling in schools to pursue a second degree to find a better job. Some people wouldn’t have to worry about being sued or experience broken marriages.

There will also be no reason to change jobs or switch careers. It will be inevitable where people’s lives will be going. Achieving some level of success will oftentimes make their lives go in a direction that will swing in their favor. Unfortunately, in many cases that is not quite obvious. From every experience that most people have had in this world, they can clearly see that it has not been a cakewalk to accomplish their dreams. Some people can experience life to be sweet but there are other moments where it can be sour, leaving an unpleasant taste and odor in their mouths.

It leaves people to realize that one single important decision that they can make is having the capabilities to create something out of nothing. In order for anything to be created, one must utilize the time one has to create opportunities for oneself. For example, if you are working at a job, one stream of income in this world is never enough. If you ever want to get anywhere in life and accomplish your goals and dreams faster than you ever expected, you are going to need more than one source of income stream. This is a stream of income that must be created by you without you expecting it to be created on its own.

A man can build a tower that will stand on its own, but it is with the support of others by which the foundation of that building will remain standing.

Lloyd N. Moffatt

Use Time to Create Opportunities

No matter how hard you work and no matter how much you try to save the money you are making at your job, you will feel less fulfilled and more dissatisfied if it takes too much time to reach your goals and accomplish all the dreams you desire. It is up to you to realize time in this day and age is a valuable commodity. Once it is wasted, it is never returned. Once it is gone, the moment is gone with it. Once the moment is gone, the opportunities that could have been created in that moment also disappear with it. It is now or never for time to be utilized in every degree its worth.

Let’s face it; everyone consciously knows the value of time. There is no one alive that doesn’t know the value and devastating results it could bring when it is not used wisely. Even a person who is slow and does not take time to plan his or her life knows the value of time. He or she may not be smarter or move faster than other people but when it’s time to make a life and death decision, you will see him or her react just like everyone else to save his or her life. Don’t be fooled into thinking that some people are not cognizant of time. Everyone knows the value of time. The problem is we think so much of time that we spend more time thinking it exist without doing anything to bring something into its existence. Time has been placed into our lives for a reason. It brings what you call forth to a beginning and it also brings what you don’t remember to a complete end. It is used not only to shape our lives but to create the opportunities by how our lives will be shaped. When used in the right moment, opportunities can become the edge and cornerstone one needs to reach one’s destiny in life.

When used at the right time, opportunities can create the advantages that people need to advance to higher levels. Your destiny, thus, can be defined by the opportunities you create for yourself. All of the opportunities that you take advantage of are vested by the time you have. By giving yourself the chance to generate new ideas, this can sometimes be the deciding factor that adds value to your life and meaning to the things that matter the most to you. Many people’s lives have changed because they decided that creating opportunities for themselves have become greater than just working at their present jobs. In the life you’re living, you never know how the opportunities you create can shape the decisions you need to make now and in the future.

The next opportunity you create for yourself can be a true test of how quickly and determined you are to see change take place in your life. One of the first actions that many people should take to become successful and achieve their goals is to create a second outlet of revenue. If you are ever going to make it in this world, you need to seriously consider ways to create opportunities for yourself that would generate additional streams of income.

Even great superstars like Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Mariah Carey, and Beyoncé Knowles are business moguls that have multiple streams of income coming from restaurants, clothing lines, cologne, reality television shows, music, movies and production. These are men and women that are not just working hard for their money, but they are seeing their money work hard for them. After all, how long can anyone live on wages and trade time for dollars? Some people don’t have a choice but to work for someone and there is nothing wrong in doing so because a great majority of people make their money that way. However, when enough time passes and you rely solely on one source of income, just how far do you think you will get if that is the only asset you have been relying on?

If you have not used your time to create additional opportunities, which will lead to additional streams of income, it will be difficult for you to meet your goals and carry out your responsibilities. A company will always like you to work hard for them, but in the end, they will never have your best interest. It is up to you to decide what is best for yourself. It goes without saying that you should use the company for what they are worth because they will use you for what you are worth.

When you make a decision that you will get a second stream of income, invest for a higher return, or start a business in addition to the job you are doing, you are creating for yourself a better chance to succeed and exceed your goals in life. Change happens much quicker when you can tap into more things around you rather than sticking with something that limits you to one idea and one opportunity. Obviously, opportunities don’t fall from the sky. They only come once in a lifetime, but the only way they will come knocking on your door is unless you make the decision to create them. Opportunities don’t create themselves without a source and that source must come from you. When you don’t make the decision to create opportunities, be assured to prepare for a life where changes will or probably may never take place. And even if change takes place, it will never happen quickly and with great magnitude.

Opportunities Come Once in a Lifetime

There is a man who graduated from the same college I attended. I marveled at his intelligence in and out of school. He was someone who spoke with great authority and wisdom. When I would see him, he seemed to command everything in his presence and seemed to be always prepared, well dressed, book smart and organized in his thinking. At times, I wondered if I leaned too much on him for advice, because it seemed that every time I was in trouble, he would be the first person I would call to help me deal with my issues. If it was problems I had with finances, legal issues, or courses I was taking in college, he would give me sound advice in handling many of my difficulties. His name is Trey Walcott. He was a person who seemed to always be there when I needed his help. He became a good friend of mine during my years in college.

In the summer of 2000 when Trey graduated from Baruch College, he was just like any other college graduate. He was excited to be done with school and ready to start a new career. He was on the internet looking for jobs and used his time as an opportunity to e-mail and fax his resumes to several large firms who were hiring in Manhattan, New York. After researching and going on several job interviews, Trey found a company that was in line with his field of interest and overall job qualifications. It took him only two weeks after he graduated from college to find a job where it allowed him to work for one of the top investments firms in New York. He began his career at a top business firm in Manhattan and he seemed focused on his job working long hours and completing many of the projects that were assigned to him by his company.

The only problem was after working several months with this firm, he grew unhappy with his job. Trey often stated how hard it was for him to get along with other people at work because it seemed that everyone tried to play his boss. He had orders coming from just about everyone in his department that made him feel that he was hardly in control of anything. Days would go by where he would get into several arguments with colleagues and those arguments led to written referrals on his record.

It seemed that each day Trey had gone back to work; he handled many projects along with daily responsibilities from his boss that caused him to feel inundated with his job and a drawn out desire to stay with the company. After working long hours on several tough weekly assignments, along with strenuous assigned projects in the workplace, Trey no longer had a desire to continue his employment with his new job. After a few months of working for this firm in Manhattan, he decided to quit his job. In the midst of trying to figure his next destination for employment, he spent many days and weeks researching other job companies as well as information that pertained to self-employment. Throughout the time he was unemployed, I offered to help him with his job search. He refused to accept my help and advice regarding his situation. Apparently, he did not want help from me and I was even more surprised to see how he refused to work for anyone.

Trey claimed how tired he was of working for corporate America and the fact that he has to live up to other people’s expectations in the workplace all the time. No matter what he did and how hard he worked, it was never enough to satisfy his colleagues and manager in the workplace. It seemed with him when a project was not complete or a deadline was not met, his job was always on the line. It was not until two months after quitting his job that he saw an infomercial on television that talked about the advantages of creating and starting an online business. Seeing that infomercial would forever change his perspective on working for anyone. It didn’t take long for Trey to take hold of the idea that starting his own online business will lead to many great opportunities. He eventually ordered the item and waited a week before it finally arrived in the mail.

When Trey received the business kit, he read through the entire manual in four hours and quickly began to plan the name of his business and how it will run. He was savvy enough to start his own business online by purchasing items from a ninety-nine cent store and selling them online for close to twenty dollars. For him, it was the beginning of gaining credibility with new customers. All he needed was a good sum of positive feedbacks from clients, which would eventually help him build and generate more income in his business. After several months of starting his business, I was surprised to see the profits he was making. Trey’s online business pulled in almost $1000 per week. He was ecstatic about his success. Even I was so impressed by his effort and work ethics that I asked him if I could start the same business part time while I worked full time at my job. He said to me, "You can start any business! It’s not rocket science to start your own business.

You just have to have the right mindset and attitude to create it and maintain it. So do you think your experiment starting this business is paying off? I asked. What you need to know Lloyd is I am not running this business to experiment. I will sooner or later be running it to retire," he said.

After speaking to Trey on several occasions, he gave me good advice on some of the techniques he was using so that I could run and start a business on my own. I became confident after extensive questioning and research that I decided to start my own online business part time. Though I didn’t make as much money as he did in the beginning, my business began to grow and it started to generate enough income as well. After two years of running his business, Trey never went back to work. He had no intention of looking for a job or working for anyone.

I was impressed to see how he handled his bills and supported himself without working or relying on anyone for support. You seem to be more successful than people I know who have graduated from college. Do you feel that this is what you were destined to be doing? I asked. I never had the idea to start my own business but after reading some books on success and working for a major corporation in Manhattan, I had enough motivation to do something with my life and do it quickly. I just have had it with my boss telling me what to do every minute. If I show up twenty-five minutes late, he will dock me for an hour and write me up. If I show up late too many times, then I stand a chance of being fired. Other times, there were even some days I went to work where some people were trying to blame me for the work they never did. Some days, my supervisor would also put a ton of papers on my desk. I had to finish and get through all of them before the day ended. The pressure and stress I had to go through was just not worth the time and energy I put into my job. If I put that same type of energy into something that I can create, I am sure I will see the benefits it would bring, he said.

After running his online business for over two years, Trey decided to open other online businesses and now he has more than several streams of income. I examined Trey’s life and learned a valuable lesson. The lesson I learned is that you should never live your life feeling you are satisfied with one thing. If you have a job, then hold on to it but build on it and build around it until you feel the need to let it go. Don’t ever feel that your job is the only thing you have to hold on to. No one has put a gun to your head to let you know that you are bounded to it for the rest of your life. You must be willing to create opportunities around you because at any point in time anything can happen to your job. In other words, multiple streams of income are always better than one stream of income. You have heard to not keep your eggs in one basket because if the basket falls then all the eggs could break in