Month: Nov 2022

Notice your answer to this question: what is your purpose?

If you asked me, I would probably give you a different answer each time, depending on what is going on with me and my life at the time, and that’s from someone who has done a lot of work and reflected on this. I would love to say, to save the world, end poverty or bring lasting peace (which it sometimes is!) but the reality is, it varies. 

I might say:

• To make a difference.
• To help as many men as possible to get their Mojo back.
• To be happy.
• To leave the world a better place.

I think the reality is that our purpose finds us, when we are awake and aware, and when that happens, we are moved by something much higher and bigger.

During a visit to the NASA Space Centre in 1962, President Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man and said: “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy, what are you doing?” The janitor responded: “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr President.”

Perfect! Can you imagine how happy that man must have been in that moment?

At the time of writing this post I am feeling really under the weather, you know, cough, cold, and an aching body. 

What is my purpose right now? To get better! So I am. I have postponed all my meetings and I am ‘under the covers,’ recharging and getting ready for what’s next, despite my ever-chirping ‘Monkey Mind’ telling me I am lazy and others work much harder than me and they would be out there…infecting others and not healing!

My point is, there is no is purpose. Everyone – all of the thousands of books on the subject – will say something different.

What’s the acid test of being ‘on purpose’ and why do I think it’s important?’ 

I think it is about:

1. Feeling good.
2. Helping others and getting the attention off ourselves.
3. Staying present and conscious to the moment, not excessively reminiscing about the past or pondering the future, which is where us humans spend way too much time!

Please complete this very short and effective, find your purpose in 5 minutes form. I think you’ll love it. 

Mojestically yours,

Si. 

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P.S. Why not come to one of my monthly Mojo Storytelling events if you are in Cape Town?
If you are anywhere else, join by Zoom. Just let me know.
Click on the image or fill out the link: https://bit.ly/MojoStorytelling

Mike Tyson said, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

Such eloquence! What I think Uncle Mike is saying is that when push comes to shove we will respond from our emotions and ‘great (logical) plans’ go out the window. 

How do we manage this?

Make your purpose good clear, simple and memorable so that when you get ‘punched in the face’ you never forget it and you won’t want to either because it fuels you, and guides you when there is nothing else left. It’s like the image of the firefighters – when there’s a fire, that needs to be put out, you focus on it and put all your energies into it.

With reference to being punched in the face, it’s not luckily much of a thing in my life and it has only happened a couple of times, mostly playing rugby, but once by my older brother administered a right hook, but then I was being an annoying little ****. Jokes aside, I don’t advocate fighting. I now see myself as a lover, not a fighter, unless I get punched in the face!

I have read many books and spent hours on the subject of purpose but nothing was more simple meaningful and impactful than this TED talk I saw by Adam Leipzig, called, ‘How to find your purpose in 5 minutes.’ 

Here are the questions, below, with one or two additions, and my answers for your interest. 

Please send your answers to me by filling out the form, I’d love to see them and I think you will find this absurdly simple and useful.

Simply go through the steps and listen to his video and ask yourself what your purpose is at the end. 

Here they are:

Who am I?
I have spent some time on this. It started out with just, ‘Si Ekin!’

• I am Simon Roger Ekin. 
• Simon (but I prefer Si, because I feel good when I hear it, but not Simon, because it feels like I am in trouble!) Simon is from the Hebrew, meaning Listen, or hearing, and Greek, meaning ‘flat-nosed,’, which is interesting, because I was often referred to this growing up. 
• Roger, which comes from a German spearsman. 
• Ekin, like Nike Backwards, from the winged goddess of Victory, signifying speed, movement, power and motivation. 
• It also means ‘harvest’ in Turkish, which I like, because it’s plentiful.
• So, I am a victorious, flat-nosed, harvesting, German Spearsman, who listens! 

What do I love?
To converse. Hear and share stories. Engage. Learn. Connect. Have deep and meaningful conversations. Laugh. Cry. Feel. Be in nature.

What do I feel supremely qualified to teach others?
Encourage people to open up and share, talk, tell stories, take a risk, open up and listen.

What is that in one word?
I am a Storyteller.

Who do I do it for?
Men. So that women, children, and the world can benefit, flourish and feel safe, so that we can all work together.

What do they want or need?
Confidence, Self-belief, inner peace, calm. Arriving ‘home.’

How do they change as a result of what I give them?
They become more passionate, energetic, authentic, confident and humorous. (P.E.A.C.H.)

So, my purpose is: to help men ​​become more passionate, energetic, authentic, confident and humorous. (PEACH.) 

Many people ask me why I work with men. For two reasons. Firstly, so that women, children, and other men, can flourish, benefit and feel safe. Secondly, it’s just the way it has been; I seem to ‘attract’ many more men than women. The added benefit is that many women really get my message and think it would be good for ‘their men’ to work with me!

I’d love you to fill yours in here so I can see them: https://bit.ly/findyourpurposein5mins 

What do you think? Useful exercise?

Mojestically yours, 

Si. 

“Kissing a man without a moustache is like eating a steak without salt and pepper.” My grandmother!

I don’t like moustaches. They give me the creeps, which is why it’s a really good idea that I have one this November. 

November is Men’s Health Awareness Month, with International Men’s Day, falling on the 19th November. You may have heard the term, ‘‘Movember’ – Moustache and November, combined – which was a charity founded in 2003 and happens yearly, now, in many countries around the world.

Because the message is so distinct and well, funny, it seems to have become an anchor for awareness around men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men’s suicide. You can find out more here: Wikipedia. Its purpose is, helping men live happier, healthier, longer lives.

Us men are mostly sh*t at speaking up about things that we deem sensitive or can be judged for, so we rather keep quiet, stick our heads in the sand and hope the problem will go away. It’s not a good strategy.

Here are some stats to consider on the seriousness of the issue we face, from the Movember.com website. The sample is from Canada, and can be used as a rough guideline around the world:

1 in 9 Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime

• Testicular cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in young Canadian men
• In 2019, over 3,050 men died by suicide, nearly 59 men per week
• In Canada, 3 out of 4 deaths by suicide are men
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Canadian males aged 15–44 years

My brother was lucky in detecting testicular cancer before it was too late. 

My friend, ‘One nut,’ Torsten Koehler, from the amazing charity, Love your Nuts, was lucky too. Why not back him on his current fundraising drive to create a cancer awareness early detection app for testicular cancer here?

Many are not as lucky as these two fine men. 

Here are some actions you can take, even one would be great progress for many:

1. Book a checkup with your doc for a check of your testicles and prostate. Worried about the potential result? Sure, I always am. But the truth sets us free and ignorance is not bliss, because it weighs on us and doesn’t go away. 
2. Sex will be better just knowing the result because you will have less on your mind! Women dig men who take responsibility and lead the charge, actually;)
3. Call someone you trust and open up to them. You could start with me?

Anything you are willing to commit to? Wanna have a chat? 

Happy Movember, and Mojectically yours, 

Si.