Look at this smile on my face. This is the first picture I took in my office at TSU’s College of Business. I officially became a Nashville resident during the first week of 2015, January 2 to be exact. It is hard to believe how fast the past 6 years have gone by. What I thought was to be a transition into a new life and career became something much bigger. It became a journey grounded in self-discovery. I thought my transition to Nashville was about me retiring from engineering to become a business professor. I had no clue that there was much more in store for my life.
If you’re aware of my personal story then you know that the circumstances surrounding my transition to Nashville were less than ideal. I moved to Nashville at one of the darkest times in my adult life. During that time, spending time with my son, teaching students, running and cycling were the only things that brought me pure joy. I spent all of 2015 trying to find myself and trying to make sense of my purpose.
In 2016, something changed within me. I decided that I needed to start doing something about all the visions God was giving me. Throughout 2015, I had only written down my visions. I started acting on my visions in 2016, which led me down a path of immense community impact. From 2016 onward, I became an active board member of multiple nonprofit organizations, and I even launched a few community initiatives (Conscious Conversation, Black Entrepreneurship Week, 260 Change Fund). Giving back in this way healed my broken soul.
My efforts were merely just visions from God that I acted on. I had no real strategy other than to act in a way that allowed me to live out my purpose. What I have discovered during my time in Nashville is that my purpose is to inspire, and I live out my purpose through my passion for teaching. I thought I was brought to Nashville to teach college students, but I ended up being a teacher for my students and for my community.
Life is really something. Your vision for your life is much bigger than you realize. If you don’t believe me, just put some action behind your vision and watch what happens next. Thank me later. #insightsbyisaac #purposedriven #BlackBoyFly
“Sometimes the traumatic experiences of our lives can shake us into a meaningful awareness of what our life’s work truly is.”
– Nicholas Pearce, Ph.D., author of The Purpose Path
