Every morning on NBC 5 Today we like to say, "make it a good day, on purpose."
A young man in Plano has made it his mission to help you live a "purposeful" life.
Austin Mitchell has dedicated his life to improving others, and he’s an inspiration to all of us.
"There are millions of different ways to live, but I believe the best way to live is with purpose," Mitchell said in one of his motivational videos posted online.
Austin says he’s already making a difference.
"Hey, I came across your video it really helped me. I was ready to give up on life, I was already feeling discouraged today, I didn’t know what to do, but I came across your page, and just wanted to keep going," Mitchell said, describing the feedback he's received on his videos.
Three years ago, he started clothing brand Purposefull Apparel with the hope of encouraging all people that they can choose to live a life with purpose.
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"We all want to live with purpose, and we just always don’t know how. I just want to be a catalyst to help people to just be a starting point for them," Mitchell said.
In addition to working full time selling purposeful t-shirts and motivational bracelets, Mitchell is a young adults pastor at Grace Church in Plano. He says he’s using his platform at his church to take his message of living a life with purpose to another level.
"When you’re living your life with purpose, it's a spiritual thing, because you're living beyond yourself, you’re living for other people, when it’s something spiritual it goes beyond you," he said.
Mitchell is being recognized nationally for making an impact on the lives of others. He was one of only 31 people selected from across the country to be featured in Lay’s "Operation Smile" campaign. Proceeds from each bag of chips benefit a nonprofit medical service organization dedicated to children and young adults with cleft conditions.
Mitchell says he is motivated by his older brother, who has down syndrome.
"Just knowing that every day, he can wake up with a reason to be mad at the world," Mitchell said. "But, he wakes up every day smiling, wants to make other people smile, wants to make other people happy, he wants to be the center of attention a lot of times, too."
And, 10% of proceeds from Mitchell's apparel business go to "H.E.R.O.E.S," a nonprofit that teaches those with disabilities critical skills to become contributing members of society.
"A lot of people in life, they don’t feel like they have value. They don’t feel like they’re enough. They don’t feel like they can make an impact, but I believe they can," Mitchell said.
His smile can be found on Lay's Original Wavy and Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño popper chips.
MORE: PurposefullApparel.com
