There is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become truly alive- Oprah Winfrey
After writing the book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill spent extra time unable to figure out why his life was a mess, despite his deep research on the science of success by working with more than 500 businessmen.
I experienced something similar but related to the topic of Purpose!
After quitting my dream job working at a Hedge Fund with the trading team for 4 years, I decided to make a pivot. Although I figured out what I wanted to do then, I still couldn’t live it fully and make it happen the way I envisioned.
Hundreds of hours of deep thoughts, deep coaching, and some weird but awesome spiritual revelations led me to figure out a process of helping people decide on a clear purpose for themselves. Each one of my clients has found what really matters to them. But, not all of them were able to make it a reality.
What now!? What’s missing?
I became convinced that figuring out a clear purpose isn’t enough to reach the desired goals!
Whether your goal is inner peace, making money, finding fulfillment, becoming famous, or all of them, deciding on a clear purpose is the first but not the only step necessary. There are more pieces to the puzzle.
Since then, I have incorporated something new into my process of creating desired outcomes: The EPB Model: Energy-Purpose-Blocks.
The idea of the EPB model came to me during a summer camping trip at Algonquin Park.
It was 6 a.m; I woke up before my friends to do a morning meditation. The environment was peaceful and magical. It was slightly cold with a wet fog. I could feel droplets of water falling on my face.
During the meditation, I felt like new ideas were falling into my head with each drop of water coming from the fog. It was incredible, and with excitement, I ran to find my journal and write down what was revealed. I got the idea of the EPB model.
Later on, I developed it and used it with my clients. With the same excitement, I will share it with you.
Energy- Purpose- Blocks
Imagine you are in your car and don’t have a clear destination. You will drive until you get tired, bored, or run out of gas.
Your Purpose is the clear destination — if you don’t have a target, there is no point!
Energy is the car fuel and the physical and emotional energy you use to drive the car, money (financial energy) you need to pay for the gas.
Blocks are the obstructions you will encounter in your destination; the car might break, you may get tired or sick, or maybe you lack specific knowledge and skills to drive in heavy traffic or at a certain high speed.
Now let’s make it more practical and see how you can apply it to designing the life you want.
1. Purpose
Suppose you don’t have a clear purpose. Discover it now, and decide what you want to do with the rest of your life, or at least the next couple of years.
A Chinese proverb says: If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up where you are headed.”
You will head to your default future. It’s usually a place where you don’t want to be. As in Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
Imagine your future if nothing changes.
You can have all the Energy in the world and clear all the blocks in your way. If you don’t know where you are going, you have a high chance of ending up in the middle of nowhere.
You won’t be able to create something meaningful. You will be more susceptible to experiencing the shiny object syndrome- a continual state of distraction brought on by an ongoing belief that something new is worth pursuing; you will be undisciplined, unsatisfied, and lost. You might do more wrong things and fall into a vicious circle of doing more of what doesn’t work for you.
2. Energy
Everything is Energy!
Let’s say you figure out a clear purpose and clear the blocks around it. You still won’t execute it with optimal performance if you don’t design the lifestyle which gives your the necessary Energy to continue. You will be at risk of burnout.
Energy has different forms: Physical, Emotional, Financial, and Spiritual.
Physical Energy: Nothing is possible without a healthy body. Making things happen requires long hours of work and time and a high concentration level. Your only choice is to maintain a healthy body through exercise, a good diet, and planned recovery.
Financial Energy: you need money to make money; achieving a purpose would require investment in resources like consultants, books, materials, and set-up fees; it also involves peace of mind to reach the zone of creative Energy. You can’t perform at your best when you are broke; you need specific financial resources to cover your expenses.
Emotional Energy: it’s about maintaining a sense of well-being. The journey to living on Purpose is full of ups and downs, and you would need to learn how to cope with life events and manage your emotions and feeling; you will need to know who you keep around you and how to manage your relationships.
Spiritual Energy: it’s about learning to believe in yourself and your work sincerely, trust the process, maintain a sense of inner peace and love, and keep hope through solid faith.
3. Blocks
I divide blocks into two categories: emotional blocks and Technical Blocks.
If you have a clear destination and the Energy to pursue it, Blocks will make you hit a plateau!
Emotional blocks: mainly consists of limiting beliefs. It would help if you had the right mindset to make things happen. These are blind spots that stop you from creating the desired outcomes. They will keep you repeating old undesired patterns of habits.
Technical blocks are skills gaps and necessary knowledge to complete a specific task. At the same time, Purpose is the answer to what I will do and why I’m doing it. Knowledge and skills are related to the how-to. The how-to comes after the want-to. You can figure out how to make something happen when you want something.
Blocks will make you reach a plateau, but they are never an excuse to stop. There is a solution to everything. You will need a solid and compelling reason and enough Energy to continue.