The BAR Formula™ and Man's Search for Meaning

Beliefs - Actions - Results. This is THE formula for successful change. Once you understand that your actions are the product of your beliefs (what you believe about yourself and the unique contribution you can make for the world, what you believe about what's possible, what you believe about other people) and that the results you see in your life are a product of the things you are committed to (because it is only those things to which you are committed that you will take action on), you're on your way.

What does this have to do with the principles outlined by Viktor Frankl in Man's Search for Meaning? Everything. Frankl correctly saw that the difference in people and their ability to overcome horrible experiences like the Holocaust was the degree to which each person has connected with his or her own "Will to Meaning." That is, what truly exists in our deepest being is to discover the meaning of our own lives (the answer to the existential question: "Why am I here?"). Frankl also correctly pointed out that, unlike every other being on Earth, humans have the conscious ability to choose for ourselves precisely what that meaning is, in any circumstance (including those situations in which we may be experiencing horrible tragedy and suffering).

The first step in employing the BAR Formula™ is to recognize that we each have the awesome power to create meaning in our lives. Life doesn't have to "just happen" to us. Nor do our organizations have to keep "bumbling along" the same old way. Instead, individuals and organizations that make a conscious decision to define for themselves what their deeper meaning will be have taken the first, critical step toward profound change and unstoppable progress! By making a conscious choice about the deeper meaning of who we are and why we are here, one is then in the position to make a transformative decision about one's own beliefs about what is possible for each of us individually. This is equally true for our organizations and businesses as well. By connecting to and defining a deeper meaning for our organizations, we can then examine our current state of beliefs as those beliefs relate to the deeper meaning we've defined. Do our current set of beliefs "square" with our deeper purpose? If not, then we need to ask, "Does this belief still have value, given the choice I've made about the meaning in my life?" If the answer is "yes," then by all means, keep that belief! It will now be reinforced by the meaningful connection to a deeper meaning and purpose.

But if the answer to that same question is "no," then it's time to discard the old belief and substitute it with a belief that empowers us by being aligned with our deeper purpose. Because the BAR Formula™ is the key to producing effective results, the alignment of our beliefs and our deeper purpose is critical to our success. Once we have a sense of our deeper purpose, together with a set of empowering beliefs that support that purpose, our actions and the results that we produce will reflect (and again, reinforce) the meaning that we have defined for ourselves.

Don't sell this short. Everywhere great achievement has occurred, it has been the product of a deeper purpose and an unshakable belief in the inherent value of that deeper purpose. The connection between the purpose and the beliefs that support that purpose have then driven individuals to take actions that others thought were impossible or crazy, producing results such as the polio vaccine (today celebrates the anniversary of the first mass innoculation against polio) and sending a man to the Moon and returning him safely to earth.

The BAR Formula™: THE Key to Successful Change

Like many of you, I've often read statements such as "attitude is everything," "believe it and you'll achieve it," "whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're right," etc., etc. For whatever reason, it's taken me a long time to internalize these truisms. But after experiencing the Dewitt Jones DVD, "Celebrate What's Right With the World" (see post below), something's clicked for me, both personally and professionally. The quotes above have taken on real significance. As I work with companies across the country, I've come to see how true these statements are. And they aren't just true for individuals, they're true for organizations as well (makes sense: despite our tendency to give "life" to them, organizations themselves do not have an existence beyond the "live" people who are its stakeholders - suppliers, employees, customers, shareholders, etc.).

So what does all this have to do with anything? Well, if you want to accomplish something or change something, you always need to come back to this formula: Beliefs - Actions - Results (the BAR Formula™). Once you understand this simple formula, you are on your way to transforming yourself and your organization. Stated another way: results ONLY come from your actions and every action you take is based on your beliefs. So if you want to change your personal or organizational results, you need to change your beliefs first.

Celebrating What's Right With the World

A business colleague of mine introduced me to a DVD by Dewitt Jones entitled "Celebrate What's Right With the World." Jones spent over 2 decades photographing images around the world for National Geographic Magazine (http://www.nationalgeographic.com). The DVD and Jones's web site (http://www.dewittjones.com) are dedicated to helping individuals identify the deeper purpose in their work and lives by viewing life through the "lens" of all that is good, beautiful and wonderful about the world in which we live and about ourselves. Like the writings of St. Paul, which encourage us to contemplate all that is beautiful, lovely, etc., Jones's DVD and web site offers us the same message: life is truly wonderful if we choose to view it in all it's abundance and wonder.

How does this tie in to the work of Victor Frankl and Dr. Alex Pattakos? Frankl and Pattakos describe man's "Will to Meaning," which is the exercise of our consciousness to identify and define for ourselves, in every moment, the meaning of our lives. Jones describes the difference between living a life of "success" (in the conventional, materialistic sense) and a life of "significance," which comes about through a shift in consciousness from all that is "wrong" with the world to all that is "right" with it (inlcuding all that is "right" with ourselves). Having said this, it's also important to note that Jones, Frankl and Pattakos are not "Pollyanna's." Indeed, for Frankl at least, meaning can be found - indeed, must be found - in the inevitable suffering and heartache that is part of human existence.

Jones offers us a method of refining our consciousness so that the lens with which we view our condition is one of beauty, hope and abundance. From that perspective, Jones suggests that life is no longer about finding "the" right answer, but rather remaining open to all of life's possibilities. Jones challenges us to refine and hone our God-given talents and to position ourselves in the place of the most potential, so that when life presents an opportunity (which it will if we are keeping our eyes open for it, if we prepare ourselves by refining our talents, and if we position ourselves in the best place to maximize those talents), we are ready to seize the moment. In short, life is not about finding "the" right answer, but rather about continously looking for the "next" right answer that presents itself to us.

In following the methodology Jones describes, one can define the significance of one's existence (Frankl's "Will to Meaning") and in so doing, lead a life of significance. If that's not success, I'm not sure what is.