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.
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.
posted by Chris Kenny at
6:38 AM
