"Remember, success is not a set of standards from our culture but rather a collection of personal values clearly defined and ultimately achieved." – Jim Rohn
For nearly a decade after graduating college, I have worked as an engineer and manager in the oil and gas industry. After graduating college, it was my dream to work for an oil and gas company in downtown Denver. I even went business-to-business in downtown Denver, handing out resumes to make that dream a reality. That aspiration led me on a journey from rural Utah to Denver, to Houston, and then back to Denver in the first ten years of my career.
The oil and gas industry has provided me with a rewarding career, incredible friends and colleagues, countless learning opportunities, and personal growth. However, I wrestled with internal conflicts about the environmental impact of the industry. Deep down, I know that our society cannot sustain consuming 100+ million barrels of oil daily without leaving significant consequences for future generations. I feel that, in many ways, we are robbing the future with our current reliance on fossil fuels.
This inner conflict has prompted me to reflect on how I want to spend the remainder of my working life. In a great Mindvalley talk, Vishen Lakhiani and Amir Ahmad outline a framework: identify your values, define your purpose, and then align your career or business with that purpose. As Vishen puts it, “Your soulprint is an underlying set of instructions you operate in sync with without realizing it. Uncovering your foundational values reveals your soulprint.”
Discovering My Values
I went through an exercise to identify the values that resonate most deeply with me. After reviewing more than 100 options, I narrowed them down to this list:
Love / Family
Contribution
Growth - Empire, Teammates, Family & Personally
Health - Mind, Body, Spirit & Planet
Simplicity
These values serve as the foundation for my decisions and direction in life. They’ve become a compass to guide me toward meaningful work and fulfillment.
Purpose Through Reflection
To define my purpose, I asked myself three questions, inspired by Vishen and Amir’s exercise:
What practical and physiological outcomes am I pursuing
I want to make healthy living easy for everyone, especially children. Through exercise, community, breathing, and nutrition, my purpose is to eliminate chronic disease, improve mental health, and help people live in balance with the Earth and Universe.
What do I want to contribute to the world?
I aim to contribute knowledge, simplified systems, and businesses that make health accessible while respecting our tribal roots and the wellness of the Earth.
How do I want to grow?
Learn to communicate my ideas effectively to those willing to listen.
Lead a team dedicated to making the world better while supporting individual growth.
Improve consciousness within myself and those around me.
Embrace authenticity in all situations, especially in my career.
What do I want to experience?
A sustainable world aligned with our tribal roots.
A life where health is effortless and accessible.
A career aligned with my values.
A family where my children see their father living his purpose.
Purpose in a Single Statement
"While sharing knowledge, creating simplified systems, and operating businesses, my purpose is to make healthy living easy for everyone through exercise, community, sleep, breath, and nutrition—while honoring our tribal roots, our Earth, and the sacred connection of all God’s creations."
Aligning Purpose With Action
Stephen Cope advises, “Having first named and claimed our dharma, we next begin to systematically organize all of our life’s energies around our calling.” This means that once you’ve identified your purpose, the next step is aligning your career and actions with it. Deepak Chopra suggests asking yourself two essential questions:
If money were no concern and you had all the time in the world, what would you do?
How are you best suited to serve humanity?
Answering these questions helps create clarity around the steps you need to take to build a meaningful life and career.
Wisdom on Purpose
As I continue to refine my purpose, I hold onto these powerful insights:
"This is the true joy in life: being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." – George Bernard Shaw
“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” – Mark 8:36
"The only way we can ever feel happy and fulfilled in the long term is to live in accordance with our true values." – Tony Robbins
The Path Forward
While I don’t know how the next 50+ years of my career will unfold, I’m committed to staying aligned with my values and purpose. I hope to leave a healthier, more connected world for my children and future generations.
"Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions... There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: ‘Does this path have a heart?’" – Carlos Castaneda
Let’s choose paths with heart. Let’s align our values with our purpose and move forward to serve the world meaningfully. Cheers to living with intention, passion, and clarity.