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The idea of freedom is an important one. It’s something everyone wants, strives for, craves, and ultimately needs in order to fulfill their passions and dreams! While freedom is an extremely important idea, I have recently realized that the idea of freedom is only ONE side of the coin. And without it’s counterpart, the value of freedom diminishes substantially. So what is freedom’s counterpart, and how can combine the two to live a more fulfilling life? This is precisely what I will be talking about today.
Freedom’s counterpart is purpose, passion and direction. The idea or pursuit of freedom alone, without purpose, is incomplete. It will ultimately limit the potential depth and overall value that any relationship has to offer. However freedom with purpose is surely necessary to feeling fulfilled and live the life you want.
Obviously freedom is something we all want, and it comes in many forms: financial freedom, freedom from oppression, freedom of speech, freedom from illness, freedom of relationships, freedom of thought, freedom of education to name a few. However the “side of the coin” that most people miss is the idea of purpose, passion and direction. To have one without the other does not actually create value. In fact it can be dangerous in some cases to have only one. How can you have freedom without a purpose or direction to apply it to? How can you have a purpose or direction if you are not free to pursue it?
Here’s an Example:
Travelling is a great example because it’s what many people would choose to do if they had “freedom”. However when you are travelling there is actually only one point throughout the journey of your travels where you are truly free. This is the point at which you decide where you ultimately want to go, which destination you wish to travel to. This is when you are completely free to travel anywhere you would wish. The moment you select a destination and buy your ticket you are now bound to that choice, that decision and that destination.
Infact if you look at areas of life where only freedom exists, it’s actually not anywhere we would want to be:
- At which point in your job are you actually free? At the point at which you have yet to select a job. When you are unemployed.
- At which point in your speech are you actually free? At the point at which you have yet to select a topic of conversation. When you are in silence.
- At which place in your travels are you actually free? When you have yet to select a destination. When you are in limbo.
What many people are not aware of is the fact that they are free or can be. Everyone has the choice. The problem occurs when people forget to attach a purpose or direction to their freedom.
If I had an hour to save the world I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute finding solutions.
-Albert Einsten
The real problem is that people don’t have purpose. They are trying to find solutions to problems that don’t exist.
So how do you create purpose, passion and direction while achieving freedom? How do you utilize them both? The place where you start, like with most things, is through developing awareness. How can you walk the path if you do not have the map? Well first you have to realize that purpose, passion and direction is the map!
First: How to Achieve Freedom.
Freedom is simply independence within a relationship. Remember that you can build a relationship with ANYTHING. To be independent is to simply be without dependence.
Define your dependencies:
Are you dependent on money to create options? On another person for support? On your boss for approval to move a project forward? Are you dependent on anything for your motivation?
If so then this is where you start. Taking ourselves to an independent level in the relationships/areas of life that we wish to pursue. It is only when you have reached independence in the relationships you value most that you are truly free.
Once you have freedom, you have reached the pinnacle of independence, what’s next? The Map.
Second: How to Achieve Purpose, Passion and Direction?
Purpose/passion/direction are all the by-product of a deep, connected, internal relationship. Before something can be your purpose it must be your passion, before it can be your passion you must love it, before you love it you must like it, and before you like it you must experience it. These progressions towards purpose are the same progressions seen in the development of a relationship.
Passion is the intensity of the emotion you feel directly paralleled to the rate of growth you experience in a relationship. When you are growing very quickly you are very passionate, however passion is virtually non-existent when you have plateaued.
Purpose is when the potential of the relationship has no end. As an example, a purpose cannot be about one’s self because eventually even that relationship will end. However relationships with positivity, growth, spirituality, energy, the universe or good karma are all examples of relationships that could potentially last forever, and thus, have the potential to be your purpose. These are only a few examples of many, many types of relationships that have infinite potential without an end.
Direction is simply the pursuit of both purpose and passion.
The way you achieve purpose, passion, and direction is by developing a relationship to as deep of a level as possible. Naturally the relationships will be what each individual finds most valuable. So how does someone develop relationships to such a deep level when nobody is ever taught? This is our mission with the Social Dynamics Movement. To finally open you up to the option of learning how to develop healthy, long-term relationships. To finally have the option of social education. To finally be able to find purpose, passion and direction. To finally achieve freedom.
If you want to find out more, contact me. I’d love to talk with each of you on these subjects more.
Great post Kevin!
I think that drawing contrast from freedom to purpose and passion is a very enlightening way to make hard decisions that include less freedom. These are questions that we all strive to make correctly but don’t always know which path to walk down.
Love to see how people can apply this to their life.
Supp Brotha maaann! 🙂
Was reading through this…Took me two times to read through it to really grasp the concepts you were sharing with us…you write really potent shit man! 🙂
One question for you cuz I might see this a bit differently than you. You said that all three purpose, passion, and direction are needed in which to achieve freedom. But isn’t passion intrinsic to your purpose? For e.g. your purpose would be likened to why you are here and that in itself would inspire passion because its coming from your core. I believe that if you have your purpose right, passion comes automatically. Direction, on the other hand, is still necessary otherwise you will get lost.
What do you think Kev?
Hey Karim! Thanks a bunch for the comment! Muchly appreciated.
Purpose, passion and direction are whats necessary to actually utilize the freedom one might achieve. Freedom is the pinnacle of independence. A lack of purpose, passion or direction is what would cause someone to be “stuck” in this state of freedom. What good is freedom without purpose?
I believe passion is directly related to the amount of growth in a relationship you experience. I would think that someone could have and follow a purpose, but if the growth in that relationship has plateaued, that would effect the levels of passion one might feel towards that relationship. For example I know dancing is a passion I have, but if I have a rough day, or face injury, my growth will definitely slow down. When that happens I may not feel that same intense “passionate” emotion that I would otherwise experience if my growth was still increasing at a steady rate. I think that passion really describes the intensity of an emotion, like a passion in love or a passion in hate.
I would agree that passion is intrinsic to purpose, but only when the growth within that purpose is self sustained and continuously growing at a steady rate. Growth that can only be achieved by connection and depth in a relationship.
In terms of direction I would say that is determined by your purpose and passion.
Hey Kev! Thanks for taking the time to reply! 🙂
Maybe where I am getting caught up is in my belief that all of life’s experience is growth. I do understand what you say that if you are not growing at a steady rate, then you will feel like your passion is diminishing. I experience this as well sometimes. For e.g. when I am studying hard for an exam but I am not doing better on my practice exams, I start to get frustrated. Most people this makes them want to work harder. For me, I start to get annoyed and my instinct is to avoid it. Totally illogical right? So it is moments like this I have to say to myself ,”If I prepare as well as I know how in that moment, and some mark tells me that I suck…I really don’t” I tell myself that my intention was there, but maybe I didn’t study well for how I was being examined. This has been a challenge throughout medical school for me because I like to understand things and not memorize them: this has sometimes left me at a ‘disadvantage’ mark wise. According to my standards, I am doing what I think/feel is best. If someone else tells me that I’m not, they clearly have a different view of learning than I do. Time will tell what I know; that said, I don’t need to impress anyone.
So, I guess in a situation like this growth is subjective. To avoid this, I have taught myself that growth is what life experience is necessary to get to “be free”. Everyday -when I am in the right frame of mind- is filled with passion because every moment is an opportunity even if I don’t achieve my goals perfectly or in the best way. If this happens, I learn things which may even be ‘what not to do’. In a way, I consider myself always free. Growth may be slower this way, but that’s okay because I am doing it on my terms. My foundations will be very strong.
Growth is not always obvious. There is the Western civilization trend of needing to reach a goal. While that’s not an issue persay, it maybe neglects the fact that we are simultaneously already whole. Therefore, in my opinion even when we are not “growing”, we are growing. To me, freedom at its core is acceptance.
I think when you accept what is, you are free. When we acknowledge that we are a part of what is and observe reality without commenting or judging our experience…we are free. So arguably, I could do nothing and be free (but like you said it is only one part). Unless it was my purpose to be able to do nothing and be free, then I will not be truly free without having my external world support my internal world. I don’t want to be self-absorbed and closed off, I want to be open and available.
Truly, pupose + passion + direction are all self-supportive and reflect our internal drive. If your purpose is true you will be passionate. You can’t have your true purpose without direction. If it is your true passion, you will naturally have direction…
I find sometimes that your descriptions are interesting because they describe something so personal and fundamental. They are things I haven’t put words on because I allow that internal feeling to beam out of me. Your explanation gives us a map to learning more about ourselves. Ultimately, we can’t describe what is…but the closer we get the description to that, the more people can experience this beauty.
Keep up the great work dude! I think if we can think of all experience as growth, it is a healthy way to live. It will protect us from stress, blame, illness, anger, hubris, narcissism etc. We can push ourselves super hard but if we aren’t alive to enjoy it, what’s the point 🙂 I’m sure we agree on this…
Stay Freeee 😀