With Purpose

The first note that I took for myself when I started listening to the Entrepreneur-On-Fire podcast was “every move must have a purpose.” I don’t remember what number podcast I was listening to, or who the guest was that said this, but it was the first “value bomb” that I wrote down. It was at that moment, in that podcast, that I knew I would be a dedicated EOFire listener. With “purpose” just makes sense to me. 

In reviewing my notes from all of the EOFire podcasts that I’ve listened to I realize that this “value bomb” extends beyond the business context in which it was dropped on me. The intentionality of physical movements came to mind as I was taking a Bar Method class.

One thing you should know about Bar Method is that every positional cue is verbalized to achieve the best posture. Optimal positioning allows you to reap the maximum value from the exercise. With a weekly Bar Method regimen you’ll ultimately achieve the intended and desired results. 

Everything about the Bar Method experience is intentional. As a teacher, you are instructing your students with cues to achieve the optimal position. As a student, you need to be paying attention to the cues and appropriately contorting your body to achieve the optimal position. Then, while in the optimal position, performing the exercise, and by attending 3-5+ classes per week, you’ll achieve the intended and desired results. Each action in class, down to straightness of your arm during stretch, is specified with an intended purpose. (The more Bar Method classes you take, the harder it is for you to workout without intention… trust me.) When you show up for class you need to be actively attending and listening to the cues to feel the burn of the exercise. If this isn’t already clear for you after reading this paragraph, the form in which you perform the exercise, is crucial to your physical success. 

Yet, the physical fundamentals of Bar Method (or any workout for that matter) are not a far cry from understanding business. 

To make a move in business, a company would need to understand their current reality (the starting position), pay attention to their customer, their pain points, and the resources that are available to the business (act on the cues that the teacher is giving to achieve optimal positioning), and deliver a product that solves the problem (perform the exercise by understanding its purpose). Only after delivering a product to a customer can you understand if you achieved the intended result. (In physical terms, you won’t know if you achieved the desired result until you’ve done the exercise enough times.)

With that physical framework staring me in the face day-in-and-day-out as I straighten my arm that extra bit more at Bar Method, I can make some pretty important decisions about my day-to-day-life… like where I spend my time, who I spend my time with, what I spend my time on, etc. etc.

Every move I’m making is done with a purpose.