Happy New Year!

(Reposted from FreedomPassionPurpose.com)
The concept of a Triple Bottom Line is relatively new to the business world. It means measuring business (and societal) success in more than just economic profits (the bottom line), but rather with the 3 E’s: Equity, Environment, and Economics… also known as the 3 P’s: People, Planet, and  Profits.

Many people (especially entrepreneurs), like many businesses, seem to live their lives with a single bottom line: a concept of success measured by the accumulation of finances… of material wealth and socioeconomic status. When I first started in business for myself, I had a similar paradigm. I wanted to achieve financial success so badly. I believed that financial success would bring me all the other treasures of life. As a result, I focused my efforts on learning how to earn, but not learning how to live.

While I have been slowly shifting this paradigm over the last couple of years, it made a dramatic turn for the better after I met with Robert Staub and read his book 7 Acts of Courage. He and I spoke about the concept of a Triple Bottom Line in business… and the Vision Development Exercises in his book allowed me to develop my own personal Triple Bottom Line.

The Triple Bottom Line that I have developed and discovered for myself is the name of this blog: Freedom, Passion, and Purpose. I know look at every activity and pursuit in my life through this new lens.

If I join this business, work on this project, study this subject, will it…

Bring me closer to personal Freedom?

Fuel my fire? (Can I be passionate about it?)

And will it help fulfill my Purpose? (To empower others to improve their own lives and the world).

If an activity, business, or project doesn’t match these three criteria, I try to keep it out of my life. That simple. I can’t begin to explain how much more rich and fulfilling my life has been since I started applying this principle.

I encourage you do the same. Figure out your Triple Bottom Line (it doesn’t have to be “triple” … you can have more or less central values). If you’re struggling, check out my post on creating your personal vision and complete the entire exercise. It takes some discipline at first to break the old habits, but once you start experiencing a more enriched and meaningful life, you’ll never want to go back. Decisions become lighter, and life becomes fuller.

For inspiration, check out my friend Ben Dixon’s post on why success almost cost him his life. Ben has accomplished so much at such a young age and is a huge inspiration to me – and there is a lot to learn from his perspective on life.

I hope this post inspires you to find your own Triple Bottom Line in life… to find your central values and aspirations. I look forward to hearing your results in the comments below.

As always, if you have any questions or need any help, contact me directly!

P.S. – If you liked this post, you may enjoy my future ones… Subscribe to my Blog and Newsletter below:

Thank you for reading!

Reposted from FreedomPassionPurpose.com ….

Without relationships, the human experience of life as we know it cannot exist. (That in itself is a blog post for another day).

Relationships are of course complicated and have many elements – but there is one element that glues it all together. That fundamental element is trust.

How do you build trust in your relationships – including your relationship with yourself?

Live your life with these two values: Honesty and Integrity.

Honesty: Be true to others in all that you do.

Integrity: Be true to yourself in all that you do.

Of course you can have varied definitions to these terms, but let’s work with these basic definitions for now.

Why are these values so damn important?

Firstly, the greatest success in life is being happy with yourself. If integrity is absent from your life, you cannot be happy with yourself. Sure, you can still pursue pleasure … but you will be blocking yourself from any real significant fulfillment. If honesty is absent, you will have to lie to yourself to be able to come “comfortably” to terms with your own actions. And the minute you lie to yourself, you violate your integrity … and in the process block yourself from true happiness and fulfillment.

If you cannot be honest with people, you cannot developing long-term meaningful relationships with them, because there is no trust.

If you are not honest with yourself … if you violate your own values, you will have difficulty trusting yourself. You will eventually become overwhelmed with doubt, and with good reason.

In an earlier post, I spoke about authenticity. Authenticity in your business is impossible without honesty and integrity in your life. Especially if you are building a business or a brand online, your moral values and the way you live your life will tie directly into the outcomes in your business.

If you think that taking a shortcut, and sacrificing your integrity, will somehow get you more money and success or more fun and pleasure, think again. You’re probably thinking short term. In the long term, violating trust with others or with yourself is the surest way to failure. Also remember to never confuse pleasure with happiness … they are very different terms and values (again, another post for another day – but the basic idea is that pleasure is a shorter term feeling while happiness is a long-term element of the human experience).

Of course, your values and the meanings you attach to honesty and integrity can be different from mine – but regardless of how you define these values, I strongly urge you to take a serious look at how you apply these values in your life, your business, and your relationships. Short-term results may be deceiving – think about the life you want to create … the person you want to become.

Please comment with your own experiences, negative or positive, regarding honesty and integrity in your life and relationships.