The Truth About Purpose

WRITING IN THE MOMENT

I will eventually get to the topic, but I like sharing what’s going on right now as I write.

Something I’m quickly learning is that writing when the moments hit is key to having a good flow, or at least getting into flow easily… well, I didn’t do that this week. Something hit in the moment on—I think it was Tuesday—and I had just written last week’s letter. I thought, Dude, what if you get a better idea between now and then? So I waited until now. Saturday.

Lesson learned—don’t overthink shit and pass up good opportunities for better ones.  Better ones may never come. Sit the fuck down and write. It will never be a waste of time because at the very least it’s another rep. 

ANOTHER DAY BY THE LAKE

Kallie is at a retreat in AZ with some incredible women. I went to jits this morning, got a bunch of shit done around the house, took the dogs for a walk, and then decided to come sit by the lake and soak in this fucking incredible 78-degree, sunny, breezy, beautiful February day.

For the longest time, I didn’t take advantage of being this close to the water. The miserable summer heat and those fucking mosquitos (seriously if I could eliminate one thing from this planet it would be mosquitos…but Kyle it would throw the entire eco system out of wack…worth it) kept me away. But this time of year? I find myself here nearly every day, having my daily talk with God and practicing my daily grattitude.

I don’t like to call it prayer because, to me, it’s about building a relationship with Him, and for me, that happens through conversation. Part of that conversation is my daily gratitude—thanking Him for everything I have in my life. For what’s right in front of me at that moment. For the challenges I’ve faced and overcome, knowing the hardest ones are yet to come. I try to be as specific as possible. It helps me stay present, appreciate the moment, and slow the fuck down. And what an incredible feeling it is to be grateful. I love doing this by the water as often as I can because that’s where I feel closest to Him. In nature not in some man made “place of worship”. In the place of worship He created for us.

Point being… building a relationship with God has helped me live further into my values and has helped me learn to appreciate the journey more than the outcomes. 

Ok, time for the point of this weeks letter.

MY VISION BOARD & THE MOMENT IT CLICKED

I’ve been struggling with the idea of purpose for about five years. What it means. What my purpose is. If I could ever find it…

Earlier this week, I was in my office doing my daily vision work when something clicked about purpose and what my purpose truly is.

Every day, I sit down, look over my vision board, and pick one area to daydream about—picturing myself living in that future moment. I find it hard not to pick Kallie and I’s future property and our family every single time… so I force myself to work on the others. But this day, I stopped and asked myself—Why? Why am I so fucking drawn to our future home more than anything else?

The beautiful farmhouse. The huge piece of land with rolling hills. The barns. The side-by-side rides down to the creek to fish. Pulling into the driveway, the kids running out to hug me, my mom on the front porch, Kallie coming through the door in paint-covered overalls after working on her art, my dad in the garage, my mother-in-law off working on God knows what (lol, love you, Leah).

And then it hit me… the property isn’t about the property.

I opened my eyes and looked at my vision board again—Pearl Harbor. The Grand Canyon. Grand Tetons National Park. My dream car (2013 Dodge Viper) and driving it up the west coast on HWY 1…our property.

It’s not about the things—it’s about the experiences and memories I will create for myself and the people I love the most.

WHAT PURPOSE REALLY MEANS

It’s my mom checking the Grand Canyon off her bucket list and the memories we’ll make there. It’s my dad and me walking through the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, taking it all in together. It’s driving HWY 1 with Kallie. It’s rides with my kids in “Daddy’s go-fast car”. It’s helping my Dad in the garage. It’s my Mom enjoying the mountain views on the front porch of the house.  It’s exploring the property with my kids, seeing their smiles when they catch something out of the creek, watching them have a fucking blast with their friends and cousins while they run wild around the property like feral spider monkeys.

It’s having friends in from out of town, staying up all night talking after an epic day of shooting, fishing, and just fucking living, being—without worrying about paying for it or any of it. 

It was literally staring me in the face for the last few months since I have really dialed in my vision board. 

My purpose.

Right in front of me in the form of my values and vision—creating epic experiences with the people I love the most.

Literally, everything on my vision board breaks into three categories—experiences, health, and how I will create the money and time to have more of the first two things. 

And shit, now that I think about it, health is an experience in itself. Jiu jitsu, workouts, rucks, hikes, fresh venison, veggies out of the garden. The healthier I am, the more I can experience in this life. It all goes back to that.

THE REFRAME ON PURPOSE

Purpose isn’t what I do—it’s what drives me to do what I do.

For me, becoming a successful business operator, a successful writer, and who knows what else—I’ve realized it doesn’t fucking matter what I do (as long as it aligns with my values). Because that isn’t where fulfillment comes from. Fulfillment comes from what drives me—creating those experiences for the people I love most.

Like they say (who are  they, by the way? They say a lot), you can’t take the money with you when you go. We all know that’s a fact. But what I don’t know yet is whether or not we can take the memories with us when we go…and what if we can? That’s something I simply don’t want to risk.

I’d rather have a shit ton of memories, big and small to take—and have to leave them behind—than spend eternity wishing I had made more. 

So if you’re still searching for purpose, ask yourself:

“What fucking drives me?”

Thanks for reading,

Kyle

"Fuck What They Think" – Strung Like a Horse.

Didn’t catch the play on words in the band name until just now… niceeee. Anyway, this song hit me the other night while I was sitting on the deck, jamming out, missing Kallie—wondering if she was looking at the moon at the same time I was while she’s in AZ.

It’s a great song about being yourself—something I’ve struggled with for a long time because, for a while, I didn’t know who the fuck I was. And honestly? I’m still figuring it out.