Context defines meaning defines actions define results

Everyone has different genetics and different experiences. This combination of nature and nuture creates our context. Our context plus our reason tells each of us what is important. Meaning, or purpose, is therefore directed by our context. Meaning then determines what actions we take, and finally the results we get.

Our action space and result space are limited by our context. Changing our results can be accomplished by changing anything upstream of the results. Commonly, actions are the focus. Actions can lead both to new experiences which expand our context or reinforce the already existing context.

If we change what is important to us (our meaning or purpose), it becomes natural to take different actions. It is rare for meaning or purpose to change, however, without an expansion of context. If you held monetary gain as most important, would you suddenly wake up one day and decide that your family is now most important without having an experience that changed your context? Unlikely.

If an experience expands your context drastically, it is possible for everything that is important to you to change, the purpose of your life shifts, and your actions and results follow. The effect of these experiences can take months or years to manifest, and oftentimes the person knows that they have fundamentally changed long before others start to notice, usually at the action or results stage.

One of the most powerful ways to change behavior is to shift your context. Part of your context is your identity. If you see yourself differently, you’ve changed everything.