Philosophy: The Foundation of Enhavim

7 min readJan 5, 2025

Philosophy: The Foundation of Goals

A personal philosophy is an expression of the beliefs and principles that guide your thoughts, decisions, and actions. It serves as your lens for interpreting the world and navigating life’s challenges. Just as great creators pour their soul into their craft, you must pour your essence into your philosophy, allowing it to shape your life in its purest and most meaningful form. A strong philosophy provides clarity and direction, laying the groundwork for masterwork.

Philosophy is the foundation followed by your personal identity/character, then your dream to enhavim creative process, which has smaller steps of plans, goals, tasks.

Character: Stepping into Destiny

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously said, “Character is destiny.” This timeless truth suggests that our inner character, not external forces, determines our ultimate fate. Heraclitus believed that a person’s character shapes their outer life, and the same principle applies to entire nations.

Anaïs Nin echoed this sentiment: “What we call our destiny is truly our character.” Our character acts as both the driver and the outcome of our daily choices.

Frank Outlaw distilled this concept into actionable wisdom:
“Watch your thoughts, they become words;
Watch your words, they become actions;
Watch your actions, they become habits;
Watch your habits, they become your character;
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

Together, philosophy and character form the backbone of a well-lived life. Your philosophy defines your enhavim, and your character ensures you remain steadfast in pursuit of it. The foundation prepared by your philosophy and enhavim ahead of any goal, helps you will navigate The Visionary Path with clarity, strength, and integrity.

Character is Your Identity

Character is the essence of who you are — your moral and ethical makeup, reflected in your actions, choices, and values. It is not simply what you project to the world but what you consistently demonstrate, especially when no one is watching. People know you by your character; your identity. Your character forms the basis of your identity, defining how you perceive yourself and how others recognize you.

Identity, however, is incomplete without direction. Without a clear sense of enhavim — the purpose and mission led by vision — identity becomes stagnant, reduced to a collection of traits rather than a driving force for meaningful action. Character must work in harmony with enhavim, connecting your values to your habits and shaping the person you aspire to become.

Habits are the building blocks of character. They represent the recurring actions that reinforce your beliefs and values over time. Good habits align with your core principles, strengthening your identity and steadily moving you toward your vision. It bears repeating Frank Outlaw’s statement: “Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become your character.”

In this way, character, identity, and habits are deeply intertwined and manifest in your philosophy, whether explicitly articulated or implicitly lived. Your character defines your identity, your habits express your character, and together they provide the structure for a life grounded in integrity, guided by enhavim, and aligned with your highest ideals.

A Good Philosophy Captures Challenges, Creativity, Convictions, Choices, Commitment

To claim my power, I, Sherrie Rose, use the The 5 Core Values (Y.E.A.R.N.) to define my guiding philosophy:

YOU: “My habits reflect that I am healthy, happy, spiritual, wise, and legacy worthy.”
ENVIRONMENT: “The spaces I inhabit inspire my aspirations.”
ACTIVITIES: “My actions today are seeds for tomorrow’s fruition.”
RESOURCES: “My financial systems fuel my vision and enhavim.”
RELATIONSHIPS: “The real currency is ‘Relationship Riches.’”

You can decide on your own philosophy. A well-defined philosophy offers direction, aligning your actions with your deepest convictions. To make the most of your philosophy, it’s essential to define its purest expression. Identify the fundamental truths that resonate with you, distilling them into clear, actionable ideas. Your philosophy should reflect your authentic self, where your beliefs influence not only how you live but also the choices you make.

Rather than focusing solely on what to do, start by claiming your identity as someone who is legacy worthy. To be legacy worthy is something you strive for daily — through your thoughts, actions, words, and deeds. It is the embodiment of your values, a continuous commitment to live in alignment with your highest ideals. This is a personal standard that you define, and through consistent dedication, you can raise the benchmark over time. By living with integrity and upholding this high standard, you move closer to becoming the person you aspire to be.

The Power of Accountability

The American Society of Training & Development (ASTD), now the Association for Talent Development (ATD), conducted a 2010 study on accountability. The study found that:

You have a 65% chance of completing a goal if you commit to someone.
You increase your chances to 95% if you schedule a specific accountability appointment with the person to whom you’ve committed.
They use the word “goal” instead of enhavim. See difference below.

Probability of Finishing a Goal

Idea: 10% — The probability of completing a goal if you simply have an idea or a goal.
Decision: 25% — The probability increases if you consciously decide to pursue it.
Timing: 40% — It improves further if you decide when you will do it.
Planning: 50% — The odds are higher if you plan how you will achieve it.
Commitment: 65% — The probability rises if you commit to someone that you will do it. (this is where your word and integrity come into play)
Accountability: 95% — The likelihood of success peaks when you set a specific accountability appointment with the person you’ve committed to. A specific accountability appointment is Date Motivated Action.

Commitment and Accountability: Vital for Completing a Goal

While having a clear philosophy and strong character provides the foundation for purposeful goals, it is commitment and accountability that ensure those goals are completed. Commitment solidifies your determination to take consistent action, while accountability introduces structure and support — whether through a trusted individual, a team, or a scheduled check-in. Together, they create a system that keeps you focused, motivated, and on track. By combining commitment with accountability, you significantly increase your ability to follow through and accomplish the goals you set with Date Motivated Action.

What is a Goal? What is Enhavim? What’s the difference?

What is a Goal?

A goal is a specific, measurable outcome you aim to achieve, often within a set timeframe. Goals are typically task-oriented and focus on the what and when. For example:

Losing 10 pounds in 3 months
Completing a project by its deadline
Saving $10,000 for a vacation

Goals are finite in nature — they have a start and an endpoint. While goals can help achieve immediate results, they often lack the larger context or guiding principles that make them meaningful in the long term.

What is Enhavim?

Enhavim is broader and deeper, encompassing purpose and mission led by vision. It goes beyond individual outcomes to define the why and how of your existence, shaping the overarching direction of your life. It is rooted in alignment with your core values, long-term aspirations.

Enhavim serves as a guiding creative framework, influencing the decisions and actions that shape your identity and legacy. Unlike a goal, it is not about reaching a single destination but about living in alignment with a central dream, from dream to enhavim, over a lifetime. The dream is big; dream your destiny.

Singular enhavim examples:

Living a healthy and balanced life to ensure vitality for decades (rather than just losing weight)
Committing to a meaningful career that contributes to your community (rather than just completing a project)
Building a financial foundation to support generational legacy (rather than saving for a short-term purchase)

Goals area part of a plan which are on a lower level even though there are many goals. Goals are the the bricks in a building.

Goals are much small in the inverted pyramid where ENHAVIM is on top.

How They Work Together

Enhavim represents your overarching vision, serving as the foundation for a meaningful and purpose-driven life. Unlike goals, which are tangible milestones that track progress and can be completed, enhavim provides a deeper and ongoing sense of direction.

A well-structured plan organizes your vision into actionable steps, breaking it down into goals and further into smaller subsets like tasks. While goals play a vital role in measuring progress, they remain secondary to the broader and more enduring guidance offered by enhavim. As you complete individual goals, they contribute to your plan — this is where folks love to check off or tick off the box of a completed goal. Alternatively enhavim continuously evolves over time, influencing your decisions, priorities, and actions. The power of enhavim lies in its ability to keep you aligned with your core values and aspirations, guiding you toward a life of lasting fulfillment and a well-planned legacy that echoes across generations.