The Science of CAN.

 A performance model for pursuing your CAN.

 A healthy Sense of Purpose helps you put life into perspective and provides focus on the things that are meaningful to you. Why is having a statement of purpose so Important? 

Purpose is not to be confused with goals.  Goals support your purpose, and help you maintain balance in order to stay connected with your purpose.  Goals are important and part of the “Science of CAN.”.

We consider “purpose” to be a more general statement about yourself.  We are all very unique, with different concepts of what drives us and creates meaning in our lives.  Your purpose will evolve and change, but it’s always present.  You might even call it a personal mission.  We consider having purpose as a way to measure and find balance throughout life. 

Is family your purpose, inspiring others, advocacy for a cause, or maybe it’s living a life of Aloha?

Another great example from one of Kaua'i’s community leaders:

Kaua’i councilman Mason Chock – “Create positive change for our island and it’s people”.

Some of us have a specific idea of our purpose, something we’re able to put down on paper. Many of us don’t realize we’re actually living with a purpose.  You might bump into it every once in a while, and get an injection of stoke or feeling of being on the right path.  No matter where you fall in the scheme of following your purpose / CAN., just know your journey through life doesn’t have to be by chance or based on some else’s purpose.  And, you won’t find purpose on a TV advertisement for a new car.  Spend some time alone and remember what really drives you.  If it helps, just write down a sentence about what’s important to you.  You’ll be able to fine tune it as time goes on. 

 What’s the urgency for identifying your purpose?

As different and unique as all of us are as humans, we're also identical when it comes to basic human needs.  We believe having a purpose is a significant part of meeting your basic human needs.  And from our experience everyone ends life in a state of reflection.   As we get older we spend a lot more time reflecting on legacy and the question, “how did my life impact the lives of my family and my community?"  It won’t just be a simple question you’ll ask yourself.  This will be a lifelong project you’ll come to terms with and hopefully be very proud and at peace with.  But, if you’ve not really considered your impact on humanity, your community, and family, you always have time to make a difference.  Knowing you’ll be going through this process someday, it’s imperative to really consider how best to live life to the fullest. 

As Sally says, "train your brain to be on your team, and anything is possible"!

 The questions you should ask yourself,  “Am I following my purpose, and are the choices I’m making matching up with my purpose?” 

Through this process an important question you’ll also want to ask yourself, have I met my basic needs in order to pursue my purpose? 

Basic human needs are: health, safety, esteem, and love.  If these needs are not met, you’ll not be able to pursue your purpose / CAN.  Many of us lose focus on following our purpose or we forget the fact that we even have one… Basic needs overshadow our purpose.  We are busy in life with work, paying bills, staying healthy, and maintaining love within our ohana. The Spirit of CAN. team is battling life in the same ways.  Because we want our Spirit of CAN. team to stay connected with with their individual pursuits of CAN., we practice daily self-checks… A simple task of asking if we’re in balance.  We define balance based on a simple formula, derived from philosopher Abraham Maslow.  Mr. Maslow developed “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”. His idea, is that for humans to reach their greatest potential or what we call purpose/ your CAN., they must first meet the most basic needs.  Daily or as often as possible we make a mental note as to how we’re personally meeting these basic needs.  In fact we have even used this format for daily journals.  

 Example(s) of how we practice:

• Health - Did we get some exercise today and eat healthy?
• Esteem- Do we feel good about ourselves and did we prop up others?
• Love - Did we feel loved and connected to our team and others?
• Safety - Do we feel a sense of safety with our body and mind? Are we taking care of our finances with smart choices?

If we pursue balance on a daily basis, we’ll find ourselves in line with our purpose more often. This is easier said than done, especially with all of life’s challenges.  Sometimes we require course corrections that may involve goal setting or asking for help from others.  We know that when we’re balanced and feeling good, the best of us comes out.  What we want to impress upon people, is that you have an opportunity to find yourself in this state of CAN. more often than not.

When we do arrive at purpose/ CAN. in our minds, we’re in a state of problem solving, acceptance of what’s true, and we have an opportunity to express our stoke for life.

Goals vs. Purpose:

Purpose is not to be confused with goals. Goals support your purpose, and help you maintain balance in order to stay connected with your purpose.  Let’s say living a life of "aloha” is your purpose... just like our Chief CAN. Ambassador Keali'i.  To connect with this purpose frequently, you’ll need to find balance in your own life.  Focusing on the areas of personal need with goals and self checks is the key to success. 

Example goals:

• Health/physiological goal:  Run a marathon
• Safety goal:  Finding the job that better aligns with your purpose
• Love goal:  Dinner with family or neighbors every Sunday night
• Esteem goal:  Surf three times a week (something you love and you’re good at)

Help is always the answer:

Always ask for help in all of areas of basic needs. No one does life alone and no one does life mistake free. You CAN. beat disease. You CAN. manage your money. You CAN. reconnect with loved ones.  You CAN. do more for yourself.  Ask an auntie, uncle, trusted friend, or sibling. Technology and style changes, but how life is lived does not. People have been through what you’re going through.. just ask em about it! And if you think all is lost, you won't regret calling this number 1-800-273-talk!

Having perspective in our pursuit of purpose and balance:

We’re not oblivious to the fact that many people in the world have a purpose of just meeting their basic needs of survival… This should give all of us perspective and also pause to make sure more people are not left behind.  We are partnered with an amazing organization Project Expedite Justice who we call “the protectors of CAN. / purpose”.  Take a look at this non-profit and you’ll not only be inspired by the work of this organization, but you’ll get some fresh perspective on how some in the world are leveling up in order to pursue their CAN. 

 We also realize sometimes it takes a lot of battling to fulfill our basic needs in order to even connect with our purpose.  But, just remember that you have purpose / CAN. Even in your lowest darkest moments, remember you have a purpose and it contributes to people around you and the greater good of humanity. 

The task of identifying and writing your statement of purpose:

We recently partnered up with an amazing non-profit organization on Kauai.  The "Kauai Animal Education Center AKA KAEC"

Look for this co-branded logo when you visit them.  They’re doing amazing things through their purpose.  And, it’s driving Aloha through our community!

We know the Wong Ohana through participating in Leadership Kaua’i.  They have been some of our greatest supporters as we’ve grown our brand.  When we approached them about this idea of writing down their own statement of CAN., they didn’t even hesitate.

It took Christy and Keola Wong a matter of minutes to come up with a written statement. They’ve been living this statement with unwavering focus for years.

“Inspiring Keiki and our community to connect with nature and rescued farm animals” 

Get started: 

Get and stay stoked!  With all online apparel orders we ship a purpose/ goal card. 

 You're also welcome to email us and we'll send you one for free.

Time to get to work on yourself and your community! 

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