Every-so-often, today (or, indeed, every day), stop and ask yourself this simple question: "How involved am I in what I'm doing right now?"

The more involved you are in your own life, the more likely you are to get great things in return! The sad fact is that, most of the time, we're not really involved, our subconscious is otherwise engaged.

You've got to keep reminding yourself to be present. You must regularly call yourself to attention.

How far are you prepared to go to do what your friends and acquaintances expect of you? How badly do you want to belong to the herd? I've just spent a couple of days in Brighton, England - the home of many things, including the ubiquitous 'hen party'. Any Saturday or Sunday morning, on Brighton's seafront, you'll see gangs of girls wearing T-shirts, sashes, funny hats - all out helping the bride prepare for her forthcoming wedding. Captions on T-shirts range from "I'm one of Wendy's bitches" to "Little Miss Pissed Hen" - you've got the picture! And, when I say you can witness these displays of cameraderie on a weekend morning, that's because they've all been out since the night before!

That's OK - a little fun never did anyone any lasting harm - a hangover, maybe, but no lasting harm. But, research shows that the ordinary person will do a lot worse than dress up in silly T-shirt to be part of the herd.

Witness the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment - twenty university student volunteers were randomly allocated to be a prison guard or prisoner for a week. The experiment had to be stopped after a couple of days - the prisoners had become overly submissive and the guards had run amok.

How far are you prepared to go to be one of the gang?

Many of us are goal driven. But, as a client said to me some years ago, being goal driven amounts to being in a constant state of dissatisfaction! Yes, we need to have objectives - objectives that ensure that our current activities and actions have focus and purpose. But it is today's actions that create tomorrow.

Flow research - from the Universities of Chicago and Milan - tell us that being immersed in what you're doing now that makes the difference. This 'difference' is multi-faceted. By being immersed, your put more of yourself into what you're doing - and quantum physics confirms the old adage that you reap what you sow, what you give, you get back. When you are immersed in what you are doing, more of your subconscious attention is engrossed in the here and now - leaving less of your subconscious attention to focus on those destructive thoughts that pre-occupy our mind. Immersion in the here and now creates a qualitatively different state of mind - where one is no longer wishing or wanting for some future goal - one is doing what needs to be done to achieve it. And, as we all, know, being immersed in the here and now gives us a feeling that time is flying - one of the most important criteria by which we can judge whether or not we are present.

And being immersed means that we are, in fact, present. This presence is what makes great listeners great, great leaders inspiring. This presence - borne out of simply being present - is, in fact, the hallmark of all great leaders. You and I can have that presence - by simply immersing ourselves in the reality of our own lives now, doing what needs to be done to get us to where we want to go and - just as importantly - not doing the things that will only serve to hold us back... like negative gossip, thinking useless thoughts or, indeed, wishing, hoping or wanting for what we have not yet received or achieved.

Achievement does not come from that wishing, hoping or wanting. It comes from doing just what needs to be done, to the very best of our ability, in the here and now. It comes from showing up to your own life. If you have a goal, led it guide you - not consume you.