Pure mindfulness - a la University of Massachusetts - or purposeful mindfulness: what's the difference and how can I apply my developing mindfulness to clear, measurable, real-world performance? The key question because, if mindfulness is just a 'feel good factor' then, although a happy camper is a productive camper, it's very little different to having a few beers on a Friday night! However, purposeful mindfulness is very, very different - that's why we're running through this series - a series that you can refer back to using the links for each preceding weeks:

For the last two weeks, we've been talking about stopping and noticing: how you're feeling and where you are. Today, I'd like to suggest that you stop and notice again - but, this time, with a different purpose in mind: at some point today - perhaps at lunchtime or on your commute - take a few deep breaths, clear your mind (because, undoubtedly, your mind will be preoccupied with the cares of the day) and simply watch what other people are doing and how they are behaving. If you've ever wondered why mindfulness is "all the rage" and why it is so powerful, it's because it's a sure and certain fix to all the mindlessness that's all around us (often we're centre stage!) before our very eyes.

Perhaps you've heard the old expression that there's a fine line between genius and madness? Well, there are a couple of fine lines that you need to be aware of when it comes to mindfulness.

First of all, there's a fine line between reality and your reality. Mostly, you've lived your life in your reality and, although the line may be fine, the gulf between the two can be enormous. Secondly, and most importantly, there's an even finer line between thinking that you're experiencing reality - because you've developed your mindfulness - and actually experiencing it. The former is what would best be called delusional, the second is the real thing.

When it comes to mindfulness, potential for self-delusion abounds. First of all, a lot of misleading crap has been written by half-baked gurus about being "in the now", that all you need to do is "be in the now" and everything will, somehow magically, fall into place. Bestselling books like The Secret spring to mind. Simply being in the now may enable you experience bliss but there are also plenty of controlled substances that you can use to get you there... and they're probably no more dangerous. Because blissful mindfulness in the here and now, although it will give you that high or peak-experience, is counter-productive when it comes to doing what needs to be done to get you to where you want to go.

Results are only achieved when you do what needs to be done to achieve them. That's why ordinary-minded people don't achieve extraordinary results: the ordinary mind is incapable of coordinating focused action with goals and objectives - that's a scientific fact. But that is also why mindful people, who have been seduced by pure mindfulness, achieve nothing either - they still haven't connected all the dots.

Connecting the dots is what we'll be talking about next week!