You need to listen to what your inner self is telling you - not the shell or personality you that constantly pipes out endless mental noise that tells you that you can't do this, that or the other - the real you. To hear what's really goin on deep within you need to stop the noise in your head. This is achieved through meditation - it can also be achieved under general anaesthetic but that's not an option if you want to be effective during the day! We already know that the proverbial "lightbulb" goes off in our head when we're not thinking about anything in particular - that's how we generally solve annoying problems. Youv'e got to deliberately give yourself that headspace... meditate.

It's holiday time! This is the time of year when normal people take the first three to four days to calm down and the last couple of days to start getting stressed again. It's the time of year when many, having come down from the constant level of ordinary everyday background stress, get sick... just when they least want to be sick. Maybe just a cold or flu but, with the stress response "turned off" it's the first thing that often happens.

It's the time of year when those who are supposed to be relaxing are the only people who are getting annoyed: fighting over parking spaces, jostling in queues, screaming at their children... It's the time of year that is often most looked forward to and the one that flies by the quickest.

Enjoy!

Leadership comes in many guises - on the field of play, in the boardroom, in the midst of managing a big project, at the family breakfast table... but, surely, above all else, we are supposed to lead our own lives.

As things stand - thanks to 1.8m years of evolution, during which our primary objective was to make it through the day - the best that can be said is that we, indeed, make it through the day! Psychology tells us that our thoughts, beliefs, reactions, behaviours and even our own self-image are all automated to a level that was entirely necessary in evolutionary times: what if we had become distracted by the beauty of the berries on the tree or, indeed, some deep and meaningful soul-searching to the point that we were so immersed that we didn't see the man-eating (or woman-eating!) tiger approach?

If we're on autopilot, we're hardly leading our own lives. Instead, we are parrotting repeated behavioural patterns to the extent that we are mere puppets of our own programming. Indeed, even if we are successful - or, at least, successful by normal people's dubious standards - we haven't done much other than scratch the surface of what is possible because, if the autopilot is disengaged, you can plot a route of your choosing and fly your life to wherever you truly want it to go.

Which brings us back to the "A" word in today's video: does "truly" mean "authentic"? First of all, I have to hold up my hand and say that I hate the phrase "authentic leadership" - the word "authentic" has been so overused and abused that it is pretty meaningless - and, I also have to say, many of the people whom I've heard using the word authentic are some of the falsest people I've ever come across. There, got that off my chest!

Being able to lead your own life means being true to who you feel yourself to be in the present moment. That's a loaded statement - because most of us have a misapprehension about ourselves that feels as if it's happening in the present moment but, in fact, is a subconscious replay of something from our formative years. The kind of "now feeling" that I'm talking about comes through mindfulness - but that's a loaded statement too because "pure mindfulness" can lead your around in ever-decreasing circles.

So, here's what's required: an idea of what you want out of now, orout of life (remember in evolutionary times we knew the answer to this question - that's how we survived so well) and the presence of mind, now, to be able to do what feels right in the furtherance of getting us to where we want to go. I call it "purposeful mindfulness" and it is the key to real authenticity. Once you put the intention (what I want) together with the attention (to the reality of the here and now) you have a potent combination that will allow the scales fall from your eyes and a new world order to begin for you. And... it is completely effortless once you've taken the trouble to develop your ability to be present to the here and now.