Why am I here? What's my life's purpose? What do I want out of life? These are big questions - too big for most of us, not because we haven't given them any thought but because the normal mind is incapable of answering them. How could a normally conditioned mind rise above the limited perspective provided by a normally educated and socialized upbringing? How could I know what I'm capable of when, as a result of the blindfold of personality, I don't even know who am? So, when we talk about purposeful mindfulness - as today's video does - what do we need to do to get our head around our purpose?

Let's keep it simple - because life is! Everyone knows what goals are. Everyone knows that, if you don't have an objective you cannot achieve it. Yet - and I find this bizarre - the same Harvard study that confirmed that people who write down their goals as if they already had achieved them are the ones that actually go on to achieve them also found that the majority of Harvard graduates had no goals at all... why bother going to Harvard if you don't know what you want to get out of it?

And that leads me to the key point that I want to make today: when I talk about purpose I'm talking about what you want out of today. Yes, businesses frame their targets on what they want out of this year, quarter or month... but break it down into its component parts - you can't achieve what you want this month if you don't achieve at least some of what you want today.

So, the purpose part of pursposeful mindfulness is easy: what do I want out of now? Why am I doing what I'm doing now? What's in it for me? If you don't know why you're doing what you're doing, why bother doing it? If you don't know what you want out of today, stay in bed! But, if your mind is deliberately set to achieve a specific outcome to what you're doing now, you'll do it like you mean it. After that, all you have to do is ensure that you remain mindful... something we'll talk about next week.

Much has been written about leadership, leadership styles, what we can learn from great leaders... much of what has been written is crap! How will anyone follow you, as a leader, if you're trying to be someone else? Adopting a leadership style is like putting on a mask... nobody will follow anyone who isn't prepared to show them their face! And, if you're trying to emulate somebody else - some great leader - then you're not being yourself.

Recent research - that I carried out in conjunction with The Open University - tells us that being "true to yourself" enables you, effortlessly, become an extraordinary leader. Now, of course, their is a problem with that - how can you be true to yourself if you're not sure who you are.

Add mindfulness: mindfulness doesn't just enable you see reality for what it is, it enables you see you for what you are and what you could truly achieve. If you're wondering what the heading above - MBBLeadership - means... find out more here...