Are you a leader whose intention is to discover your purpose and have a more fulfilling life and career? For over thirty years, I have been working with people to discover their purpose and passion to create work that is fulfilling and profitable. I have practiced mindfulness meditation for many years and enjoy work serving others that is filled with joy and financial well-being.
Mindful leaders know that self-knowledge is the key to their personal and professional growth. It takes self-awareness, energy and an entrepreneurial spirit to discover your true passion, identity and the work that you are meant to be doing. I have coached hundreds of people to create happier and more productive work lives. You can choose to work with an executive coach to help facilitate your career reinvention or practice self-coaching.
I recently attended a workshop with the gifted teacher Byron Katie at the Spirit Rock Mediation Center in Marin County, California. If you’re having difficulty identifying and questioning the thoughts which interfere with you having high self-esteem and pursuing your dreams you can experience the happiness of undoing those thoughts through The Work at www.thework.com. You can remove these obstacles to your happiness, and allow your mind to return to its true, awakened, peaceful, creative nature.
Are you ready to take action? Everything you need in order to begin getting to know yourself, be fully expressed and establish your brand is outlined in this article. Let’s get started!
“When we are no longer able to
change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."
—Victor
Frankl
3 Powerful Questions
I believe that when you
are in a state of intention "purpose will find you”. The core of career
success lies in the answers to these three questions.
1. Who am I and what are my core values?
2. What is most meaningful in my life?
3. What am I trying to do with my life?
35 Purpose Questions
We live in a culture of endless distraction. Discovering your true purpose in life and at work involves creating the intention to be with yourself in a state of quiet self-reflection.
Find a place free of
any distractions. Sit
quietly and ask yourself the three powerful questions. Be open to any inklings
or answers you receive. In addition, you may also choose to reflect on the
following questions or any others you self-generate which reveal the truth
about yourself to you.
1. What makes my life most fulfilling?
2. How can I living my most important values?
3. How can I spend most of my time pursuing my unique interests?
4. How can I use my talents to the fullest extent?
5. How can I make a significant contribution to the world?
6. How can I seek out opportunities to share my gifts with others?
7. How can I design my future?
8. How can I attract my ideal clients?
9. What are my life's dreams?
10. What is my life's legacy?
11. How can I live my life with purpose and vision?
12. How can I realize my dreams?
13.
How can I I focus on my strengths?
14.
What needs to end?
15.
What do I need to stop doing?
16.
How can I listen more to myself than others?
17.
Who am I?
18.
What is my true identity?
19.
What is my authentic voice?
20.
When am I most powerful?
21.
What are my core beliefs and what needs to change?
22.
What business will fulfill my passion?
23.
What are my true values?
24.
How do others seem me?
25.
What scares me the most?
26.
What have I learned from failure?
27.
How is my self-esteem and confidence?
28.
What makes me happy?
29.
What secrets are no longer useful?
30.
How can I best make a contribution?
31.
Why am I here?
32.
How can I be of service?
33.
What inspires me?
34.
What matters most?
35.
How can I live in the present moment?
20 Self-Discovery Practices
In addition to the practice of sitting
quietly and asking yourself questions to discover your purpose; I often recommend
a number of activities tailored to the unique needs of clients including the
following. Choose one or two practices to start that resonate with you.
Later, you can then work on other practices that inspire you.
1. Establish a daily meditative practice asking oneself the core questions and
any others that emerge from your unconscious.
2. Write in a journal reflecting on your personal life experiences.
3. Read vociferously on a number of topics including works from philosophy, religion,
psychology, history, historical biographies etc.
4. Immerse yourself in nature being mindful to insights received.
5. Engage in thoughtful conversations with friends, family, and loved ones.
6. Initiate a personal 360-degree feedback process with work colleagues,
friends, family, and maybe even critics.
7. Engage in spiritual practices.
8. Create a plan to travel and learn from other people and cultures.
9. Participate in formal "purpose" exercises such as those in Stephen
Covey's "The Seven Habits of Effective People".
10. Read Victor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning", Nancy Anderson’s
“Work with Passion” and Po Bronson's "What Should I Do with My Life".
11. Close the door to what others may have told you about your purpose and embrace
the state of possibility.
12. Stay in a state of gratitude and wonderment.
13. Fall in love.
14. Forgive fully.
15. Collaborate with others.
16. Observe your thoughts and feelings without judgment.
17. Breathe fully into every moment.
18.
Act with kindness and compassion.
19. Accept yourself.
20. Stay conscious that life is precious and fleeting.
“Change comes as an enemy only to those who have lost the art of accepting it as a friend“. -- Tagore
Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning has inspired my life and work with clients. I saw Dr. Frankl speak a number of years ago shortly before he died. I was so moved by his compassion, kindness and grace in transcending so much suffering. You might be inspired to shift some of your beliefs about self and others by reading some of the following quotes.
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HAPPINESS QUOTES |
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Quotes from the great book: Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." "A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining. What he becomes - within the limits of endowment and environment- he has made out of himself. In the concentration camps, for example, in this living laboratory and on this testing ground, we watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself; which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions." "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." "Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone." "The one thing you can't take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one's freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given circumstance." "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." "Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation." Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches provide leadership development to grow emotionally intelligent leaders? Does your organization provide executive coaching for leaders who need to reinvent themselves? Enlightened leaders tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to create a more fulfilling future. One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Do I have the confidence to reinvent myself and grow?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching as part of their transformational peak performance leadership development program. Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help you get from where you are now to where you want to be. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm. “Your work is to discover your work, and then, with all your heart, to give yourself to it”. – Buddha Are you working in a professional services firm or
other organization where executive coaches provide leadership development to help leaders practice mindfulness meditation and
reinvent themselves? Does
your organization provide executive coaching for leaders who need to learn
how to have self- coaching conversations? Enlightened leaders tap into their
emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to create a more
fulfilling future. Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-I, CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help leaders build high performance organizations. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm. Working Resources is a San Francisco Bay Area Executive Coaching Firm Helping Innovative Companies and Law Firms Assess, Select, Coach, Engage and Retain Emotionally Intelligent Leaders; Executive Coaching; Leadership Development; Performance-Based Interviewing; Competency Modeling; Succession Management; Culture Change; Career Coaching and Leadership Retreats ...About Dr. Maynard Brusman Dr. Maynard Brusman © 2013 Dr. Maynard Brusman, Working Resources |
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