“What really matters to you, and why?” I ask looking straight into the clear grey eyes of John, the 61-year-old CEO of a major finance company. I wonder if he’s ever been asked this before or if he’s ever privately pondered it. Shifting uncomfortably in his chair and looking everywhere but straight back at me, I can tell he’s challenged by the question. “My wife and kids matter to me. Providing … [Read more...]
The story of the Golden Buddha.
In 1957 an entire Monastery in Thailand was being relocated by a group of monks. One day they were moving a giant clay Buddha when one of the monks noticed a large crack in the clay. On closer investigation he saw there was a golden light emanating from the crack. The monk used a hammer and a chisel to chip away at the clay exterior until he revealed that the statue was in fact made of solid … [Read more...]
It’s not just Millennials. We all want it.
Yesterday I came across this brilliant article Why Millennials Keep Dumping You. (Thank you Elizabeth McLeod daughter of @LisaEarleMcLeod for the insights. I loved it!) With well over 70,000 likes, 6000 comments and 22,000 shares and counting, it’s clearly struck a chord with many. It seems that Millennials commonly quit within six months because their employers; tolerate poor performance … [Read more...]
Purpose is a Practice.
“Everything is practice,” said Pele one of the greatest footballers of all time. Life is a practice. Parenting is a practice. Even loving is a practice. Everything is practice, it truly is. When we practice something, we are taking action to get better at it. We do something over and over again to master it while continuously learning and adjusting course along the way. Practice doesn’t make … [Read more...]
From Provence to Purpose + 2019: The Year of Purpose.
This is me on the 31st of December 2010. It was the last day of a six-month sabbatical in beautiful Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. I’d just typed the last word of a 68,000-word manuscript which would later become my travel memoir, Unstuck in Provence. This sabbatical came at the end of a 20-year corporate career at Westpac and Merrill Lynch followed by 10 years in my own marketing … [Read more...]