Purpose

Abraham Maslow studied the greatest people of his generation. People like Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Einstein.

Do you know what the word for retirement is in Okinawa?

The great mythologist Joseph Campbell told us to follow our bliss.

In our last +1 we had fun exploring the ancient wisdom that led Joseph Campbell to tell us: “Follow your bliss!”

Jim Collins is arguably the greatest business thinker alive. He’s written classics like Good to Great, Built to Last and Great by Choice in which he applies rigorous research to what makes great companies great.

In our last +1 we met our Angel’s Advocate via Michael Gelb’s great book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci.

William Shakespeare once told us (via Polonius in Hamlet): “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that the word character comes from the Greek word for “chisel.”

In my interview with Barry Michels about the great book he wrote with Phil Stutz called Coming Alive, we talked about a bunch of things.

In our last +1, we had fun hanging out with your Genius.

In Getting Grit, Caroline Adams Miller walks us through the science of grit and then helps us apply it to our lives.

In our last +1, we took a quick look at Warren Buffett’s three-step goal setting process and then chatted about how it fits into our Big 3: Energy + Family + Service.

Matthew Kelly has written a number of great books. We have Notes on three of them: Perfectly Yourself, The Rhythm of Life and Off Balance.

Brian Tracy is one of my favorite old-school self-development teachers. I can still remember listening to his CDs back in the day when I was first getting into all this stuff. And, we’ve covered a number of his books including Maximum Achievement, Eat that Frog, Goals!, Focal Point and No Excuses.

We’re on a roll with some mindfulness wisdom via Goenka, so here’s one more story.

In our last +1, we talked about a wise daughter-in-law who planted her seeds and reaped a bountiful harvest.

Today we’re going to chat about bonzai trees and goldfish and you.

As you know (and as we’ve discussed many times), Abraham Maslow once said that “What one can be, one must be.”

In our last +1, we talked about Abraham Maslow’s wisdom and the ancient etymology of the word clamor in the context of your capacities clamoring to be used (aka you doing what you’re here to do!).

One of the themes we come back to again and again is the basic idea of loving what is — whether that’s via Byron Katie’s wisdom or the Stoics or the Serenity Prayer.

In Creating Affluence, Deepak Chopra tells a great story about two Goddesses involved in creating abundance in our lives.

In our last +1, we talked about that little thread that runs through your head. (Did you gently pull it up?)

In our last +1, we talked about you starting a hypothetical new job.

In our last +1, we talked about Martin Seligman’s ideas on the science of having a Job vs. a Career vs. a Calling. I proposed we aim to have ALL THREE such that our work involves us using our signature strengths in greatest service to the world WHILE getting paid well AND having fun mastering our chosen domain.

While we’re talking about Alex Lickerman and his ideas on how to create an indestructible self while turning poison into medicine and all that goodness, let’s talk about your purpose in life.

My mom and her husband Tom recently visited.

On my sunrise hike/trail run this morning, I saw a guy wearing a sweet Jerry Garcia t-shirt. I waved and smiled and said “Hi!” and we had a nice little micro-Love 2.0 moment.

Many moons ago, very early in our +1 journey together, we talked about Gay Hendricks’ wisdom on your Genius Zone.

A few +1s ago, we spent some time in your Genius Zone. Today I want to revisit that wonderful spot and talk a little more about how to spend more time there.

In our last +1, we had some fun soaking our minds in some epic “To Dare or Not to Dare” wisdom. We kicked that party off with a Søren Kierkegaard gem.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve had fun exploring some wisdom gems from my recent PhilosophersNotes binge-athon.

In our last +1, we talked about Stephen Cope and his take on dharma.

Have you ever read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho?

I’m a big fan of Tom Rath and his work.

In his great little book Life’s Great Question, Tom Rath talks about how to create more meaning in our lives by creating more meaning in our work.

In our last +1, we talked about making a Purpose upgrade—going from a grand conception of one “big purpose” for life (Purpose 1.0) to finding micro-moments of purpose all day every day (Purpose 2.0).

In our last +1, we spent some time with Carlos Castaneda and his Toltec Warrior. Today, we’re going to spend a little more time with this eccentric teacher.

In our Mastery Series, we kick off the third session of Module II on Hero-ology with The 3 Quests + U in which I proposed that we all have THREE quests—all of which happen to start with the letter “U” which just so happens to be the patron letter of hero’s.

In our last +1, we planted some trees with John F. Kennedy.

In our last +1, we talked about doing Genius Work (vs. Mediocre Work) as we reminded ourselves that both the Romans and the Greeks had a word for our inner guiding spirit—that Optimus best within each of us.