If you choose to live consciously and possibly become a conscious leader, these words of the great mythologist and philosopher, Joseph Campbell,  ring especially true: 

“This, I believe, is the great Western truth: that each of us is a completely unique creature and that, if we are ever to give any gift to the world, it will have to come out of our own experience and fulfilment of our own potentialities, not someone else’s.”

— Joseph Campbell

He was a famous fighter already, but at that moment I think I saw a hint of a man who would someday become a great humanitarian beyond the ring.

I love the writing that Ronald Heifetz has put together under the title of "Adaptive Leadership". It really squares up with my experience and observations in this field. 

My experience is that leaders (and coaches and parents) are constantly looking for ways to motivate their employees in order to access higher levels of performance. To this end, they come up with new strategies, structures, and systems (like performance management)  to achieve this end. 

Sports psychologist Charlie Maher calls 'freezing' etc, 'misplaced focus'. It's when a player, leader, student, or parent suddenly (there's usually a 'button' that has been pushed) and inexplicably is  incapable of performing a basic move, remembering what has been studied, or behaving like the leader or parent, that is so basic to who they are. 

'Practical Life Wisdom' has formed the basis of how I endeavour to deal with my own life challenges, and has been one of the main principles of the Leadership, Life Purpose, and Mindsports coaching that I do with people from all walks of life. 

In my efforts to navigate my way through a life that has included being a soldier in the army; a college basketball player; a teacher; an outspoken advocate of civil rights; a monk; a corporate consultant, an husband and father; the wisdom that initially gave me a way of making choices as to what was the real purpose of my life came from something renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell famously said.

About 30 years ago I was asked by the State University of New York to write a foreword to a new translation of an ancient text: "Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali". The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are universally acknowledged as the fundamental text on yoga and meditation in the Indian classical tradition. 

When we become more conscious of our life and where it is leading us, the practical question of, 'What's the purpose of my life?' often arises. The wisdom of the ages suggests that to, 'know thyself' is a good beginning. But how does that self knowledge manifest in our daily life?

Meditation is a powerful practice for Living Consciously. To live consciously, we must be awake. 

"If we want to live consciously, we need to have a more accurate, but deeper answer to the question, 'Who am I?'. It is famously rumoured that Plato said, 'The unexamined life is not worth living'. Asking 'who am I' is a powerful and ancient spiritual practice. "

"Change Requires Leadership" is a principle I stress in order to get leaders to genuinely understand the nature of their unique role in an organization. Leaders challenge and help people to face and thrive in a changing environment. 

In our lives, we are all faced with a dilemma: to either continue our growth as a human being in all aspects of our lives; or watch and experience our gradual withering and self contraction, where we become the victim in our own life story. The great mythologist Joseph Campbell, said that choices based on fear cause a kind of, 'slow death'.