I know this might sound idealistic, but my personal purpose and mission in life is to leave the world a better place than I found it. If I can help make somebody healthy or happy who can then share this with somebody else, the ripple effect will spread far and wide. This my deepest internal motivator and why I passionately and purposefully love doing the work I do.

Sometimes life can be challenging, and we might lose sight of our vision or we get caught up in the daily grind and lose motivation. This is where a degree of perseverance and ‘never giving up’ can really help. In this chapter I'd like to share a few different stories on purpose and perseverance as well as give you some tips to help you keep moving positively and purposefully through life. We will discuss ways to align with your purpose and values, as well as ways to adopt a positive, growth mindset so you can develop your innate ability to grow from challenging situations.

Pygmy village, Cameroon

One of my biggest goals while travelling is to share joy with the children of the world. This aligns with my mission of leaving the world a better place than I found it. When I am travelling, you will always find me among children, playing all sorts of games and having fun. There is nothing more welcoming than arriving in a new village or town and being followed by a string of curious young children smiling and chatting with you in their local language. My fellow travellers would always joke, ‘If you can't find Melo, just look for a group of kids huddled together laughing and he will be the one right in the middle of them.’ Whether it is approaching shy, war-torn kids in Uganda, playing street cricket in India, teaching English in China or just learning local games from the indigenous children of the world, it gives me great joy to be among them.

One experience I will never forget is spending time with a remote Pygmy tribe deep in the jungles of Cameroon. It was during an arduous hike through impenetrable forest. The landscape totally crushed the romantic images of jungles that you see in movies. There was nothing romantic about this jungle trek at all: it was horribly humid, there were annoyingly itchy biting insects everywhere and every thorn or spiky bush grabbed hold of my clothes. After many hours of antagonising jungle bashing, I and some fellow travellers arrived in a remote Pygmy village deep in the impenetrable forests. This tribe had rarely been visited by Western people due to its remoteness and I was excited to be there. As we arrived at a clearing containing small huts, we offered the chief and elders some gifts so we could stay in their village for the night, and they gratefully accepted.

The moment I arrived, a young boy named Limbau jumped onto my shoulders like a little monkey. He remained with me for the next 24 hours, never leaving my side. He taught me how to light fires to dispel rows of giant stinging ants, which can apparently kill a small animal. He taught me how to dance along to the local music and he shared some fun games using sticks and stones with me and his friends. It was an amazing exchange considering there was no common language — just innocent smiles and laughter. The whole experience of being among this remote Pygmy tribe was quite amazing, from hunting and dancing, to cooking, eating and just immersing myself in the whole experience.

One of the most magical moments was when Limbau, still perched on my shoulders, directed me to a waterhole, with his young friends joining us. I believe it was a secret water source and I'm not sure he was supposed to take me there. As far as I could gather, Limbau was the chief's son, so he had a few special rights. It also seemed that no girls were permitted to enter this sacred spot. With Limbau leading from my shoulders, we quietly ventured along a small path and eventually arrived at the waterhole. I was astounded by what I saw. This was the idyllic jungle scene that I had imagined from the movies: it was like something out of the Deep Forest soundtrack. The best landscapers in the world could not have matched this scene. There was a natural high wall of hard clay earth surrounding a deep, clear water pond surrounded by lush green foliage, creating a natural swimming pool. I was overcome by the natural beauty of this place. There were thousands of butterflies moving about the foliage and while I stood awestruck by the scene, I suddenly felt my strong little friends pick me up — like worker ants picking up a leaf — and throw me into the refreshingly clean water. For the next hour or so, we splashed and played in the water and I felt a million miles away from any civilised world. It was pure joy!

Yes, the jungle trek was confronting and hard work, and I got some terrible bites and stings along the way, but with some perseverance I reached our destination and all of that was forgotten the moment Limbau jumped on my shoulders. I felt an instant alignment to my goals, purpose and mission and it reminded me why I had embarked on this great travelling adventure in the first place!

Somewhere in Benin

Thud, thud, thud, thud! It sounded like a helicopter had landed on the roof, awakening me with such a startle that I was thrust upright in the hotel room bed. The sound echoed loudly in the corners of the room and simultaneously throbbed profusely inside my head. Pushing through the intense, throbbing pain and piercing sound, I looked up to see the ceiling fan thudding. The whirring blades sent vibrating pain and shivers through my head and body as I tried to orient myself.

My sheets were drenched with sweat as my body convulsed violently in pain. I alternated from uncontrollably shivering with cold, with my teeth chattering, to being on fire, with my forehead burning with fever. The only relief I felt from the pain in my head was when a stabbing pain in my stomach took the focus from my head to my belly area. It felt like a serrated knife was hacking its way through my intestines, crippling me with pain. This was without a doubt the most excruciating fever I had ever experienced!

The bright red digits of the alarm clock read 3:10 am. Even the red lights hurt my throbbing head as I tried to dim them. I think I must have slept for about 20 minutes because I knew I went to the bathroom at 2:50 am, and before that at 2:27 am. I felt the need to vomit again, my body contracting and convulsing. Not that I had anything left inside of me because I had been emptying my body for the past 20 hours.

I had worked out where I was — in a basic hotel room somewhere in Benin — because my lovely travelling companion, Kila, had put me up in a room with a fan so that I didn't have to sleep in my tent for a few days and could recover. She dabbed my forehead occasionally with a wet flannel, which momentarily relieved some of the pain, but the relief was only temporary. My hotel room felt, and looked, like a prison cell: there were no pictures on the dirty walls, and there was one tiny window with broken latches covered by a grimy curtain. The only thing that differentiated this room from a prison cell was the open door to the outside world, which let in a bit of fresh air occasionally.

I knew I was in trouble when Hilmar — the Icelandic friend (and doctor) we were travelling with — said, ‘You don't look great. You look orange and you might need to get to a hospital.’ The previous two or three days were a bit of a blur, but I did remember going in a bush taxi to the closest thing that resembled a hospital in rural Africa and getting a blood test, which confirmed what we all suspected … malaria! Not just your everyday malaria, but a very strong strain that was killing the locals, according to the hospital doctor. I had been taking antimalarial tablets weekly, but obviously the mosquito that had bitten me didn't care too much about that, rendering me with a bad, bad case of malaria.

The next few days were a rollercoaster ride of rising body temperatures of 42+ degrees, stabbing stomach pains, violent shivers, severe muscle ache, vomiting bile, vivid hallucinations, pounding headaches, and my skin and eyes turning a deeper shade of yellow to orange by the hour. I could tell by the shocked reaction on people's faces when they saw me that I did not look good. Some people recommended I should fly home to Australia or anywhere in the civilised Western world to get treated and I could tell by their expressions that they were genuinely concerned. Other people said I should get treated locally as the locals would have better knowledge of specific malarial strains prevalent in the area and which treatments were working best for each particular strain. I needed to make a decision fast.

I really didn't know what to do. For a brief moment I even thought death might be the best outcome because I was in such intense pain and feeling so weak. In my weakest moment I truly wasn't sure if I had the strength to make it and I definitely didn't have the energy to be enduring a long-haul international flight to find treatment. I remember thinking to myself I'd probably die in the air and that wouldn't be a good place to die. In the days that followed I believe I lost 5 to 10 kilograms of muscle mass. I was jaundiced, weak and it took all of my strength just to stand upright before having to sit or lie down again.

How am I going to persevere? I thought to myself. Then I convinced myself, I'm not a quitter and I never have been!

In my fragile state I finally made the decision to stay in Benin and get treated locally. Partly because I felt that ‘local knowledge’ for this particular strain was better than some tropical disease unit thousands of miles away, and to be perfectly honest, I did not have the energy to stand, let alone travel for 20 hours on an international flight.

The next few days, I vaguely remember travelling in more bush taxis to various local clinics and makeshift hospitals, campground first-aid tents and anything that resembled a medical centre. Somehow, through fate, I met a couple of young Canadian doctors/researchers who were trialling a drug that was working on my particular strain of malaria and they asked if I was interested in trying this new drug. It was a combination of synthetic and natural ingredients that hadn't been released to the market as yet but was getting good trial results in the local area. It was a bit of a risk, but looking in the mirror and seeing my gaunt yellow face with no white left in my eyes — only bloodshot red and orange — the decision was easy. ‘What have I got to lose?’ I said, and I started taking the drug cocktail immediately.

It was a course of 10 days in total with a dosage of 10 pills one day and then nine, then eight, and so on. To this day, I'm not sure exactly what was in the pills, but I recall the Canadians showing me some pharmaceutical drawings that had something to do with Artesunate and Mefloquine — or something like that. The truth be told, it didn't matter because day by day I started feeling better and by about day 3 I was able to keep some plain rice down without vomiting. It took all of my strength to get dressed and do simple things without breaking into a sweat and needing to lie down again, but every day I felt marginally better and was able to eat and drink a bit more.

Eventually, after about 10 days, I came back to some semblance of a functioning person again and was able to do a little more each day. My orange skin faded to light yellow and I could begin to see the white in my eyes again, and was able to continue my journey through central Africa. I am eternally grateful for the people who looked after me through this, especially my lovely Swiss companion (who is now my beautiful wife, by the way), Doctor Hilmar and the Canadian doctors for being in the right place at the right time. This definitely taught me some major lessons in life: to persevere, no matter what life throws at you, to have the courage to make big decisions and trust in the people around you, and that you will always have the means to get through anything with some perseverance and purpose.

Perseverance and purpose served me well throughout my travels and continue to guide me in my personal and professional life today.

Climbing that mountain

Perseverance is the continued effort to achieve something despite the obstacles or challenges you face along the way. It is a skill you can develop to continually stay focused on your goal and work diligently towards it, no matter how difficult or demanding it is. Usually, the sense of achievement you feel when you reach the goal far outweighs the stress and load of getting there. Take, for example, mountain climbing: it can be physically and mentally demanding and painful reaching the peak, but once you stand there and admire the view and your sense of achievement, all of the pain subsides. Similarly, when undertaking a big project at work, it may be stressful and tiresome getting to the end point, but completing the project is rewarding.

On my first big 18-day trek in the Himalayas, I had horrible altitude sickness at just 3200 metres — and the highest pass I needed to cross was 5416 metres. How was I supposed to manage that? However, day by day I persevered, one step at a time. I must admit it was tough and very demanding on my body and my mind, but I eventually made it to the top of the pass. The feeling I had sitting among the colourful prayer flags on Thorung La at 5416 metres was exhilarating as I gazed out to the surrounding peaks. It was worth every ounce of effort. I can only imagine how the true mountaineers feel when they scale Everest, K2 and the world's highest peaks.

We all have our own mountains to climb and challenges to overcome, but if you approach them one step at a time and trust that you will have the resources you need, everything is possible. Even if it seems impossible at the time, or overwhelmingly difficult, remind yourself you have gone through tough times and difficult situations before and you will always pull through. Sometimes we just need to break down big, overwhelming tasks into smaller goals and milestones so we feel we are working towards smaller manageable targets. Couple this with the right amount of perseverance and purpose and you can achieve absolutely anything.

Humans like progress

When life seems overwhelming or you are feeling fatigued or burnt out everything might feel like a difficult task, as though you are not progressing forward in life. You might feel like you are just ‘spinning the wheels’ and not going anywhere. I do know one thing, from coaching hundreds of high-performing individuals: that humans like progress. It is a basic human need, and if you don't feel like you are moving forward you can get frustrated and lose momentum in life.

Progress is an innate biological and psychological need that drives a child from crawling to walking, from dependence to independence, from education to career, and so on. All through life we have the innate desire to constantly grow, develop, evolve and expand our sense of being. If we are not doing this, we are doing the opposite — that is, we are stagnant, shrinking and contracting — which gives us feelings of worthlessness or hopelessness. It doesn't matter how big or small the goal is, as long as we are working towards something, we feel a sense of purposefulness and direction. I understand when you are feeling out of balance or exhausted that the last thing you want to do is set yourself more tasks and goals, but this is the one thing that will help you take action and move forward.

One of the hardest hit industries during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic was the travel industry because all local and international travel was instantly brought to a standstill. I asked Karsten Horne, CEO of Reho Travel, what kept him going and how he persevered through the toughest of times. He explained that although it was hard and frustrating, he managed to keep a positive mindset by focusing on things that were in his control. He had no control over government decisions, lockdowns or the severe travel restrictions, so he chose not to put his focus on the things he could not control. Instead, he found ways to do things that were within his control. He spent his time being creative with his thousands of hours of travel video footage, developing new business ventures and ideas, looking after his health and renovating his house. He felt that although travel was restricted, he was progressing towards something and this kept him moving forward with perseverance and purpose. Karsten is also a marathon runner so he is no stranger to persevering when times get tough physically and mentally.

To help you find balance in your life, set positive intentions and goals so that you feel you are constantly progressing and achieving. This does not mean you have to push yourself towards further fatigue and burnout. Set realistic milestones and diligently persevere towards them with a sense of purpose. Some simple, achievable goals could be:

• to walk every morning for 45 minutes
• to start a new project or hobby
• to go away for a family weekend
• to join a sporting or community club
• to be more social and catch up more with friends
• to study or learn something new.

The sky is the limit … What are you thinking of doing?

Never give up on your dreams

One of my most inspiring clients and friends is young Tess Lloyd, a 27-year-old Olympic athlete (sailing) who shared her moving story about perseverance, resilience and purpose with me. Ever since seeing Cathy Freeman win gold in the 2000 Olympics²⁵, Tess—who was just five years old at the time—knew she wanted to one day represent Australia as an Olympic athlete. She found her passion for sailing at a young age and worked very hard to improve her skills while going through her schooling years.

Unfortunately, at 16 years of age, during a national sailing competition in Queensland, Australia, Tess was involved in a most unfortunate ‘freak’ accident where she was hit in the side of the head by a windsurfer. (It was unusual circumstances in that the two races—windsurfers and 29ers sailing boats—were combined into one race.) The weather conditions were atrocious, and Tess was left unconscious in her sailing vessel with her head face-down in the water. Her friend lifted her out of the water and signalled for help. It took some time before anyone realised the severity of the incident because it was common for sailing boats to capsize during races, so the rescue vessels did not respond immediately, so Tess was left injured and bleeding for a while before she could get help.

In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, the paramedics called for an emergency doctor to come on board because she was in a life-and-death situation. Once in the hospital, x-rays revealed a fractured skull, which expanded into her brain and was causing all sorts of complications. Thankfully the surgeons managed to save Tess and put a plate with eight screws in her head. She was then put into an induced coma for three weeks. When Tess came out of the coma, the doctors tactfully warned her parents that she might not be able to walk and talk as she could before, and that her memory and balance had been severely impaired.

Tess persevered through more than two painstaking years of hard work, learning to read, speak and write proficiently again. She worked hard on reclaiming her memory and received extensive physiotherapy for her balance. She did all of this while struggling through her final year of high school which she did over a period of two years. Six months later, Tess was back in the boat. This is where she felt most comfortable and she still wanted to fulfil her childhood dream. She trained her body and mind to get stronger and worked tirelessly to rebuild her sailing skills because she had her sights on the 2016 Rio Olympics.

After three years of diligent training, she received the upsetting news that she hadn't qualified for the Rio Olympics, but Tess didn’t give up. Next, she set her sights on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and trained even harder to make the grade. Yes! She and her sailing companion, Jaime, were accepted and they were so excited! This meant more years of disciplined training routines and doing the best she could to represent Australia in 2020. Months before the event, COVID-19 put a stop to the world, and the Olympics were postponed for a year. Dealing with all of the uncertainty, anxiety and disappointment, Tess persevered and kept training hard for another year. They lost their coach due to a string of unforeseen circumstances and got a last-minute replacement but they finally made it to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Her childhood dream became a reality as she and Jaime raced their 49er FX sailing boat to represent Australia. It was an amazing experience and although they didn't win any medals, they were happy with how they performed. I explained to Tess on one of our virtual coaching sessions that I consider her a gold medallist just for being there after all that she had gone through over the previous 10 years. A gold medal in perseverance in my eyes! At the time of writing, Tess has her sights on the Paris Olympics in 2024. Go Tess!

Aligning with purpose

Could you run a 42-kilometre marathon tomorrow?

This is something I jokingly ask in one of my corporate seminars. I open with the question, ‘Who could run a full 42-kilometre marathon tomorrow morning starting at 6 am?’ As you can imagine, nobody puts up their hand — though there may be an exception if there is a marathon runner in the room.

Then I add some purpose to the question. I ask the group to imagine that someone they love dearly has a horrible sickness and that at the end of the marathon there is a magic serum that will miraculously make them better. ‘Now who can run a 42-kilometre marathon tomorrow morning starting at 6 am?’ and every single hand goes up, regardless of their fitness level, because I have added a deep purpose to the mission.

Creating a vision and aligning with your purpose is the cornerstone to keeping you balanced and grounded. It doesn't matter how big or small your vision is. As long as it aligns with your values and is true to what you believe in, it is your guiding light to staying on track when life gets challenging. Purpose can make you ask some of life's big contemplative questions, such as:

• Why am I here?
• Who am I?
• What do I want in life?
• Where do I belong?
• What fulfils me?

These are all very good questions to ask yourself. But purpose doesn't always have to be the big questions or visions; it can also be how you go about your everyday life. Purpose can guide your life decisions, give you clarity, shape your goals and give you a sense of clear direction. For some people purpose can be very closely related to their work. For others, their purpose may be separate from their work — for example, it may be in relation to their family. Purpose is personal, no matter how big or small it is.

Purpose is as unique as your fingerprint. What you value most and what you identify as your direction may be vastly different from that of the people around you — this is what makes us unique individuals. True purpose is about valuing your own skills or gifts and sharing those with the world in some way. It may be solving someone's problem, playing music for someone, bringing joy to someone's life, or simply being there for a friend or your family.

John Rowland, the IT executive we met in chapter 5, clearly articulated to me that his deeper purpose in life is his responsibility to his family. His family is the highest in his hierarchy of values, and being successful at work gives him the means to provide for his family as best he can. He strives for excellence at work and admits he does work long hours from time to time. But underneath it all is his sense of purpose, which continues to drive him to achieve his goals. He is very clear on his ‘why’ and that is how he manages to maintain balance in his life and work.

A busy accountant I work with once asked me jokingly, ‘How can I find purpose in accounting and bookkeeping? It's so mundane!’ However, once he discovered he likes helping people solve problems, he realised that helping people (with their finances) was part of his purpose and that made him feel good. He also similarly knew it was a way to fulfil another deeper purpose of providing for his young family, which was very important to him.

It doesn't have to change the world, just your world

Your purpose does not have to be the biggest mission on the planet, like bringing about peace on earth. It also doesn't need to be your job. It may be as simple as waking up in the morning to make a healthy breakfast for your family; or seeking happiness every day. The key element of purpose is alignment: when you are aligned with your values and your ‘reason for being’, you will feel connection and contribution to the world around you.

Many people I have spoken to who experienced burnout felt directionless and purposeless and did not have any reason to get out of bed in the morning. The Japanese concept of Ikigai translates roughly to ‘your reason for being’ or ‘your reason for waking up in the morning’. Iki means ‘life’, and gai describes value or worth. It's quite a beautiful concept in that it explores finding something you are passionate about and creating a mission around it, which may (or may not) become your vocation. You share it with the world, but at the very centre of it all is your Ikigai, your reason for being.

Intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivators

Many people struggle to find balance when they are misaligned with their purpose or aren't even sure what it is in the first place. I have coached many executives and high achievers who feel they will be happy when they get that new promotion or pay rise, or a company car, or they become a general manager, only to find that when they get there, they are still unhappy. When you constantly chase the next thing to be happy, it may bring short-term happiness. Before long, though, you will be on the hunt for the next big thing to make you happier. These external rewards are known as ‘extrinsic motivators’ and although they can motivate you to strive higher and drive you towards a goal, they are only temporary. Take the example of a pay rise or bonus: if you are only chasing the pay rise, how much will ever be enough? It's great to be incentivised to work harder in the short term but that may not motivate you in the long run.

The opposite of this is to be ‘intrinsically motivated’: to enjoy the work you are doing with a clear sense of purpose on what motivates you from the inside. It's is about discovering what motivates you from the inside despite your external rewards. Figure 7.1 describes the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivators.

One of my clients, James, was dissatisfied with his role in middle management, so he worked as hard as he could to get a role as a general manager, even to the detriment of his own health. It was at this stage that I met him: he was suffering from anxiety; he was unhealthy, unhappy and chronically stressed, but he still thought in his mind that this would all be resolved when he moved up to the next rank in the company.

Then he discovered that if he wasn't happy now, how would this change when he became the general manager? If anything, there would be more responsibility, more stress and more pressure, which may not be so motivating.

We did some work around values, purpose and defining what success meant to him and he was surprised that the definition of success was far from what he was chasing. Once James established that it wasn't the external factors that would make him happy, but rather his internal ‘reason for being’, his whole world changed. He established a clear sense of purpose and direction and realised that intrinsic motivators are far more important than any external rewards. He also regained balance in other areas of his life that had been neglected in his race to the top. His family life improved, his relationships improved, and he even had time to go out with his friends more, which brought him great joy.

The ‘five whys’

One of my favourite coaching exercises can be useful for finding a fast way to get to the bottom of things and find purpose. It's called the ‘five whys’ technique and I'd like to share it with you. This technique was developed by Sakichi Toyoda — a Japanese industrialist, inventor and founder of Toyota Industries — in the 1930s, and was popularised in the 1970s. Toyota still uses the technique to solve problems today. I have used this with many clients and I also use it on myself as a self-coaching technique when I'm confused or need some clarity with a decision-making process. As the name suggests, you ask the question ‘Why?’ five times to find out what's behind your thinking regarding a particular issue. Many people are surprised that by the time they get to the fifth question, their response is far different from what they initially thought.

I'll share an example here so that it makes more sense. Let's imagine somebody wants to be the general manager of a large company:

Question 1: Why is it important for you to be a general manager?

Response: So I am recognised for the hard work I am doing.

Question 2: Why is it important for you to be recognised for your hard work?

Response: So I have some senior status and am acknowledged for my contribution to the company.

Question 3: Why is it important to be acknowledged for how you contribute to the company and have senior status?

Response: So I have more responsibility and am financially rewarded for my efforts.

Question 4: Why is it important for you to be financially rewarded for your efforts?

Response: So I can have financial security.

Question 5: Why is it important to have financial security?

Response: So I can provide for my family and give my children the best education.

Ideally, by the time you get to the fifth question, you have a response that aligns with your values. In the example above, family and education are high values for this person. Sometimes you might only need three ‘whys’ to get to the solution, or sometimes you may need more than five, but you will know you have got there because it will feel right. It's a great way to unpack a solution and get to the real meaning of why something is important to you. Give it a try at the end of this chapter!

Knowing your values

Staying intrinsically motivated and realigning with your purpose also comes down to knowing your core values. When we lose alignment with our core values, we may lose direction and consequently lose balance in life. Most people I ask about core values struggle to come up with their top three values in life. Companies see the great importance of defining their core business values and we should also be clear on defining our personal core values.

Personal values are individual beliefs and morals that guide your behaviours and differentiate right from wrong. They are your personal code of conduct and they highlight what you stand for. They are important because they guide your decisions, give you direction, connect you with others and align you with your purpose. Research shows that defining your values and understanding what makes a meaningful life are very valuable skills that can help you manage stress, navigate challenges and support your mental health²⁶. When we are clear on our values, our ability to make better decisions and choices in life is improved.

Our values are influenced by and formed at different stages in our life:

• At the age of 1–7 years we are predominantly influenced by our parents (or guardians).
• At the age of 8–13 years we are mostly guided by teachers, friends, heroes (sports stars, celebrities, TV characters and music stars).
• At the age of 14–20 years we are influenced by close friends, university peers, colleagues, ‘fitting in’ and self-discovery.
• From 21 to adulthood our core values are established, but these may vary depending on different phases in life, e.g. career phase, parent phase.

When you make values-based decisions, they are always the right ones and you feel confident to stand up for your beliefs. If something does not sit well with you because it goes against your values, it may be worth expressing that and letting people know where you stand. When we connect with people based on our values, we make a much deeper connection because we can understand each other on a deeper level. However, everyone has different core values, and we won't always see eye to eye on everything. That's fine, as long as we openly communicate this in a non-judgemental way.

Getting to know your values

It is important to establish what your top three to five values are as they guide every behaviour and everything you act upon with a sense of clear purpose. A good warm-up exercise to help you narrow this down is to think about the key assets and values that you admire in the people around you. This could be anyone from your family, friends, bosses, CEOs, sporting celebrities, global leaders and absolutely anyone you have respect for and admire. Ask yourself:

• What is it you like about them?
• Why do you align with them?
• What is it they stand for?
• What do you think their highest value is?

Another good exercise that could be quite interesting is to ask somebody what they think your top three values are. Or have some fun and simply ask them to describe you in three words. You may be surprised by their response.

It's amazing how developing a sense of purpose, persevering towards your goals and knowing your values can change your world.

In the following practices section, you will find a handy exercise to help you refine your top three values.