I was recently invited to be a speaker for an upcoming online telesummit calledThe Power of Purpose.  While I’m honored to be a part of this program, the invitation had me pause and reflect a bit about my own life and work, and specifically ask myself the question, “Am I living on purpose?”  My initial answer was, “Yes, of course I am.”  However, as I thought about it more deeply, I could see that there are many aspects of my life and my work that aren’t “on purpose” at all.

In a recent session with my counselor Eleanor, she said something simple, but profound to me; “Nothing changes until you do.” She went on to say, “Mike, you keep trying to control and manipulate the situations, relationships, and outcomes in your life – thinking that if they changed in the way you want them to, you’d then change and things would be better. It actually works the other way around.”

I was scheduled to fly to Dublin, Ireland a few weeks ago for a speaking engagement and when I got to the airport I realized I’d forgotten my passport at home.  I felt mortified and embarrassed – and then angry when I realized I wouldn’t be able to get on my flight.  After a few hours of stress and drama, I was able to get myself on another flight, which would get me to Ireland on time for my event – although it did cost me quite a bit of money and forced my wife Michelle to have to drop what she was doing and rush to the airport with my passport.

A few months ago one of my mentors said to me, "Mike, it sounds like you're 'should-ing' all over yourself." I laughed when she said this, as I've heard this saying many times before (and have even given this same feedback to others). However, something about her saying this to me at that particular moment caught my attention and struck me deeply.