Bradley Wright, Life Purpose Lab

Leadership in intrinsically bound to purpose. The best leaders know their own purpose, and they lead others with purpose. How can leaders learn to be more purposeful?Ryan Sanders approaches this issue from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. As a business school instructor, he knows the research literature on leadership. As an executive coach, he has plenty of hands-on experience helping leaders. From this background, Ryan shares a wealth of ideas about finding and using purpose as a leader. In this episode, you'll learn about:Why leaders need to continually ask "why am I doing this"Purpose vs. money as a motivator for leadersGood and bad reasons for getting into leadershipThe ego and purposeCreating vs. helping others as two basic forms of purpose expressionRyan's LinkedIn pageEducate, Innovate, and Inspire Consulting***Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

In life, we go through different seasons. What about purpose? How does it reflect these changing seasons of our life?Jonathon Tucker played competitive soccer, started up a soccer coaching business, and became a teacher. In all of these, he had to work out what purpose meant in that stage of life. Each stage taught him something new about purpose. From his experience, he's developed a model of how purpose unfolds and what we can do to have more of it--at any time of our life.In this episode, you'll learn about:The cyclical nature of purposeWhy purpose is necessarily idiosyncratic to the personHow to equip people for purposeBecoming disillusioned with conventional successLearning lessons from any situationJonathon's LinkedIn pageThe Purpose Cycle bookJonathon's Indiegogo page***Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

Purpose is usually talked about as a destination. "What is the purpose of my life?" But, is it something that can be experienced every day? What does purpose mean as a day-to-day experience?Zach Mercurio spent two years studying how janitors found purpose and meaning in their work. Even though they were doing menial work, some of them found greater purpose in what they did. This research gave him deep insight into the lived experience of purpose. It involves less of what we actually do and more how we do it. This powerful idea opens up the door for any experience--no matter how seemingly mundane--being deeply purposeful. Zach explains how we can do this in our own lives as well. In this episode, you will learn aboutBeing educated for purpose vs. successExtraordinary people doing ordinary things in extraordinary waysPurpose as a lived experience Why organizations must actively maintain purposeThe importance of helping people know that they matterZach's LinkedIn page***Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

What do you do when you hit absolute rock bottom in your life--when you've lost all that matters in your past and in your future? You start living out any purpose that you can find.Shay Walters is a wife, mother, and a nine-time convicted felon.  She delved into the abyss of drug addiction. Having lost custody of her son and facing a possible two-decade prison sentence, she changed her life around completely. She gave up her previous impulsive ways of living only for momentary pleasure. She committed herself to vision for her life that was bigger than her.  Now, out of prison, she and her husband run an out-treatment rehabilitation center for others in addiction. In this episode, you'll learn about Why some young people don't engage purposeHow to live purposefully with few, if any, resourcesHaving a bigger picture for your lifeUsing the problems of our past to help othersHow a sense of entitlement can block finding purposeShay's Prison to Purpose Facebook page***Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

Awareness is an often overlooked aspect of experiencing purpose. This raises the question of how awareness increases purpose, and, conversely, how purpose increases awareness. It also ties purpose into mindfulness and other contemplative practices.Cortland Dahl works in the intersection of science and the spirit. In science, he is a research scientist working at the prestigious University of Wisconsin Center for Health Minds. He's spent his career studying contemplative practices--even going on a one-year silent retreat. He brings a wealth of insight about the relationship between the brain and our experiences of purpose.In this episode, you'll learn about:The relationship between mediation and purposeHow we experience purpose in everyday lifeThe power of reflecting on our own mortalityLooking on people who inspire usHow post-traumatic growth can lead to purpose***Find more at my Instagram page. Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

When people find purpose, it often involves an inner compunction. Something inside of us "knows" that we should do something. This can be called inner wisdom. The question becomes how do we find this inner wisdom?Audrey Seymour started out as a software engineer with a background in mathematics. About 20 years ago, she changed to life coaching with an emphasis on helping people find purpose. She brings a deep and thoughtful approach to her work. She shares her insights on best practices for finding purpose.  In this episode, you'll learn about:The three sources of trusted inner wisdomWhether purpose is chosen, discovered, or imposedThe role of doubt and fear in finding purposeThe need to feel safe when looking for purposeThe value of the ego in our lives***Find more at our Instagram page. Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

What would you do if knew that you had a terminal illness and would die soon--would it change what mattered to you? Change what you did?William McNeely knows the answer to this question. In his early 50s, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable and terminal disease. For three years, his medical chart was marked EOL for end of life. Yet, William had a long-term vision for making a difference in his hometown of Charlotte. When he was within a week or two of dying, he received a double-lung transplant. He's recovered fully, and is now doing great things with his non-profit Do Greater Charlotte. He credits his sense of purpose for his community as keeping him alive.In this episode, you'll learn about:Making an impact locallyStating your purpose as an elevator pitchThe power of knowing that you've got things to do in lifeHow to plan a yearly family dinner for visioneeringHelping children to find purposeDo Greater Charlotte website***Find more at our Instagram page. Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

How is purpose linked to the most painful moments of our lives? Ferose VR was living his dream life--a successful career, marriage, and a child on his way. Then his child was born with autism. Ferose was in anguish. Then he spoke to a mentor about it. Instead of grieving, she congratulated him.  She told him that now he knew his purpose in life. Beautiful things have resulted, including Ferose's starting a movement to integrate people with autism into the workplace. These experiences, combined with extensive reading in the philosophy of Gandi, give Ferose a deep perspective how we live purposefully. In this episode, you'll learn about:Why purpose is complex but not complicatedThe potentially negative side of purposeHow purpose finds us rather our finding itThe importance of purity of intentionPreparing your inner-being for purpose***Find more on my Instagram page. Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

We often think of living a life of purpose as being extreme--quitting your job and taking up something brand new. This happens sometimes. But, how can purpose be meaningfully integrated into our existing lives? Attorney and self-discovery guide Lauren Krasnodembski sheds light on how to live purposefully in your current life. She's a successful privacy attorney and is raising a family. She also has found a way to help others find their way. She guides them in her writing, speaking, and coaching through the process of self-discovery. In this episode, you'll learn about:How following purpose leads to discomfortBalancing personal security and the risks of purposeHow to know what your heart is telling you to doLiving purposefully even when you're really busyResponding to live vs. reacting***Find more at our Instagram page. Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com

Mindfulness and purpose are two common themes in research on how to live a good life. How do they interlink? Does one lead to the other? Jon Macaskill turned to meditation out of need. He had experienced severe trauma in the battlefield. It lead him to find another side of himself such that when he retired from the Navy, he turned full time to helping others find mindfulness for themselves as well. Mindfulness, in turn, sets the stage for purpose. As both a mindfulness practitioner and a retired SEAL, Jon has a unique, insightful perspective on what makes humans thrive.  In this episode you'll learn about:The importance of being in a tribe for living out purposeGrowing a side interest into a full-time, purposeful activityA common pattern of purposeful activitiesThe relationship between mindfulness and purposeCommon mistakes people make when they start mindfulness***Find more at our Instagram page. Want to connect? Have a question? Just want to say "hi"? Send me an email at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com. Would enjoy hearing from you.Want to start your own podcast? This podcast is edited and produced (and music too) by Josh Gilbert. He does a great job and is a joy to work with. Contact him at   joshgilbertmedia@gmail.com