Let me at the outset wish you a New Year filled with purposefulness, positive energy, and prosperity. 

You might have wondered why I was SILENT in 2023. My last blog post was on the 1^st of January 2023. I was silent from the public with almost no activities on social media as I was purposefully engaged. 

My purpose statement got adjusted almost monthly during 2023 and the first paragraph of the latest revision done this morning (1^stJanuary 2024) reads as; To live purposefully based on my evolving realities and sense of purposefulness, actively offer my learnings to others and be available to those who reach out for guidance. Please reach out if you would like to read the rest of my purpose statement and if you want to discuss your life-purpose. 

So, what happened in 2023?

I started 2023, writing in my journal; “What a volatile year it was”. The volatility started receding in Sri Lanka although far from over. The volatility aggravated globally with the Russia- Ukraine and Israel – Palestine conflicts that gave rise to humanitarian and economic crisis. 

In this backdrop I continued to develop purposefulness in leadership until May 2023 for various organisations. From May 2023, I offered my service to one organisation in England as the Director of Organisational Development. This required me and my wife to start living in England.  

On the family side my three daughters were living purposefully during the year reaching success in their vocations. The eldest completing her Doctorate and working as an independent consultant in the development sector. The second completing her master’s and enjoying motherhood.  The youngest winning medals of Sri Lanka in powerlifting whilst building her Cookie business. They are supported by my wife who has made it her purpose, the wellbeing and happiness of our daughters. My two grand-daughters are a source of happiness, never ceasing to amaze us in the way they are growing, mind and body. My mother continues to be a graceful source of inspiration to all of us. 

Once the academic side I focused on completing my doctorate and came out with flying colours at the viva in December with a few minor amendments for the confirmation of the Phd within the next few months. My thesis was titled; Living Purposefully:  An Inquiry into the Life of a Leadership Development Practitioner. I look forward to sharing my learnings using various channels as my contribution in developing purposeful leaders, teams, families, and individuals.

I encourage you to be purposeful and invite you to read my series of 37 blog post regarding the notion of purposefulness and how to practically apply it in your life, starting from the 1^st article . Please also do stay tuned-in, so that you can read various papers, articles and blogs I will be publishing. I am as always available if you need guidance when attempt to live a purposeful life.  

So, being SILENT and away from the public eye was purposeful activity required for me to help focus, and the fruits of which will be actively shared in 2024 and beyond for the flourishing of life. 

Wish you Purposeful Living!

This is a question we need to ask ourselves?

We Live in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous that no one can tell us what’s in store for 2023. We have been asking this question every year and we could not find the answers out there. It was even more profound in the past three years of the pandemic and the global economic crisis.

The response to this dilemma from my experience is to reflect using some guiding questions. I found this approach so useful that I could say that I had one of the best years of my life in 2022.

Without boring you with what I achieved I would like to say that I attempted to live a purposeful life. A life of service to my world. When making crucial decisions, I asked myself what would be the course of action that is best aligned with my purpose. What action would I be most proud taking. Please search with the key word ‘purpose’ in this blog to explore ideas about living purposefully.

The following questions are useful in taking the energy and learnings from 2022. Reflect on these questions with your family or on your own regarding your personal life and with your team or on your own with regard to your team at work.

• What are the two or three biggest gain we had during the year?

• What did we learn from the gains?

• What are the two or three biggest losses we had during the year?

• What did we learn from the losses?

• How did we change the way we live and work?

• What will stop, what will we continue?

• What are the new investments we made?

• What will we retain, what will we dispose?

Thereafter it will be great to reflect on the following questions for 2023. 

• What are the two or three biggest outcomes for 2023 that you/family/team would be proud of?

• What baby steps would you take to start the journey towards these outcomes?

• What obstacles are you likely to face in the journey? 

• What steps would you take, who should be informed, who can you gain support from to deal with the likely obstacles?

These questions will lead to interesting conversation that will culminate with interesting decisions and action. Continue to reflect on the outcome of the action and take new actions so that you can find practical solutions for the opportunities and threats presented to you.

I will be happy to know how your reflections and conversations went. Please do let me know and reach out if I can be of any assistance.

Wishing you a Purposeful, Passionate, Prosperous 2023

Which 3 words do you see first? What do those three words tell about you? Does this help you to understand who you are and or your big ‘why’ or something else. Let’s share and explore.

This is my quest to help us understand purposefulness. Please respond so that we can have an enriching conversation.

This is my quest to help us understand purposefulness. Please respond so that we can have an enriching conversation.

This is my quest to help us understand purposefulness. Please respond so that we can have an enriching conversation.

This my quest to help us understand purposefulness. Please respond to each other’s comments and questions and come up with new questions. I hope this enriches our lives.

I have been attempting to understand the notion of purposefulness over the past 25 years. I plan to pose a question every day to help us go deeper. Please respond to each other’s comments and questions and come up with new questions. I hope this enriches our lives.