Tag: purpose

An invitation to all Hummingbirds

Chantal Breytenbach100-Year Life / Future Self / Meaning / Purpose / Real Self / Self-Cultivation / Self-Discovery / Self-InnovationLeave a comment

I recently stumbled on a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert – the author of Eat Pray Love – on a curiosity-driven life. In this talk entitled “The Flight of the Hummingbird: The Curiosity-Driven Life”, Gilbert speaks out against passion. That’s right – it’s not a typo – she was advocating for steering clear of passion. And I got excited, because this incessant search for passion, and the frustration that some of us have with not finding it, is one of the reasons why we created The LEAP Journey… […]

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How to turn a limestone quarry into a lush garden

Chantal BreytenbachFuture Self / Mindset / Purpose / Self-CultivationLeave a comment

Earlier this year, I took a trip with my family to Vancouver Island, British Columbia and we paid a visit to The Butchart Gardens. As stated on their website: “The Butchart Gardens is a must-see oasis over 100 years in the making”. And what a privilege it was to take in the beauty of this place that stands as a testament to what is possible when one has a grand vision. The story of The Butchart Gardens has some hidden life lessons for us as we embark on The LEAP Journey and it is also one of the most interesting family business success stories rarely told… […]

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Why you shouldn’t try to find your passion but rather aim to develop your interests

Chantal BreytenbachFuture Self / LEAP / Meaning / Mindset / Purpose / Self-Cultivation / Self-DiscoveryLeave a comment

When it comes to choosing a career or making a career transition, many career experts and graduation commencement speakers offer the advice that you should “find your passion”. Most people today find themselves stuck in lives and careers not of their own making. Sometimes out of desperation and perhaps also with some hope for something better, they absorb messages proclaimed by books like The 4-Hour Work Week. They believe that if they could only discover their passion and find the right formula for living and working, they could live happy and productive lives, and pursue meaningful jobs that ignite a fire in their bellies. However, once they start down that path, they soon discover that the Utopia that was promised is not within their reach… […]

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Why grit is essential for transforming your life and career and how you can develop it

Chantal BreytenbachFuture Self / LEAP / Mindset / PurposeLeave a comment

The ability to bounce back from adversity (i.e. resilience) and to keep going when things get tough (i.e. perseverance) are two important traits people need to make successful life and career transitions. Your level of resilience, agility and flexibility determines the extent to which you are willing to persevere in building the life you want when you are faced with setbacks. Perseverance, together with passion, constitutes the two key ingredients of a character trait defined by Angela Duckworth as grit. Here is why grit is important and how to develop it. […]

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How searching for myself helped me to be

Hannelize JacobsFuture Self / Meaning / Mindset / Purpose / Real Self / Self-Discovery / Self-InnovationLeave a comment

I was nearly fifty when I stepped out of my comfort zone for the first time. I had battled with internal questioning and second-guessing of my chosen career path for a while, but had never acted on it, because I was actually doing reasonably well. But there was this nagging feeling that perhaps I wasn’t being honest with myself. “What could I have achieved and offered this world, if I had stepped out of my comfort zone sooner?” is a question I have since asked myself many times. […]

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Choosing a meaningful life over a happy life

Chantal BreytenbachMeaning / PurposeLeave a comment

Human beings are driven by a fundamental need to find meaning. But does living a meaningful life also mean you have happy life? Not necessarily. What sets human beings apart from animals is not the pursuit of happiness, but the pursuit of meaning. Perhaps happiness remains elusive because it cannot be pursued as a purpose in itself. […]

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Why unleashing your calling is the only way to have meaning in your life and career

Chantal BreytenbachMeaning / PurposeLeave a comment

Why do so many of us experience a feeling of being stuck in life and career? Why do we often feel disappointed and even sad as the end of the year approaches and why are we filled with excitement at the beginning of a new year? Viktor Frankl, psychologist, and Nazi concentration camp survivor, believed this is because the most fundamental human need, is the need to find meaning. Even if our lives look perfect on the outside, but we derive no meaning from the things we keep ourselves busy with, we will experience a feeling of emptiness or “stuckness”. […]

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