I love it when I come across something in reading that makes an immediate and significant contribution to my life. And I particularly love it when I run across two such things that appear to work synergistically.

That's what happened this week, a particularly challenging week for me, in large part because my daughter, Amber, came down with the chicken pox. Amber is rarely sick and hasn't been this sick since she was 3 or 4. (She's now almost 13), so I found myself 'off purpose' a fair amount of time.

Then, as I was browsing through my library in the 'spirituality section' for something that would give me a little guidance through this, I came across Eckhart Tolle's, The Power of Now. Having just written an article about what I gleaned from this book, I won't belabor the point here, only to say that beginning to witness my own mind-made pain regarding Amber was very valuable in moving through it.

My next nugget of gold came from another source, this time in listening form, that I'd been acquainted with in the past but had forgotten about. This was an Abraham-Hicks tape on Segment Intending.

As with many effective processes, this one is simple and direct. It involves breaking your day up into segments and setting at the start by creating a particular intention for that segment. For example, when I came up to my office this morning to write this ezine, I started by first setting the intention to be creative, to enjoy the experience of writing and to provide value to life for the pure joy of it.

When I finish this 'segment' of my day, I'll set a new intention for whatever is next, and on and on throughout the day. What I find interesting is that both of these nuggets -- witnessing and segment intending -- bring me more present to what is happening NOW, and allows me to be less in my head, caught up with worry of what might happen or regret about what has already happened. So, thanks Eckhart and Abraham-Hicks for giving me some additional tools for staying on purpose.

2005 Brad Swift of Life On Purpose Institute, Inc. This article can be reprinted freely online, as long as the entire article and this resource box are included.

Brad Swift

As a writer, I've written well over 300 magazine articles for a diverse assortment of magazines including Omni, Entrepreneur, New Age Journal, Yoga Journal, Utne Reader, Unity Magazine, Better Homes and Garden, Modern Maturity, and many others. I'm also a regular contributor to Veterinary Economics. (Yes, I still have a special place in my heart for animals.) My books include, WINNING THROUGH COACHING: Building Your Business Through Building Your Team and TRAVELING THE PURPOSEFUL PATH ? 6 Passages to an Inspired Life on Purpose.

As a public speaker, I lead programs on life purpose that are customized to fit such diverse groups as churches, spiritual centers, civic and professional organizations. The principles of these programs are also available in the 12-week teleclass, Living the Fulfilled Life. From these programs participants bring more focus to their life, experience a renewed sense of fulfillment, and lighten up and have more fun. Out of this focus, fulfillment, and fun emerges an ability to maintain balance in their life and a deeper appreciation for living.

One of my all time favorite ways of expressing my purpose is as a life purpose coach. I find the intimacy and creativity of one-on-one coaching to be a breathtaking experience. The select group of people who are my clients are very special to me, and with them I am constantly creating new facets of life purpose coaching that are then incorpoated into the other programs.

In short, the focus of my life is life purpose. From living on purpose, I've been blessed with an extraordinary life in which I am satisfied and fulfilled. My wife, Ann, and I share our redwood chalet home in the "Paradise Found" of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with our daughter, Amber, and a menagerie of purposeful and playful pets.