Most people treat purpose like a destination they haven't reached yet — something waiting at the end of sufficient effort or clarity. The 11th-century Jewish philosopher Bahya ibn Paquda had a different and stranger diagnosis: he thought the real obstacle wasn't confusion about what to do, but a kind of interior absenteeism — going through the correct motions of a purposeful life while your inner attention has quietly vacated the premises. He called this 'duties of the heart' versus 'duties of the limb,' and he was ruthless about the gap between them. You can train consistently, lead competently, optimize your health — and still be essentially absent from your own life. The practical implication cuts: purpose isn't found by adding new practices, but by noticing where your inner attention has already checked out of the ones you have.

Which of your current commitments are you executing correctly but attending to almost not at all?

Drawing from Medieval Jewish Philosophy — Bahya ibn Paquda (Duties of the Heart / Hovot HaLevavot, c. 1080 CE)