“What I learned is that success feels very different when it serves a purpose bigger than yourself.”
Finding and living in alignment with your true purpose can be a transformative journey. Yet, many struggle with identifying their life’s purpose and aligning their goals with it. In this series, we aim to explore how individuals discover their purpose and create a life that reflects their authentic selves, leading to greater fulfilment and success. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Oliver Yue Zhao.
Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
My career has taken some unexpected turns. I started out studying medical engineering because I was fascinated by how the human body works. Later, I completed a PhD in Development Economics at the University of Alberta, worked in neuroscience technology in Silicon Valley, built businesses as an entrepreneur and eventually found my way into teaching.
At the time, none of it felt connected. Every few years, I seemed to be moving in a completely different direction. Looking back now, I can see that each chapter was helping me understand a different part of what it means. First the body, then the economy, then business, then leadership, and eventually the deeper questions around meaning and purpose. Finally, the dots connected. What once looked like a fragmented path was actually pointing to the same direction, ultimately defining who I am today and crystallising my ultimate purpose.
For more than twenty years, I’ve taught executives and entrepreneurs at institutions including Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, CEIBS, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and Peking University. Today, through Oriental Wisdom Academy, I help leaders combine business success with wisdom, self-awareness and a deeper understanding of themselves.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person that you are grateful for, who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
There have been many teachers who have influenced my life, but one person stands out. After a near-fatal car accident in New Zealand, I found myself searching for answers that traditional education couldn’t give me. I had spent years studying science, economics and business, but suddenly I was asking questions about purpose, consciousness and what really matters in life. During that journey, I was fortunate enough to learn from a Zen monk who became an important teacher and guide. What he taught me wasn’t complicated. He helped me understand that success and wisdom are not the same thing. You can achieve everything society tells you to chase and still feel something is missing. He encouraged me to look inward rather than constantly outward. That changed the way I think about leadership, business and life itself.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Resilience: It is the fundamental ability to endure setbacks, adapt to challenges, and persist through difficulties without losing direction or momentum. Because success in leadership is rarely linear, resilience ensures that a leader can survive failures, learn from mistakes, maintain team morale during crises, and turn obstacles into stepping stones to success.
Visionary Foresight: It is the capacity to perceive emerging trends and anticipate future developments. As the Chinese saying “明道取势” (understanding the fundamental principles and grasping the prevailing trends) suggests, this involves both grasping the deeper “Way” and accurately reading the external environment, so decisions are made ahead of the curve rather than in reaction to it. Importantly, with sustained personal cultivation or practice to a certain level, a leader may gradually develop a degree of intuitive or perceptive ability to foresee possible futures. The success of Steve Jobs has already fully proved this point.
Compassion and Altruism: A genuine concern for the well‑being of others (clients, employees, society, etc.) and a commitment to serving collective interests over personal gain. This inspires trust and loyalty because people willingly follow a leader who embodies a higher purpose because they feel seen, valued, and part of something meaningful. This trait fosters intrinsic motivation within the team, which translates into higher engagement, collaboration and long-term organisational resilience. Ultimately, success is not just about achieving goals, but about doing so in a way that uplifts others, and that enduring impact is what defines a truly successful leader.
Let’s now turn to the crux of our interview. Was there a defining moment or experience in your life when you felt a clear sense of your purpose? How did it influence the goals you set from that point forward?
Yes, it happened after a serious car accident in New Zealand. At the time, I was successful by most people’s standards. I had a PhD, I had built businesses, I was making good money and travelling around the world. If you had asked me then, I would have told you I was living the dream. When the accident happened, I genuinely thought I was about to die. What surprised me was what came into my mind in those moments. I expected to think about my achievements, my businesses or the goals I still wanted to reach. Instead, I found myself thinking about people. How I had treated them, whether I had helped them, what kind of impact I had left behind. That experience changed me.
When I survived, I became obsessed with understanding why none of my achievements had appeared in those final moments. Why was it relationships, kindness and contribution that mattered most? That question led me into years of studying philosophy, meditation, psychology and leadership. Before then, I wanted to be successful, afterwards, I wanted to be useful. Those are very different goals.
What practical steps can someone take to begin uncovering their life’s purpose if they feel lost or unsure about their direction?
The first thing I would say is slow down. Most people are moving so quickly that they never create enough space to hear the voice of their hearts. Spend time reflecting, go for a walk in nature without your phone. Sit quietly, write down what genuinely excites you and what drains you. Another useful question is this: if money wasn’t an issue, what would you spend your time doing? Purpose often leaves clues, we just don’t pay enough attention to them. Most importantly, don’t put pressure on yourself to have everything figured out. Purpose is rarely discovered overnight. It usually reveals itself gradually.
How do you differentiate between external pressures — like societal expectations — and the inner calling that aligns with your true self?
For me, external pressure does not truly exist, especially when you have absolute certainty that your actions align with a higher truth or a universal Way (the Dao). When your work is dedicated to serving the greater good and even contributing meaningfully to the future of humanity, societal expectations lose their weight and influence over you.
While external factors may trigger temporary, instinctive emotional stress, these are merely physical reactions that can be dissolved through practices like meditation, rather than genuine internal conflicts. Once external pressures are neutralised by an unwavering commitment to truth, what remains is a clear, resolute inner calling and a steadfast determination to move forward.
Can you share an example of a time when you adjusted or abandoned a goal because it no longer aligned with your deeper sense of purpose? What did you learn from that experience?
The biggest example was my relationship with success itself. For many years, I believed that achievement was the ultimate goal. I worked incredibly hard, built businesses and pursued the traditional markers of success. Eventually, I realised that continuing to chase more wasn’t bringing me closer to fulfilment. That doesn’t mean success is bad, success is important. The problem is when it becomes the goal rather than the outcome. I shifted my focus towards education, leadership and helping other people grow. What I learned is that success feels very different when it serves a purpose bigger than yourself.
What are “5 Ways to Align Your Goals With Your True Self”?
1. Recognise Your Level of Cognition
With my 3M Model (Three Realms of Cognition), you need to firstly recognize which level of self you are operating from; the animalistic self, the mental/intellectual self, or the true nature/spiritual self. At the highest level of true nature, your goals and your true self are inherently unified.
2. Elevate to Heart-Nature
The real task is not to invent methods for alignment, but to elevate ourselves to that heart‑nature level. This is achieved through sustained inner cultivation and mind‑training, which awakens the true self and brings clarity to both our vision and our life’s mission.
3. Integrate Personal and Organisational Missions
Once awakened, we see that our personal purpose and our organisational mission are not separate; they are expressions of the same authentic core.
4. Practice the “Living Toward Death” Perspective
A powerful practice in the Oriental Wisdom Academy leadership class to facilitate this integration is the “living toward death” perspective, which helps leaders connect their true self, their personal mission, and goals of their enterprise into one coherent whole.
5. Commit to Continuous Inner Cultivation
Alignment is not a destination but a practice. By constantly returning to a state of stillness and sincere self-inquiry, you ensure that your goals remain anchored in your authentic self, regardless of external circumstances.
What advice would you give to people trying to pursue their purpose while managing the demands of day-to-day life, such as work, family, and other responsibilities?
My advice is this: if you feel a conflict between your life purpose and your daily responsibilities -work, family, and other obligations — that tension is actually a signal. It tells you that your purpose may not yet be big enough, or that you have not yet risen high enough to see the larger picture.
When your mission is truly aligned with your deepest self, it is vast enough to embrace every aspect of your life; there is no need for “balance” in the sense of trade‑offs, because everything falls into its proper place naturally.
So instead of looking for techniques to juggle competing demands, focus on elevating yourself. Through inner cultivation; stillness, meditation, and sincere self‑inquiry, quiet your mind so that you can truly hear your inner calling. That calling will guide you to a purpose that is not only grand but also inherently harmonious with your family, your work, and your daily duties. When you stand at that higher level, you will see that a genuinely meaningful mission does not require sacrifice or compromise; it integrates and perfects everything around you. Keep climbing, and the apparent contradictions will dissolve.
How can our readers further follow your work?
Readers can follow my work through Oriental Wisdom Academy, which launches globally this year. The academy brings together leadership, psychology, Eastern philosophy and practical business thinking for entrepreneurs, executives and leaders who want to thrive in the age of AI while staying deeply connected to what makes us human.
My mission is simple: to help leaders build successful businesses without losing themselves in the process.
This article was first published on Authority Magazine, July 2026.