Raising Social Consciousness

My personal theme and goal for this year is to raise social consciousness…. one person at a time. The companies that I work with in Japan inspired this theme. They take Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to a whole new level. It is not another marketing gimmick, but a real desire to create a sustainable society for the generations to come. They support their vision with actions and resources, and raise the consciousness of their employees in this area.

There are a lot of people out there who believe that caring about a sustainable society is either for hippies or for people who are close to the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It seems, however, that we might have passed a tipping point. During the …

The Big Gap

A friend and I were having a discussion over email a few weeks ago about healthy eating and an article we had both read. We both agreed how important it was and how we needed to eat better, exercise more, and to take time for these things. However, eventually we wound up in the same conversation we have had time and time again. We call it the “big gap”. This is the gap between what we know, and what we do or what we value that leads to inconsistencies in our actions. This is where you know what to eat, but instead choose everything but the vegetables; you plan to spend time with your kids because you want that to be a priority, but you …

Which Dog Will You Feed? Choosing Our “Reality”

In 1995 I decided to embrace optimism as a strategy for creating possibilities. It wasn’t a rational choice, it was an intuitive leap of faith. My many years of education as a physicist had taught me to ignore my intuition, but logic was insufficient to overcome my exuberance. You see I’d just had my eyes opened by a truly gifted coach who’d helped me discover that the person holding me back my entire life had been myself. Once I recovered from the shock of that revelation I made a decision to use my enormous power to shape reality to create a more hospitable environment, starting with my own attitude. …

A Shift of Mind

Over the years, we’ve given away many copies of Louis Hay’s book: “you can heal your life”. The main theme of the book is that “dis-ease can be healed if we are willing to change the way we think!”

Louis Hays went through life with many tragedies. When she was a little girl of 18 months, she experienced her parents divorcing. She remembered with horror when her mother went to work as a live-in domestic and boarded her out. She cried nonstop for three weeks.  She was abused at the age of 5 and finally ran away from home and school at age of 15. She was diagnosed with cancer when her career had just begun to flourish in the fashion industry. However, by …

Happiness: How can I get more of it?

I recently watched this video on TED Talks, by Shawn Achor, author of the Happiness Advantage; I suggest you watch it now,
http://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work.html

Shawn’s book is based in Positive Psychology. In essence saying that the lens with which we view the world will determine our future happiness, and thus, success.

There is a simple message that Achor sends in his work that has had a profound effect on my attitude toward happiness in just the last several weeks. As Achor says, we are taught that if we are successful we will be happy, when in reality if we are happy we will be successful. This, as I said, simple concept has completely changed how I approach each day. I am the parent of three young …

Taoist Harmony

“Knowing others is intelligence,
knowing yourself is true wisdom.  –  Lao-Tzu

Perhaps it was kismet, but I was quite surprised to read Michelangelo’s March 3 essay, having always intended to submit this week’s blog on the subject of reconciling apparent contradictions when traveling the sometimes uneven road to sustained well being.  We need not look farther than the current political season to see a lack of willingness to embrace disparate views.  Televised “reality” thrives on edited conflict and contradiction.  In our personal lives, a perceived slight, bumper to bumper traffic or a shoe lace that snaps with no time left can displace a disproportionate amount of time and energy, leaving us distracted or drained for part of the day.  Instant remedies abound – …

Checking in with yourself

Lately, I am reminded that to live happily and in a state of balance, it takes a constant effort.

Life keeps moving, things are in a constant state of change, moving, going, without stopping for anyone. Things accumulate, you add more things on the list. More things fill up your day. It’s easy to get sidetracked, distracted, to lose focus, to lose perspective. To lose sight of who you are and where you want to go.

When these things accumulate, when the to do list is endless and the phone calls, emails, text messages, meetings, project deadlines, holidays, birthdays, school events, dentist appointments, house cleaning, dinner guests fill up your list until it seems there is no time left for you, not one …

Resolving Conflicts Quickly / Preventing Conflicts Effectively / Creating Powerful Collaborations

Sitting down to write I began thinking about my work and it’s direct impact on the state of well-being we all like to have.  The areas that come up for me include the importance of taking personal responsibility for quickly resolving conflicts (breakdown’s,) making sure our agreements with collaborators are clear and that they provide an effective container that can hold, nurture and sustain a powerful collaboration.

The nuts and bolts and how to’s I will leave for another day…what I’m going to speak to today is how critical taking RESPONSIBILITY is.

Most of us avoid taking personal responsibility for conflict resolution. Even though our culture is litigious, we  lack the courage to deeply connect with others and we personally avoid confrontation. If we have …

A Very Wise Man…

A very wise man once said “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” He also said “If A equals success, then the formula is A = X + Y + Z, where X is work, Y is play and Z is keep your mouth shut.” Albert Einstein.
I find this philosophy to be incredible useful at this point in my life. It is my experience that at times, even living in “paradise”, I struggle to maintain a happy outlook every moment of the day. I try my best to live in the moment and to accept all that life has to offer instead of worrying about …

Empathy and Wellbeing

In 1985 The World Cultural Alliance (WCA) and Alianza Cultural de México hosted in Guadalajara México the first of seven International Empathy Gatherings. The idea of these Empathy Gatherings was to create and discover through dialogues about the essence of Empathy, its influence in behavior, interactions and consciousness among individuals and cultures. Jerry Wagner, being a prominent Member of the WCA, was an important energy for accomplishing this endeavor. In 1993 he was granted with The International Empathy Award, in recognition for his efforts and inspiration.

Many sensitive and prominent entrepreneurs, intellectuals, scientists, artists and cultural promoters participated with their understanding, knowledge and experiences through the Seven International Empathy Gatherings we held in Guadalajara from 1985 to 1995. Among them we listened to Jerry Wagner, …