The ultimate balance question - work home balance.

I couldn’t sleep and I am up at 4:30 am on a Sunday morning listening to Nigel Marsh : How to make work-life balance work on TED talk. Ironic.

He is brutally honest and insightful and does this with such compelling humour,that it is difficult to ignore the reality of what he says.

Read more here at "The ultimate balance question"

Beyond GDP - Measuring well being

“Measuring our progress as a country not just by how our economy is growing, but by how our lives are improving . . . not just by our standard of living, but by our quality of life.” David Cameron.

The announcement was the latest evidence of a growing awareness among governments and economists that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other traditional metrics of economic progress fail to measure the kind of progress that makes life better.

Read more here "Beyond GDP"

How do you believe in yourself

We know we must believe in ourselves in order to achieve anything, but how do I learn to believe in myself?

This was a question that was posed to me at a recent workshop I was leading with CitiBank (Sri Lanka) executives.

Read more here for my thoughts on this question on "How do I believe in myself"

Welcoming another decade

What a decade it has been!!!

In June 2000 when Corporate Druids first began it’s work, I must admit that we didn’t have a very clear path nor very ambitious goals. However I had some very strong intentions that I unwaveringly held on to on the kind of influence Corporate Druids wanted to have in the world we lived in.

Read more at "Welcoming another decade"

Expecting too much from your expectations of others

I reflect on our attachments to our expectations of others, and how this can imprison our relationships.

Please click the title or the link below for more ...

http://www.corporatedruids.com/2010/12/expecting-too-much-from-your-expectations-of-others/

Acting today, a past of honour and a future of hope

We want to be able to look back on our past actions with honour.

But, if we feel regret, guilt, remorse on our past actions there in lies our greatest teacher showing us exactly the difference between
actions that bring honour and actions that brings regret, guilt and
remorse. An attachment to the regret, guilt and remorse stops you from
acting today. An awareness of the rise of those emotions empowers us to
break the habits and patterns that repeat such actions.

To read more http://bit.ly/bGstYV

What is your gentle action today?

Take a deep breath if you are feeling powerless.

If you think you are only a drop in the ocean, without the ability to influence change in the larger world, that your will and action will be diluted.

Breathe.

Know that as you breathe in, you are breathing the air that connects you to others, the environment and all living things.

As you breathe out, the cycle continues.

As we begin to understand the nature of chaos and complexity science, we realise that we are intricately connected and interwoven to everything.

The smallest and the biggest event is all connected and creates change. This is explained by the 'butterfly effect' that theorises that a "flap of the wings of a butterfly in Brasil will create a Tornado in Texas".

All living systems such as eco systems, human systems are complex systems. An ant colony and a the stock market is a complex system. There are patterns and structures in complex systems, where there are multiple interactions between many different components. Therefore even small changes can have far reaching and unpredictable impact.

This is heartening, because if human and social systems are complex systems, then even a small action by a single individual could have far reaching impact. This also means we have to take 'responsible action' because of the way a single individual can influence a system.

Often we imagine that to make a change, we need large external interventions. Actually this can destabilise the system. Instead, if you are within the system, you have a bigger impact. Because as you change, and act, the system changes from within. When the system changes you change, because you are an integral part of the system. So the cycle continues, in small and often unpredictable ways.

Make a gentle action.

A 'gentle action' (as suggested by Complexity Theorist David Peat), is an action that rises from within you, wholly connected to the environment, the situation, rather than a fragmented external intervention. A gentle action is in harmony with everything.

If you are beating yourself up that your actions are puny in a large complex system, stop! Remember that you are part of the system and therefore have all the possibility to make change.

Take heart. Be powerful. Be gentle.

You count.

Breathe.

Act.

Gently.

Wishing you powerful gentle actions.

Mihirini