Brain food: Making a difference After an interesting day where someone I met for the first time asked me have you ever helped someone change their behaviour?. Well, yes....thats my business I replied. Really, well I believe everything you teach is brain washing. I know what i want and if my team dont buy into it then Ill find some new ones who do. Nice fella. Now, after digesting this comment whilst trying to find inspiration for my book - I decided to have my say on virtual paper. I hope you dont mind. I think we all have decided that this planet is a mess. We know this, right? Racists masquerading as politicians. Murderers hiding behind faith. Businesses feeding our immediate need for gratification whilst killing our well-being. Tech and media companies installing ‘fun’ apps whilst removing the need for heartfelt conversations and meaningful relationships. The problem with the world as I see it is quite simple. We are all individuals striving for something to make us significant. We use words to express our inner feeling around how we want to find this existence. Power. Love. Well-being. Faith. Wealth. Success. Control. We are all searching for something we can hang our hats on. None of these are bad things unless of course its to the detriment of others and often, to ourselves.. And this is where the problem lies -ideologies. Wanting to believe in some utopian world where everyone thinks, says and does the same thing. That’s simply not ideal though is it. It all depends on the leader.That’s a cult. A dictatorship if you like. People of influence standing on podiums manipulating the uncertain masses who crave their significance to be served. They see like-minded people surrounding them and buy in. We all need certainty in our lives. We get distracted from our true purpose and find somewhere to sit and listen. A place to fit in and find comfort. Comfort – a value that supports peace of mind but often helps feed the powerful. Its easy to be comfortable. There is no pressure you see. ‘I want to have a comfortable life’. or a comfortable job where the fat cats take all your hard earned bonuses. But when there are challenges comfort simply cannot support us. The world is not comfortable so to bury our heads in the sand and seek self comfort is fine but its not serving humanity and our futures. We need to put this value to one side and seek something else. A need for equality perhaps? Empowerment? Love? Togetherness? Connectivity? I see idealistic thinking first hand in my working life. Motivational speakers telling the same old stories with the same old methods just re-fed through a modern tongue. The audience engaged on every word waiting in hope for that magic solution to their lives. The ideology. They spend thousands to receive these magic words. The spell is cast. The debt is also created. They now feel that they cannot remove themselves even when they hear or feel something that doesnt fit well. Believe me – I’ve sat there. And I have walked away. I wanted something more. I wanted to know HOW to put these ideals into action. To live them – not just listen to them and feel good when I can take the workbooks away and tell my friends what I have ‘learnt’. I didn’t want to put them in my car boot and feel satisfied. Now, I am not saying attending seminars or anything of the kind is bad. I actually run some! But, if you are no better off than before then then you are clearly searching in the wrong places for your purpose or significance. If this means you are parting with money you cannot afford then ask yourself why you are here? If they get you to buy in by funding your commitment in some way – then stop and think. Why would they really do this? If they are asking you to remove yourself from a society or your social circle that isn’t on the same page – ask yourself the question – why? What’s the problem? If they are not supporting you with the HOW to make a difference or a change then stop. We need to be serving everyone and everything through teaching people not just what to do, but HOW to live richer lives and creating brighter communities where we can support everyone. Not creating barriers and limiting belief systems. I don’t want to be known as ‘a motivational speaker’ as I am often called. My significance comes from wanting to be a known as ‘resourceful educator.’ Someone who can help others achieve significance through making a difference. Let’s start by building better values which help build better people. Let’s look at generating successful behaviours and committed communities/businesses rather than just reading and quoting text. Let’s live in a world where everyone can share – regardless. No need for superiority. No need for judgements. No need for fearing individuality or creative thoughts. A fair world that’s fun to live in. You see if we don’t stand up and make a difference the powerful talkers will takeover. They will force their way through without challenge. We’ll all be sold down the river. Let’s all be powerful doers. Make a difference to someone, everyone each and every day. Don’t not just live to your ideology. Find real purpose and dont get distracted. Dont dismiss people because they dont believe in what you believe. Welcome them and lets educate each other in stuff that actually matters. Share. Cars don’t make a difference. Houses don’t make you feel better. Winning your latest business deal is a short term fix. Spending time together matters. Significance comes from making a difference to us all. The sooner we learn this the sooner we can all find the answer we strive for. The answer that has been around us all the time. theguardian/society/2014/oct/13/monkeys-queen-inequality-capitalism-rich-poor-private-security
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:51:59 +0000