Awareness

There are a number of things that are not quite the way that I want them in my life at the moment.  I would venture and say that most people can say the same at the moment.  What am I doing about it?  I have come to a place where I realise that awareness of who I am is once again giving me the breakthrough.

I recently did the Myers Briggs personality test again and through doing this I have come to realise where my blind spots are holding me back.  The biggest insight has been that I get stressed when things are not settled.  I really like getting finality and closure and if things are 'in the air' I get stressed.  For the last few months I have been trying to clearly understand why I get stressed and this I believe is a very great insight for myself.  What I also realise is that I unsettle things for myself by desiring growth.  So on the one hand having things settled really helps me but on the other hand I am very future orientated and struggle to be present because I want to grow.

It doesn't make things easier however because even though I know this is what causes the stress how do I now go about improving my situation.  Certain things simply are outside of my control and will be settled when they are settled.

The most important thing that I do have control over is my response, not reaction, response.  Reaction is impulsive and response is decided.  I choose my response.  I therefore need to become aware of the things that are unsettling me, take a breath to experience the emotions and then decide the most appropriate response to the situation.  The bottom line however is that if I don't have a greater dream and purpose that propels me forward it becomes a futile exercise and very tiring.  So using a personality analysis tool to understand how I react has become very useful in order for me to recognise the emotions and fear I am going through in order to decide how I would like to respond.
Phew!  All this growing is hard work.

So if you are not serious about stepping out and going from survive to alive don't try this at home.

Am I Generation Y?

In the last few weeks my circumstances and conversations have led me to ask whether I am Generation Y.  It seems like the general definition of Generation Y is the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s, typically regarded as increasingly familiar with digital and electronic technology.

This is really not very specific.  Upon searching a bit further I also came upon the following (http://www.rosettathurman.com/2010/07/36-facts-about-generation-y-in-the-workplace-and-beyond/):

• About 60% of younger workers say it is not very likely or not likely at all that they will stay with their current employers for the remainder of their working life. (In contrast, 62% of Generation X workers say it’s likely they will never leave their current employer while 84% of Baby Boomers expect to remain with their current employer for the rest of their working life.)
• Only 1/3 of Millennials say their current job is their career. 
• 41% of Millennials use only a cell phone and have no landline.
• 53% of the total blogging population is 21-35 years old. 

and

• Most live under the radar of establishment (www.litmos.com) 

Now the picture starts getting a little clearer.  Perhaps I can summarise what I understand Millenials or Generation Y'ers are all about:  I want to be real about who I am and do not necessarily want to subscribe to the rules and norms of the 'establishment'.  I see possibilities everywhere and get frustrated with people that look at me and want to subscribe a certain role to me because of my age.  I am passionate about change and want to see that our planet is treated better.

From this point of of view I definitely am part of Generation Y and proud of it!  What I however have encountered is that society, or more specifically business, is not that open to Generation Y.  They are still operating on older command and control models that is not Generation Y friendly.  So here is where the radical change comes in that I have spoken about previously.  Now, I suspect that there are a  lot of Generation Y'ers out there that are frustrated with the way things are but feel disempowered to do so.  On the other hand I also see more Generation Y'ers that are working for themselves and disregard 'the establishment'.  I love it!

I see a future where more people step out, are creative, connect and collaborate.  More freedom, more real, and deeper relationships because everyone's voice matters from the beginning and we are mutually responsible for the freedom we create.  Oh yeah, I am definitely part of this generation - bring it on!

This awareness inspires me to keep on writing and spreading the word that there is more out there and the more people get up and show what they've got the stronger the movement will become.  I guess I am helping to create a beachhead in my area of influence.

P.s I know this post is a day late but I was kidnapped by aliens that did experiments on my mind... :)

Revolution vs. Radical

A few posts ago as part of the mini-series focusing on 5 Things to Think About I spoke about revolutionary change.  Although I believe it gave a good portrayal of how intense I feel about change for the better in society pioneered by business I now realise that my word use was not very good.

Revolution normally holds some form of violent action/reaction as symbol of the movement for change.  Although I know I get impatient and sometimes want to give people a swift kick under the... um... backside I do not think violence should form part of the imagery when change for good in the business world is being considered.

So I had one of those midnight moments, you know when your eyes pop open in bed and you see the light.  No, I wasn't dying!  What I mean is that I believe that I suddenly came to the insight that the word radical is much more appropriate than revolution.

Why?  Simple - radical refers to going to the root or origin of something and that is exactly what I love doing and challenge people to do.  I am therefore asking us to look to the root of business and as a simple and powerful question:  "What is it for?"

More dramatic than that I want to turn on my philosopher side and ask each of us individually the same question:  "What am I for?"  In other words, what do I stand for, what am I here to do?  On a much deeper level I ask myself what makes me special?  What are my dreams?  How can I contribute?  How can I add to life and not take away?  Survive to alive?

The sad reality is that I meet few people who think this way and even less in the business world because instead of doing business they do busyness.  People get up in the morning, jump in the car, rush through traffic and start the process of profit at the expense of themselves, nature, and society.  Yes, yes, I know that I am taking a very bleak view on things but remember I want radical stuff man!  So let's get to our own roots in order to radically change the roots of business.  Dig into the whys of everyday - don't just assume because assuming is the worst kind of laziness and fear.  ...Too lazy to challenge the fear of having to do something different, speaking up, or radically changing something (like yourself).  In business ultimately we are individuals that have come together for a commercial purpose but not primarily - the primary focus is people, let's not forget that!  Commerce should serve people, not the other way around.

Ps. I just couldn't resist using an example of Jackson Pollock's work for today's image.

Project Freedom

Thus far I have shared journeys with you in a retrospective fashion with perhaps a few glimpses into the present and future.
I want to mix things up a bit and also raise the bar.  I continuously speak of the journey from survive to alive and currently I am engaging on Project Freedom.  No, I am not participating on the next NASA programme but by identifying clear values (check my previous post) I now have to align goals and actions.  I will therefore give you a front row seat and a challenge.
As I progress on my journey I hope it will be entertaining, meaningful and inspiring and that it will challenge you to take action and overcome inhibition, fear, and obstacles.

So what exactly am I referring to?  Well, if you missed out on my previous posts (the mini-series about 5 Things to Think About) then I will quickly summarise:  Recently I have identified some clear values that I have always believed in but through some pretty tough times have been revealed as highly important.  These values are freedom, simplicity and creativity.

For many years I have been writing this blog without really pushing it that hard.  I believe that I have some skill to write but more importantly that I have a talent for challenging things.  This is because my biggest talent most probably is connectedness - the constant awareness that we are part of something bigger and that by creating connections between one another (i.e. relationships) we have the opportunity to serve this ultimate Greatness (capitalised because of my believe in It being beyond the visible and much greater than us).

I do however now realise that I need to take the next step or steps.  The first is regular blog postings and I think about once a week sounds pretty good (I am going to try Thursdays and see how it goes...).  I also need to add more value.  That is why I am going to be compiling short writings that I will sell at a reasonable price.  I will also be looking into subscription services.  I have been working on my eBook for a while now and I am aware that I need to focus on it more diligently.  I am also considering using my blog as an advertising space although I am not very fond of the idea.  I will perhaps try it out to see how it goes but will be discretionary about what gets advertised - if it could add value to the people reading my blog I will allow it.
Bottom line:  Survive to Alive needs to be one of the avenues that I use to make sure that I am fully alive.  Through the posts, books, and other value adding products and services I want to create freedom for myself and my family.  This will also require me to be creative and as far as I am concerned it is simple (...like I said, as far as I am concerned).

So I will be sharing my progress as I go along.  I will continue to blog about going from survive to alive and this time around I am illustrating it with my own journey.

P.s. You might have noticed that I have started using my own photos in my posts.  I will continue doing so as part of a more creative effort.