Archive for the ‘Creating Your World’ Category

We have just completed the first week of the first year of the second decade of the new century. How did it go for you? It’s been busy for me. The “news” is always a challenge with air travel security issues, health care reform, and unemployment taking up so much air time. Perhaps we would all do well to spend less time on “the news” and more time on our own news. Here’s my news report for the New Year thus far…

My health is good. There’s peace in our neighborhood. I’m blessed to have work to do. We’ve got smog in Utah that needs to be cleaned up. There’s snow in the mountains that sustains our winter tourism business and which means we’ll have water in the spring. Sharon and I just enjoyed a PBS presentation entitled “The Emotional Life.” After a discussion of all the “self help” formulas out there along with the hard evidence about what actually makes humans happy, the conclusion of the program was that the greatest secret is really no secret. It is that, more than anything else, humans need to be connected with each other in meaningful ways to be happy. As my age and wisdom increase, I do believe that there are two ways we find our greatest joy: through meaningful connections to each other and by regular connections to the wonders of nature around us. 

With 51 weeks remaining in 2010, I plan to connect more with others to give service and to enjoy their company. I also plan for more running in the sunshine and more walks in the woods.

These may be times of change and personal transformation for you. Here’s an excerpt from The New American Prosperity, Secret #21, that has proven useful to many.

What’s Next?

There comes a time when life moves on
And courage prompts your footsteps.
It’s time to leave those well-worn paths
And sometimes bid farewell.

To do what’s next is no simple task.
Discomfort and strangeness take their toll.
But, o’er the hill, discoveries lie,
And these may be profound.

Some prefer what they’ve always done,
And to do it again and again.
Fear of change is dominant,
Inner power lies obscured.

Then, choose to do what’s next in view
And you will see the difference:
Insight deepened, perspective broadened,
And more revelations of you.

–Darby Checketts

Many of the business magazines I read indicate that the world of business is not just attempting to recover from a recession, but we are all discovering that the rules of our economy have changed. We are all looking at expenditures of our hard-earned dollars more closely. This is causing the retail industry to re-invent itself. The tourism/travel industry is marketing more aggressively than ever in its history to fill empty hotel rooms and restaurant seats. The housing industry is rebounding one day and slipping backward the next. I notice that three new homes are being built in our neighborhood. Two years ago, the property owner expected these to be 4500+ square feet. It appears a thousand square feet have been shaved from the builder’s blueprints. These are certainly times of uncertainty. 

We would like to have seen the “good times” keep rolling along. Instead, we are all challenged to re-invent life as we know it. As we do, two things happen. On the conservative side of the ledger, we discover that what’s really important in life isn’t about the money. On the more progressive side of things, we recognize that we had perhaps grown too comfortable and need to create whatever’s next to keep the world turning. The need to innovate is the battle cry. Once upon a time, we had a single phone hanging on the kitchen wall; now every member of the family carries a cell phone. Once upon a time, we could only play tunes on a Sony Walkman; then Steve Jobs and his team created the iPod and an entire iPod accessories industry. Once upon a time, our fingers did the walking through the Yellow Pages and now we Google. 

So, what’s the message? For now, be happy with what you’ve got while you simultaneously become a part of inventing whatever’s next. The good thing about the good ole days is that they were good to most of us. The good thing about the future is that it will bring breakthroughs that are just now being dreamt of and which will astonish us all as we Americans once again demonstrate our resiliency and ingenuity. After all, the most difficult times often bring out the best in us—the best of our compassionate natures and of our creative minds.

The year’s coming to an end. The holidays are on the horizon and the next two and a half months will go by rapidly, as we all know. I’m sure we’re all saying the same thing to each other, “Where did this year go?” Some will be glad when this year is gone and soon fades into history. At the same time, we have had an opportunity to learn much about human nature, business ethics, and economic resiliency.

What’s especially important is the opportunity for CREATION that lies ahead. 2010 marks the beginning of the second decade of this new millennium. There is an opportunity for refocusing and renewal. Consider what’s next for you, your friends and family, your community, and those with whom you work. 

Some feel as if they are passengers in an automobile moving down the highway, reacting with uncertainty to the turns and the bumps in the road, and hoping that things will work out. Others are moving forward very much in the driver’s seat of life and taking ownership for the process of creation. To move forward as families, communities, businesses, and as a nation, we need those who are willing to take the steering wheel and drive and those who will sit in the front passenger’s seat and navigate. What we don’t need are back seat drivers who rant and rave or fret and criticize, and who distract us from the course that lies ahead.

The journey continues to be exciting!  Enjoy it!  Drive on.

One of the most essential and highly prized qualities of leadership is “a tolerance for ambiguity or uncertainty.” Most individuals want more certainty. We often talk about the fear of the unknown or the discomfort of feeling “up in the air” about things. Many would prefer to have life laid out in a neat and orderly plan where one event follows another in a logical fashion. On the other hand, life is always full of surprises and of so many things we cannot totally predict. 

A great leader must steer a course through uncertainty. When others are faint-hearted, frustrated, or clamoring for “more data” to know what to do, the leader must follow a vision. It is the inner vision of what is possible and what can be created on the basis of faith and perseverance that sets extraordinary leaders apart. As they move forward, guided by their vision, others can follow with greater confidence even when the outcomes are not certain. 

Vision is not about having a certainty of knowledge, or relying on a GPS guidance system, or having a set of spreadsheets to mark the way forward. Vision is about having a sense of what’s needed and what is possible that allows you to move forward against the odds to create what was not there before. Vision precedes creation, which comes from optimism, imagination, and inspiration. We are thankful for leaders who have vision.

Invitation: Tell us how you deal with “ambiguity and uncertainty.”

Our nation is wrestling with change. Some of the wisest analysts of what the change process entails have identified four stages we experience:

INTRIGUE – CONCERN – STRUGGLE – PROGRESS

At first we become intrigued with the need for change and the possibilities of change. As the winds of change begin to blow, we become concerned about which way we should turn. Do we go with the wind or face into the wind and resist change? Then comes the mighty struggle as we come to grips with what change might demand of us and whether we can make the necessary shifts in our thinking and in our behaviors. We begin to try to change. Finally, we just get going and make it happen. We see progress and there is even more of the good and less of the bad than we might have expected. 

So, how do we help each other through times of change? At the INTRIGUE stage, we let our imaginations be free to contemplate the possibilities. At the CONCERN stage, we listen to each other and try to reserve judgment. At the STRUGGLE stage, we bolster our courage, make preparations, and we make some trade-offs to allow change to happen. At the PROGRESS stage, we celebrate our flexibility and our ingenuity. 

Change happens. It always will. It must. Otherwise, we dig in our heels, accept the status quo, and our progress ceases.

Invitation: Consider the four stages of change with your friends and family. Ask: “How can we be constructive participants in helping our nation, our neighborhood, and our family move forward?”

Summer’s not officially over, but, come Labor Day, most Americans seem to sense that the fall is a time when we get down to business to wrap up the current year well and to set the stage for a New Year to come. 

As we look to 2010, there is not only the New Year that will unfold, but the second decade of our new millennium. Wow, that came fast. I still remember celebrating New Year’s Eve 2000 as we welcomed the 21st Century. So, how will this second decade be different from the first? As we examine America’s role in the world community, as we strive for national unity in addressing our own problems of the economy, healthcare, education, and the general well-being of our communities, what would we change or re-invent? 

As you set goals and form your alliances, there is always the need to be energized and optimistic. At the same time, most of us seek to find some peace and contentment. The challenge is about balance in our lives. One fine man I know spoke from his deathbed and said, “Looking back on my life, I wish I had done even more of just two things: have fun and give service to others.” 

It is my dream for my fellow Americans, as we anticipate the second decade of the 21st Century, that we will enjoy our grand land and have fun with friends and family as we also make a difference in the quality of our lives and the quality of the communities to which we belong. There is a balance between Achievement and Contentment. There is a balance as we seek to positively “rock the world” and simultaneously promote peace on earth.  

Invitation: Set your goals for a new decade to come. Find the balance.

We are at a crossroads in America where we can become more and more a nation of special interests or we can be as one nation committed to the common good. Rather than point fingers at who or what is right or wrong, we should look for the common ground that will let us forge alliances that produce far more creative outcomes than any single institution of government or business could devise on its own. 

This is a time for listening, for thoughtful collaboration, and for reasonable compromise so that we can move forward as a nation. Our economic interests and our social needs can be simultaneously served. In order that we might all enjoy the New American Prosperity, we would do well to be as a nation of entrepreneurs with a collective social conscience. 

Invitation: Listen to both sides of a proposal. Release the positive energy that is inside conflict. Transform opposition into innovation.

In the third century BC, there lived a mathematician named, Archimedes. He is known for identifying some of the most important principles of physics. The most famous quotation attributed to him is: “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I could lift the world.” To learn what may have been a source of his boyhood inspiration, please read the parable that comprises Essay # 23 in The New American Prosperity. It is entitled “The Love of Learning.”

Recently, one of my friends made my day by telling me he read the essay to his two sons. In the parable, young Archimedes discovers the usefulness of a walking staff as he climbs a mountain near his village. I use the staff as an analogy to convey the importance of education. Here is my friend’s report of the reaction from his sons… 

“It was interesting to see their reaction, from first rolling their eyes, ‘come on dad do we have to listen to this?’ to seeing them pulled into the story as I read it. Having just climbed a notably high mountain, my older son could relate to the story. There was a good life lesson there too.”

Let me invite you to share and discuss this essay with your children and grandchildren. They will also enjoy another parable, which is the story of young Oliver. He is a wishy-washy boy who discovers the importance of getting out of bed on the right side in the morning. See Essay #38

Question: What’s your favorite New American Prosperity essay?

Over the years, it has been my privilege to develop friendships with and to sometimes coach and to support many fine individuals who are each leaders in their own arenas of life. It is interesting how many of these individuals express self-doubt or a reluctance to break out and explore new dimensions of their innate intelligence and talent. Usually, all it takes is a little nudging to get these individuals to overcome inertia and get going in some new directions. What is required is not a sudden bolt of super-human courage, but rather two things: (1) the ability to decide and (2) a vision of what it means to create your own world. 

To decide is to pick a place to start and to just do whatever’s next. Whatever’s next occurs in the context of what you want that you can begin to create. What you want is about desire. It’s there inside each of us. It is the fuel in the engine waiting to be ignited. Your “get going actions” ignite the fuel. The minute you begin to move forward, you are creating something new. Example: I saw a play the other day where a man said, “I can’t dance.” A woman placed his right arm around her waist, took his left hand in hers and leaned forward as she asked him to take three steps back. He did. Then, she asked him to take three steps forward. Soon he was dancing. We all know dozens of such examples.

Fuel your creation with desire. Decide to start somewhere. Realize that you begin to create your new world by the simple steps you take in any new direction. You don’t have to be an overnight expert. They say that successful people simply do the things those who fail don’t like to do. A great many of us are afraid of being embarrassed on the dance floor, but successful people get out there and move their feet anyway. They never again say, “I can’t dance.”

Invitation: Tell us when you have overcome fear to just get out there and dance.