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Little things can change the world. A simple 20 minute film is doing just that: The Story of Stuff. The story of stuff is the story of us. It explains why we came - by design - to be related to so heavily as consumers, and it explains why we have forgotten how valuable we inherently are.If you've read my article, The World Needs Your Passion, you'll know that this premise is at the very core of what I do and I have been delighted to see such synergy in Annie's approach and my own. We share an insatiable passion for people, and for the planet upon which our survival is dependent. We believe in human potential - that we are all walking, talking, breathing solutions, and that we don't need anyone other than who we have right now to bring forth what is required. We share a conviction that we need to look somewhere other than the work-spend-shop cycle for our sense of value and purpose.We both recognise that our current set-up wastes people and communities (at best) and destroys them (at worst) - all because we are putting 'stuff' above principles such as equality, health, earth stewardship and justice. There's also a tremendous amount of excitement as we see people uniting to reclaim communities and means of production. I am continually inspired, at the moment more than ever, by being connected with so many inspirational people and projects. Every day, I get to work with women who dare to hope that their passion is of value to the world and who are brave enough to overcome the obstacles which would otherwise prevent them from following it. All around me, I see engaged, proactive citizens taking small steps which make a big difference.
If you're inspired by The Story of Stuff, click here to see Annie speak further about this project and its global impact. [With thanks to Mark D for directing me this way].
Do Things Differently
1) Consider: What does your identity as 'consumer' feel like? How - and how often - are you related to in this way? What are your consumption habits? How much of this enriches and nourishes you? How much of it connects you with others and their passions? What's next for you in this area?
2) Consider: What does your identity as 'citizen' feel like? How - and how often - do you engage in this way? What do you contribute as a citizen, and what do you receive? What's next for you in this area?
3) This week, become acutely aware of your relationship with the 'golden arrow' that Annie describes. As you read news articles, participate in conversations, and sell or buy services/products - where is that 'golden arrow' in the equation? If it's not there, what's there instead? What do you notice about our system, and about the importance of your place within it?
** Come and hear me speak about 'The World Needs Your Passion'. It's the first time I'm turning the core message of my article (and my work generally) into a talk and I'm nervous and excited! Tues 27th January, 7.30pm, Cambridge, UK. See here for more details.
This is Global Entrepreneurship Week and to mark its start, I volunteered at the first day of Chain Reaction, an event which saw 700 people gather to explore how entrepreneurship can be a source of social good.
There was a variety of inspirational speakers including Tim Smit of the Eden Project, Sophi Tranchell of Divine Chocolate, and Eugenie Harvey of We Are What We Do. My greatest surprise of the day was the closing remarks made by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. His focus was on the economy but not the all-too-familiar message of "this is just a downturn, we'll be back to big, strong, lean and mean again soon" of which many politicians and business people are trying to persuade us. Instead, he acknowledged the economic crisis as one and the same as our resource crisis, emphasised the 'climate change imperative' and urged the importance of investing in renewable energy and agriculture. He described these times as experiencing the birth pangs intrinsic to us becoming a global community and as such that they alert us to the need for transition phases.
In many ways, the general thrust of the day was similar to the approach taken by Rob Hopkins, instigator of the Transition Movement - that we are entering transition years and that the innovation, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit which got us in to this situation can now be re-harnessed and directed towards finding solutions to the world's needs.
As I left the conference and spotted in the newspaper that more City jobs are being cut, I had a vision of those thousands of people moving not from employment to unemployment, but to enterprise. A move away from complacent expectation that someone else will employ us as a cog in some wheel.... to a belief that we can have great ideas, gather with others to turn them into reality, and effect social change through doing so.
It feels like time to get excited. There's the sense of a new model of business emerging. It's not the old way where business is set up purely for the sake of profit with the directors perhaps developing a conscience later in life, creating philanthropic foundations to offset the damage their enterprise has done. The new model is that enterprise itself is a vehicle for answering society's needs. The win-win-win nature of this transaction continually inspires me. I spoke to two women at the conference who were feeling increasingly frustrated as the day went on. They were hearing about all these inspirational projects yet feeling that their own gifts were being wasted, their potential not fulfilled. I hear this so frequently when interviewing women for my Inspirational 100 project - the pain of that gap between what you could be doing, and what you are doing. One of the women started crying as she told me that in her previous decade of working life she felt that she had added no value. She knew that she could give, and that she WAS, more than that. It reiterated to me this great human need for personal fulfilment through fulfilling our own potential - and that one way of doing this is by fulfilling a need in the world through enterprise.
Do Things Differently
1) Inquiry: What is the most entrepreneurial thing I have ever done? What was it like to match my strengths/interests with a need in the world?
2) Inquiry: If starting a business were the only way to effect social change, what need would I want to meet and how could a business model serve that need?
3) If there were no time to waste and you were really needed right now, what would be your next action step? Get whatever support you need to make it. * *
(c) Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2008
NEW!! - A Business Called You. Workshop - 29th November 2008, Cambridgeshire. This is the very exciting launch of a new workshop designed for anyone who is considering starting their own entrepreneurial venture. Devised and facilitated by me and hosted by Swavesey Village College at Community Education rates, this is a FANTASTIC opportunity to attend a super-affordable, high-impact workshop and get you moving on that entrepreneurial path. For more information, visit my website and then leave your details so I can forward them to the college's booking office. * *
Where were you when you heard that Obama would be the next American president? I was in bed, it was 6am, and I got a text from my dad with lots of exclamation marks. I almost cried with joy, as I know many did do. On Facebook, my friends' statuses were jubilant, my clients that day had renewed vigour, women at the gym were beaming. It was literally as if the air had changed, the atmosphere had a different smell, the whole world was a different colour.As far as I saw it, this wasn't about a man of mixed-race who represented triumph at the end of a long, hard civil rights battle. I'm not naive enough to believe that all divisions and inequalities had dissolved. Obama is still a middle-class, Christian, heterosexual male and as such has more demographically in common with George Bush than with me. The day he was elected was also the day Californians voted against same-sex marriage.No, what is new and refreshing and inspirational is this man's ability to hold a vision and expand it to an ever-increasing slice of the world. To touch more and more people with his realistic idealism, his genuinely-believed "Anything is possible" ideology, his focus on peace, democracy and earth stewardship. He stands in his role as a true leader, someone you can believe in and trust in. How he speaks - no notes, so relaxed, so in his body - inspired me to buy a book on Transformational Speaking, so hungry was I to learn what he does so seemingly effortlessly.
My client summed it up beautifully, saying: "I feel now we can shake off the cynicism". For a while now, my friend and I have had a familiar faithful conversation where we bemoan the lack of true leaders in the world. Now, we don't get to play so passive any more. Obama shows that we need to throw away the excuses and say "Yes we can" - and then get on and do it.
If we want leaders like Obama, we need to support them, vote for them, become them. There is no shortage of brilliant, inspirational people in our world. Let's just make sure they know how significant they are and play the roles they are here to play.Do Things Differently
1) Make a list of ten people, alive today, who give you hope, who inspire you, who you're happy to have in charge of their slice of the world, no matter how big or small that piece is. Alongside their name, identify why it matters that they play that role.
2) Share this with each of them - alert that person to their own significance. They might not have a clue. Also, find a way of supporting them.
3) Scan the list you made in the first section and notice which values popped up repeatedly. Allow yourself to realise what's most important/significant for you - this might help you with the next step...
4) Finally, identify which slice of life you are currently responsible for. How are you doing? What's next for YOU as a leader in this area? (Hint: It's probably a step that feels scary) Do it! :-)
(c) Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2008
I'm delighted to be showcasing one of my favourite ever ventures: Morsbags. The story is - an inspirational young woman named Claire Morsman realised the devastating impact of plastic bags on marine animals. Rather than starting a campaign to stop people using plastic bags, she decided to create an alternative and came up with 'social guerilla bagging'. This involves groups of people getting together with a few sewing machines to turn recycled material into beautiful, useful bags and then distributing these outside supermarkets etc. Not only has she created a proactive solution to a problem, she's inspired people to connect and get creative - and ultimately become more alive and involved in their world.
I first made a bag at an event several months ago where Claire was guiding people through the process. I can't tell you how proud I am of that bag - if you see me in person, ask me to show it to you as I carry it everywhere I go. Apparently that one bag will save me using about 80 plastic bags and it's immensely satisfying to refuse a bag and put shopping in my home-made one instead. We managed to acquire a sewing machine via my father-in-law's colleague, my grandma visited to teach me how to use the machine, and then a friend and I got together to start a little creative pod here in Cambridge.
On her website, Claire has paired up a Sad Fact (over 1 million plastic bags are consumed per minute globally) with a Happy Fact (making morsbags will help immediately). We can see this problem/solution match being true for so many aspects of this venture:
Sad fact: Old sewing machines are sitting around gathering dust
Happy fact: This project is inspiring new generations to learn old skills and perhaps reconnect with our society's elders
Sad fact: People feel isolated
Happy fact: This is an excuse to get together with existing friends, make new friends and feel part of a community
Sad fact: People feel bored and sit in front of the TV all evening
Happy fact: Here's a way of spending time creatively, doing something enjoyable and unusual
Sad fact: People feel useless and unimportant
Happy fact: We can start seeing ourselves as needed, useful, able to make a difference
With this kind of inspirational project, we are powerfully matching up needs and solutions. This is what any business venture is meant to be about - using our genius to come up with win-win ways forward. Rather than simply 'what does the world need?' and 'how do we NEED to solve it?' - let's ask: What does the world need and how would I LOVE to offer a solution?
Do Things Differently
List the things that you feel most sad/angry/frustrated about in the world. Now list activities you would LOVE doing which would offer solutions. Then: What's the first step? What could you do right NOW - literally, in the next five minutes? Notice what it's like to be the solution. I invite you to share your thoughts as comments on this blog - to inspire others and create some momentum for yourself to get into action.
(c) Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2008
NB The idea of the world needing our passion is at the heart of the work I do with each coaching client - helping her connect with that passion and get in to sustained action to create an inspirational venture. To book a consultation to explore how you might benefit from this support, simply click here.
In the early stages of developing your inspirational ventures, there are so many "How do I.....?" questions. I often get asked by fellow coaches: "How do you get your clients?" so I wrote a short report to answer them easily. One reader wrote me a huge long email, full of questions. She was curious because it sounded so easy and wanted to know the science behind the magic - how was I really doing it? What was my process, what qualities was I employing, what was making the difference between a one-off encounter and a solid, long-lasting business relationship? Bottom-line was, she wanted to know what my 'x factor' was.
I realised how unconscious we often are of our own magic. It's so 'us' that we're unable to see what we're up to. One reason I often hear for women not starting their own businesses is: "But I do this so naturally, surely it can't be so easy to turn that into a business!?" We seem to have swallowed the belief somewhere along the line that says: 'Everything has to be hard and a struggle', and so we avoid what's right there, under our noses.
Here's a 5-step process for becoming conscious of your own X Factor, so that you can amplify it , harness it, and share it with others.
Step 1: Do What You Do Naturally
For a day (or a few hours at least), stop doing any 'should' activities. Just do what you love, what comes naturally. Reconnect with what's instinctively there.
Step 2: Start Peeking On What Comes Naturally
Casually notice what you're up to. "Ah, I phoned ten people in the last hour" or "I brought a sample of my favourite food to work and then everyone wanted the recipe". Don't go changing anything, simply notice.
Step 3: Become Conscious Of What You're Doing Naturally
Move from casual observation to conscientious awareness. Make a note of your most obvious qualities & activities (Some of mine, for example, are: Talking with strangers, Writing tons, Being out and about in Cambridge often, Doing things differently, Following my heart).
Step 4: Do These Things With Direction
Employ your natural strengths in a direction of your choosing. Focus on what you want to achieve and use your natural strengths to get you there - e.g. I use my writing to share coaching processes with others. Be deliberate, conscious and consistent.
Step 5: Share Your Learnings With Others
Every one of us does things differently. However, if you can share your process with others, it gives them an access map to find and develop their own natural ways, e.g. Show someone who's struggling with disorganisation how you make lists and then prioritise; it may give them a key to unlocking their own most effective ways of working.
When you hear yourself asking: "How do I....?", interpret it as "How do I already.....?" (rather than: "How should I....?") Keep learning from others, but put the essential ingredients in place first. Each piece of new information you receive, you can then decide how it relates to the foundation of you doing the things, in the ways, that you naturally do.
Do Things Differently
Follow the five steps above, with the intention of discovering how you do what you naturally do. Become intimately acquainted with your very own X Factor. Notice what it's like to play from your natural strengths, rather than from a rule book. And if you're feeling brave, ask five people in your life: what do THEY see as being your X Factor?
And if you're feeling REALLY brave, leave a comment on this blog, letting us all know :)
(c) Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2008
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New! - Monthly E-Zine, The World Needs Your Passion. Issue #1 due out Friday 26th September. Click here to receive issues straight to your in-box.
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