Is 2010 the year that we realize how important being good is?

There is a truth that seems to be forgotten over and over: that what you do and the motivation behind what you do is critical to how you feel about yourself.

It benefits the giver as much as the receiver to be engaged in doing something that is "noble".

Noble means to me something inspiring or uplifting. To be inspired comes from the root to breathe in and when you are inspired it feels like taking a good great big breath of fresh air.

If what we do does not inspire us then we are stuck with persevering and holding on to something that we don't believe in and therefore cannot completely commit to with our full energy.

Take a small step to discover what will spark your sense of connection to goodness.

Try starting with something really small that seems doable and yet it is in the direction of the feeling you want to have in your heart and mind.

To get to where I am today I had to first realize that I required doing good and then looking for awhile at what could qualify- it was not until I stated emphatically to myself that I was committed to this path that I began to find steppingstones leading to my life now which feels 80% good and 20% work for the sake of making a living.

Why I launched a social enterprise?

Because of them.

Healing obesity and hunger at the same time- that’s Pounds for Poverty’s mission
It may seem strange to consider these two epidemic and catastrophic disasters in the same breath or same category. Really isn’t obesity and over eating just a matter of will power and determination to resolve? But then many feel that the poor and the hungry through their own efforts could rectify their situation also. From many perspectives they share a cultural belief that the problem is personal, individual and a matter of intention and effort to solve.
We don’t look at both that way. We assert that hunger and obesity or simply over consuming anything are cultural phenomena and that we can solve both in tandem. It is a curious paradox- that on one hand it is up to the individual to do their part in helping themselves and on the other hand it is also a much bigger problem than any individual can solve.
Our assertion is that hunger can be healed by the very same forces that are contributing significantly to the cause. In one big way, hunger is a redistribution problem- some have too much while many have too little. I know it is not that simple. Our insight is that by exchanging our tendency to over do (food, spending, alcohol, sugar) for converting the money to a donation to a charity fighting hunger like Second Harvest (our featured charity this quarter) the donor builds a foundation to change for the better. In a very real way everyone is better for the exchange and how often does that happen?
Our insight about the relationship between hunger and over consuming came out of personal experience. In my case, I have had a sincere desire to be of service to others for my whole lifetime. I have learned that one of the quickest ways to improve my positive feelings about myself is to give to something of value to the recipient. It makes me feel more self worth and improves my reputation with myself which has suffered mightily with over eating and weight gain.

Powerful courses for Project, team leaders and new managers

Project and Team Leadership for time-starved technical companies and the new managers program- Management essentials for the time -starved technical company are huge successes everywhere they have been implemented.
Based upon the question: "what is the absolute essence of causing and implementing results in a technically driven and time-hungry company?" I have designed a program that answers the question with integration of:

• Influencing conversations for results for the person with little formal authority.
• Creating the environment for speaking and listening that leads to problem-solving and sound decision making.
• Leading conversations one on one and one to many.
• Constructing clear , sharply focused and SMART desired outcomes.
• Using tools to move meetings forward to an intended outcome.
• Enrolling others in decision making whenever possible in the right way- not too much and not too little.

I invite you to have a dialogue about your companies needs with me soon.

It is never too early or too late to develop the right skills to cause the right results

Inaugration day and a new beginning

It is January 20th, 2009. Barack Obama who is a Noble person with a noble vision for America is now my president. I am moved beyond belief, tears stream down as I watch the mix of faces from all over the country and I am once again restored to faith in our wondrous country.
It is a time when the word noble can be used without fear that it will be misunderstood as there is no one on the countries leadership who exemplifies it at least at the top posts.
I am ready, willing and able to be one of the ones that Barack spoke to regarding being a responsible member of the countries' effort to put back together in a brand new way a place for hope, vision and fortitude.
I have been working for the last year on launching my own Noble Purpose Social Enterprise. Please look over the link www.poundsforpoverty.com and see what I have been up to with my co-founder Maryann Marks.

Transform Excess Weight Into an Answer to Poverty and Hunger - wikiHow

Transform Excess Weight Into an Answer to Poverty and Hunger - wikiHow

You can find inspiration anywhere-what are you looking for?

I was watching Brett Favre retire last week.
Here I am sweating up a storm on the elliptical trainer in an effort to save this 61 yr old body from rack and ruin and one of my nemesis- well really the 49ers antihero, is talking in a way that was inspiring and uplifting. It is not what he said so much as the way he said it- I was moved by his genuineness, his emotions flowing because what he loved he no longer had passion and willingness to endure to experience. And he was getting out when it didn't have the same meaning for him.

I loved his trueness- he is what he is and nothing less or more. I am inspired by people who are genuine even if I hated his ability to decimate what used to be my team that I gave blood for on Sundays.
I look for things to be inspired by- he is just one small example but I am puzzled and appalled by how few also look to be moved, touched and inspired.
I think we live in an era of commonality and lowest standards for human decency and respect that I have witnessed in my six decades.
I encourage you to consider this:
Inspiration means to breathe in- we take in oxygen- we inspire. Breath- the source of life- inspiration is a source of life too.
How does one become inspirable?
By committing to looking for what is good and kind and wholesome and beautiful and making note of it in your mind and out loud. Watch what happens to a conversation when you say what you are awed by or moved by or care deeply about. Notice how different it feels to watch for what is right and true and authentic in the world.
Pollyanna? maybe but it feels better than to watch for what is wrong and bad and harmful.
Maybe Brett is not a good person really- maybe some day I will find out that he is an Elliot Spitzer kind of guy but for that moment and in his glorious career he showed me what it is like to be completely passionate about a game that he gave his all to with no reservations.

Finding things wrong with someone is like shooting fish in a barrel

It is very easy to criticize. I love the quote from Michelangelo that the CEO, Michael Strong of Flow -a Not for profit says in response to the habit of finding fault"Criticize by creating"
If you don't like something go it one better. If you are so sure that you can do it better try.
I feel that it is ignoble- that is- the opposite of nobility to always finding fault with people, institutions and companies.
It is not that there is not a lot to criticize. It is true that without watchdog groups and individual consciences there would be little social change or improvement.
It isn't that I am pointing to- it is the habit of consistently finding what is wrong with this picture without the balancing movement of appreciation and acknowledgment of what is good and true and wholesome.
So let me start with me:

On this blog I want to say thank you to all those who have influenced our lifestyles for the better. C. Everett Koop for taking a stand on tobacco as the Surgeon General, the pioneers of exercise- like Ken Cooper- Mr Aerobic exercise, Adelle Davis, Jack La Lanne, the first people in the integrative medicine movement like Dr Andy Weil and a special thanks to John P Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods. I assert that John and his colleagues at Whole Foods have revolutionized the way we think about what we deserve in food, "fast" food, and the myriad products that we are exposed to because Whole Foods supports entrepreneurs in the natural foods industry in so many ways.
John is a great example of someone who it is easy to find fault in- the blog entries, the hoopla surrounding his faux pas/indiscretion/mistakes- I am not one who can comment on the veracity or hype of the inquiry- what I can speak to is his leadership of one of the best companies in the world and his sparkling example of visionary, conscious capitalism.
I felt like an onlooker to a pack of hungry junkyard dogs looking for ways to bring him down when the news hit.
It is the same garbage that we will be subject to for the next nine months in the election cycle- just watch the ratio of facts and deep, thoughtful inquiry compared to judgement,labeling, "expose" and sparse information blown into stories.
I feel so strongly that part of being a noble person or having a noble cause includes the power of creation and taking the risk to try to do something well if you are not satisfied with things the way they are now.
My encouragement to you is to fast for one month on criticism. Notice when you are habitually jumping to finding fault and ask yourself- "what would I do better and can I demonstrate that in my actions today?"
Shooting fish in a barrel is not very much fun or interesting. Try doing something truly challenging- find something inspiring in what people are up to right now.