Another year, another day, another moment.
How many times did you change your mind during the holidays? If you were in New Zealand it probably meant many times, due to the inclement summer weather, which dictated what we could and couldn’t do. In some cases people went ahead anyway such as enjoying the New Year celebrations at music events wading about in knee deep mud!
See An Opportunity - Make the Right Choice!
Our holiday was split into different locations that meant setting up our very comfortable camping set- up with caravan, awning and our two Burmese cats. At the second campsite location we had to change sites half way through our stay. You may think moving site at the same camping park is easy however it can take up to two hours to take down and re-set up. We noticed that a huge 5th wheeler left the site we were to move to, two days early, so I asked the Site Manager if we could move on to it. We had only been at the camp park for two days and thank goodness we made that choice. Two days later (original moving day) it poured with rain all day and we had five guests for lunch! We had a great time, even though it was a little cramped with seven of us sheltering in our awning. If we hadn’t changed sites when that window of opportunity occurred, there would have been very different consequences.
Changing Your Mind
Every year many people make New Year’s resolutions, only to break them and often within the first weeks or months. I wonder why they bother to make them? Were they good intentions or was it because someone asked them and they felt they had to respond? It’s similar to someone saying they are not going to over indulge in food and drink over the holidays and yet they do. What is it about us humans that we let ourselves down? Have you done that and what are the consequences? Another diet? Another resolution for next year?
Human beings change their minds all the time and often they are not even aware of it. We spend much of our day on automatic. Perhaps you have a ‘get up and go’ pattern in the morning so you don’t really think about what you are doing. The actions are stored in our memory banks and that is very useful. How difficult life would be if you had to work out every morning how to shave, wash your hair, wash yourself? Do you have a routine that you follow in a particular order? This works for us and most times it means we do everything we need to do to get out of our home and leave for work on time. There can be exceptions when your mind is thinking about other things such as washing my hair when I didn't mean to because my mind had wandered into creativity mode!
The Role of Consciousness
Just how conscious are you? A friend of mine drove home from work one day and his mind was on automatic. When he got to the driveway he realised he had driven to his old home that he had moved from three months earlier! On an occasion when I had to drive to the city in rush hour I witnessed someone driving his car into the back of a truck, albeit slowly. The truck was stationery and clearly the driver of the car just wasn’t conscious of his surroundings.
Consciousness is the awareness of how we create our experiences. The more aware we are, the more likely we are to make better choices both for ourselves and for others. Is this year one of self-focus or is it about a bigger picture and what you can create that goes beyond benefitting just you and your company?
“Consciousness is the gift of awareness. It allows the recognition of form, form being the expression of Thought. Somewhere in the innermost recesses of our consciousness lie the answers to the questions all mankind seeks” (Sydney Banks, The Missing Link page 39)
A Bigger Vision for Your Business
Consciousness I spent a lot of time reading while on holiday and there is one book that I highly recommend to you. It is inspiring for everyone. It's a new book called“Screw Business as Usual” by Richard Branson. This is not just about what Branson is up to with his businesses; it is about a wave of change that is being initiated by some very influential and powerful people. It is all about business not just ‘doing well’ but ‘doing good’ as well. Neither is it just about giving charitable donations or sponsorship. It is bigger than that and as Branson implies businesses that do not change their thinking and make some different choices will suffer the consequences in that eventually, they will not survive.
Is your business likely to become a dinosaur of the 21st century? Is it time for you and your business to ‘wake up’ and become far more conscious of what you are creating in and outside of your business?
If you decide to read the book I am confident that you will be inspired to start something that goes beyond your current thinking. By the way, if you do read it, heed Branson’s advice – don’t leave the book on your desk until you’ve finished it, or some people may wonder what you’re up to!
“Doing well is the result of doing good. That’s what capitalism is all about” Ralph Waldo Emerson
However your year has started, you can still change your mind and make some different choices. Make the most of each opportunity that presents itself and that means being alert and listening for wisdom and new insights that will change the way you look at your business and life. It's time to get out of that siesta holiday mode and gear up for an exciting year. Create some new challenges for yourself and your teams. Fresh thinking can create a brighter future!
Have a great 2012
Gilly Chater
www.gillychater.com
About Gilly Chater
Gilly helps people achieve insight powered breakthroughs for themselves and their businesses. She is an inspirational speaker who presents keynotes and breakouts at conferences and writes about the key ingredients for success in today’s world.