Toronto, November 14 2009 11.05am
We’re almost at the finish line. That gorgeous Christmas break is just a few short weeks away. I can smell the holly. I’m exhausted. No I’m not. I’m excited. No I’m not. I’m happy. No I’m not. I’m doing my best work. No I’m not. I’m anxious about the future. No I’m not. I’m healthy. No I’m not. I’m loved and appreciated. No I’m not. I’m a Champion. No I’m not. I’m going to win. No I’m not.
Feel familiar? Feel like every day has been an emotional yo-yo? Feel like Courage and Fear are playing hide and seek in your head? Feel like Control slips in and out your grasp like greased jelly-babies? That’s how I feel. Hour-by-hour. What’s happening on the outside massively magnifies what’s happening on my insides. I meditate. I pray. I exercise. I focus. I talk. I vent. I share. I declare my mantras. I hug my family, my friends and my dogs. But still, my emotions imbalance me. Just when I think I’ve got it all sorted out, it all comes apart.
That’s the way it is for me. My constant buddy is the little tension between my stomach and my heart. It reminds me to stand on guard for everything. It also alerts me to everything marvelous. It calls me into gratitude and it goads me into action. It’s the reason why I love my life and it’s the reason why I’m scared I could lose it all. It’s always been there. But this year it’s become tighter and sharper.
That’s how I feel in the final few days of 2009. And here are the Seven Key Lessons this magnificent savage of a year has taught me:
1. There is no such thing as seen-it-all-before. This time it’s truly different, even when it’s not. Even when you think you’re seeing what you know, sense what you don’t. New doesn’t always confront you head-on. It’s often sheathed in the illusion of the familiar. Same-old, same-old has become all-new-all-the-time. Your clichés will kill you. Your naiveté will set you free. So look, listen and learn like you’re always being confronted by the unprecedented. If you’re open to everything, everything becomes and opening to the next thing.
2. Pandemic and contagion are breeding the New Resilience. H1N1 and The Great Global Financial Crisis have been the two overarching catastrophes in 2009. Both were hailed as potentially fatal in their own way. Both hurled the world into bouts of panic and despair. And yet, as we near the year’s end, we’re still standing. H1N1 is turning out to be milder than the hysteria escalated it to be. The markets are recovering strongly. Nine out of Ten People still have a job. Reality may be a little grimmer. But people are toughening up. They’re building their capacity for challenge and change. The paralysis lasted for about six months – from September 2008 to March 2009. Then people were galvanized into action. The fabulous few are leading the desperate many. The Few will become many. They always do.
3. Results are exponential but causes are incremental. Collosal breakthroughs are created one value, one thought, one action, one habit at a time. The Great Ones understand that grind leads to genius. Sweat runs into inspiration. The winners in 2009 worked their guts out. They’re willing to pay the price that super-success demands. But their actions are guided by awareness. They think while they work. They never default to automatic pilot. They always seeking a better way that’s why they’re way better. Giant leaps are always a series of small steps invisible to those on the outside.
4. Real, live, face-to-face, human contact is as important as oxygen. It’s the great technological paradox. The more technology enables remote communication, the more people crave closeness and connection. All the Big Wins I’ve witnessed this year were initiated by up-close-and-personal interactions before they were amplified by digital connections. Humans are designed to be together. Isolation leads to alienation. Creativity is a collective activity. That’s why meetings are coming back. People need to be around other people. United, we win. Alone, we shrink, struggle and suffer.
5. Belief is more important than information. Faith is making a comeback. I’m not talking religion here. I’m talking about belief in oneself, belief in one’s cause, belief in one’s colleagues, belief in one’s community, and belief in action. Every one of my clients is operating within an information-deficit. We can never know everything we want to know before we act. There is always the moment when someone decides to commit the resources, the people and the time to the mission. How do you know when that moment is the right one? Believe it
6. The winners are making an acute effort for health and vitality. 2009 was brutal. It pushed all of us to the edge. But it’s just the first period in a whole new game. We may all aspire to being masters of the universe but we’re all just bundles of skin, muscles, organs, bones, nerves and blood. And we’re all aging. In North America, half of us are over 40. And the older we get, the more maintenance we need. One of the biggest trends tracked by Environics is “Effort for Health” – the pursuit of the mindset, activities and nutrition that maximize personal wellness. We all know we should make this effort. The winners actually do it – every day, in every way. No alibis. No excuses. No retreat. No surrender. Are you one of them?
7. Reputation is everything: Philanthropy will get you a lot more than you give. What began in 2008 will extend deep into 2010. The global recession has a long way to go. It was caused by rampant self-interest and magnified by infinite ingenuity. Greed was exacerbated by self-delusion on a cosmic scale. We all teetered on the brink. Now that we’re on our way back, we’re acutely aware of how precarious the recovery is. Governments have fuelled the beginning, but it’s up to every one of us to take it to the next level, and then the next, and then the next. I depend on you and you depend on me. I’m declaring my interdependence with you. I promise to give you all I can because I need you to pay it forward so we can all get paid back. It’s the New Philanthropy: a powerful concern for human welfare and advancement because we’re all a function of each others’ well being. If you want to thrive in 2010, give away your time, your money and your ideas while you let the world know exactly what you’re doing. A reputation for philanthropy will make you a lot of money.
That’s it. Those are the lessons I’ve learnt. What about you? Let me know. In the meantime, relish the last few weeks of this magnificent year. Suck up the final few challenges it will most certainly throw your way. Be so awesome that the people around you are inspired to do the same. If you can, they can. Reach out to them so they can reach the finish line with pride and gusto. It’s the Festive season. Be the reason why others celebrate.
