Yesterday I had lovely plans for a relaxed meeting-free day (the second this year). I was in my daggiest, happy clothes and was ready to huddle in with my team for some great, inspiring internal us-time. Ha … The universe had other plans, and perhaps the nightmare I had the night before about fishhooks being stuck into me before being hauled out to sea, should have acted as a premonition that a challenge lay ahead… Lesson number one: life doesn’t always go according to our best laid plans or expectations. And sometimes, from somewhere totally unexpected, and completely beyond our control, our core values and belief systems can be challenged in a way we never saw coming.

So my calm day of serenity rapidly turned into one of adrenalin-fueled, heated debate driven by passion, and desperately trying to make sense of something that in my reality was so, well … Nonsensical. On rough calculation, I seriously pissed off about 5 people but seem to have been a voice for and inspired somewhere in the realm of 100… Hopefully not bad odds.

When the battle was over, I was left a little (okay a lot) exhausted and reflective – and, ironically, with the sense of calm I had hoped the day would bring. Being a traveller and a self-inquirer, I had questions for myself. Was I acting out of ego? Did I need to prove a point? To be right? Did I act with honesty and integrity? Did I portray the facts accurately? Was I acting out the wounded child (don’t start me… )? OR was I in fact taking an issue presented to me, and using my reaction to it as a catalyst to speak out about something that challenged my value and belief system to the core?

While I’m sure some of the former played a part I’d like to believe that the latter was primarily true. As the debate raged across Facebook and the Twitter sphere, I received literally hundreds of extraordinary messages, which appear to be testament that I was indeed acting with good intent and integrity, and, it seemed, I quickly became the spokesperson for an issue very dear to many.

Yesterday morning I had a choice. When confronted with the situation, I could have chosen to bite my tongue, accept that I don’t always need to be right, avoid the drama and step away from the keyboard. OR stand my ground, question the motive and facts of the other party, checked my integrity and gone headlong into battle.

At the risk of ruffling a few feathers and feeling emotionally drained, I believe wholeheartedly that in order to make a positive change in the world, and move us into the present, some of us have to take on the role of trail blazer. We need to challenge the status quo, stand up for communities, fight against social injustices, and we need to do it without ego or agenda, but with fire in our bellies, passion in our hearts and integrity in our minds.

Now I’m off to do a calming, yoga class and then, if you don’t mind, I’m off to fight some real issues, challenge some thinking and maybe, just maybe, make a little change in the world. xx L

I wrote a post on facebook this morning and had such an overwhelming response that I thought it worth elaborating on.

I’ve just experienced what I am calling “singalism” and its not the first time its happened.  I pay large dues to an organisation that claims to be progressive and innovative.  They run incredible events and four times a year, members are allowed to invite their spouse or partner.  Many times I have taken along some random guy – whoever is the flavour of the moment and I’ve never been questioned – not once.

As I am very much single at the moment, I invited my 2IC to this event. She’s a girl. Her name is Claire.  Suddenly I’m told that the event is only open to partners and spouses with a very swift she is not able to come. Might I just add, she’s far more appropriate for the event than some of the drongos I’ve dragged along before.

Does my not conforming to the Stepford Wives married with kids expectation throw everyone into that much of a spin? Isn’t it my choice who I classify as a partner – surely this is nobody’s business but mine. If its open to a plus one, its open to a plus one of my choosing.

This is by no means a personal attack on this organisation but it is a big fat shout out to all the businesses and organisations that cling onto old ideas and myopic judgmental behavior.  To me, this kind of judgment is akin to and just as hurtful and patronizing as bigotry, racism or sexism and it should not be tolerated.

Luckily, all us optimists know, for every dark cloud there is a silver lining and the lining is this – because I felt so passionate about this issue and spoke out about it, I have been absolutely inundated with beautiful, amazing, supportive people and hopefully together with our shared voice, we will indeed help make a little dent in putting a stop to this ridiculous singalism!

xx L

Fundamentally I oppose war. The notion of killing doesn’t sit well with me on any level. I can’t even kill a cockroach…

That aside, I am open minded and yesterday I boarded the HMAS Ballarat at 8am and was fortunate enough to sail with a company of 177 of Australia’s navy on a training mission from Sydney to Jervis Bay. I was offered this unique opportunity and like most things in life, I’ll do anything once, and I threw myself at it. A once in a lifetime opportunity it certainly was and I feel fortunate and grateful that the Australian Navy were gracious and accommodating in taking some 20 entrepreneurs from YPO and EO on board.

In the 10 hours we were on the ship, the navy showed us every nook and cranny – from the gun room to the flight deck, the bridge, the opps room, the mess, the heads and the sleeping quarters. We witnessed firearms training, helicopter landings and simulated “breakdowns”. It was high energy and fascinating to witness.

Whatever our personal opinions on war and weapons, I took away a few things from the CEO (Commander Jonathan Earley), his officers and his sailors. Everyone we came into contact with was efficient, motivated, professional and enthusiastic. We talked to many of them and to me the personal sacrifice they all make on a daily basis is a huge payoff for lifestyle choice. I admire them for their commitment and stickability. They live and breath in each others personal space for often literally weeks at a time without leaving the ship. They sleep in quarters with up to 15 people. Most of the time they are just undertaking “training” and simulated missions maintaining operational readiness and capability and for an adrenalin instant gratification junkie like me, absolute hats off to them! It can’t be easy.

As one of them said, Big Brother is nothing compared to this – and from what I can see, I tend to agree. Although for much of the day I did feel like I was in some kind of surreal movie set.

How many people truly get to witness first hand what I did yesterday! Commander Jonathan Earley had some powerful and inspiring philosophies and I was surprised in this world largely unknown to me, just how many parallels we could draw between how he runs a ship and how we, as entrepreneurs, run our companies. An enduring theme throughout his tenure was “look after the ship and the ship will look after you”. He goes on to say, This statement does not merely refer to the physical or material state of the platform. Although these aspects are important, my theme applies equally to protecting our reputation, our administration, our security and most importantly our people.

So, hats off to the Australian Navy. We all have a job to do and from what I can tell, they are certainly doing theirs with a passion and proficiency unrivalled in most organisations I have seen.

Last night I watched Blood Diamond. It wasn’t a movie. To me it was yet another wake up call to all the atrocities happening around the world that we Westerners so often ignore or profit from. It cut me to the core, gave me another massive jolt and I found myself questioning – what am I doing – really doing to have a positive impact, to help make changes, to help with the serious issues of cruelty, poverty and social injustice on our planet – what am I doing to create a happier, safer place and to change the world?

I drove home in tears – of frustration and anger and powerlessness. And at 11pm on a rainy Sydney night, I ran until it hurt.

And then my mind switched to me and the questions started on so many tangents. One thing that has come up again and again for me is why do I do what I do? Why do I want to make money? Why do I appear in the media? Why do I build a profile? Many of you might be able to relate to these questions.

I’m sure some people might believe my ego is out of control and I have this perpetual need for external validation. To an extent they would be right – we all have a need to belong, to feel good enough, to be worthy, to be loved, to be seen. I am acutely aware of this and question my intentions and check in with myself on a daily basis. I also acknowledge that part of it is indeed ego and a combination of the above defects of character. But in my early 20’s I wrote in my journal “we cannot make positive change by being a wallflower”. I think my fate was sealed. And I believe the potential to do good far outweighs the few naysayers (and my own waiver from the path of purity every now and then) that may try to bring us down.

But I also believe its bigger than that. I recently heard something that resonated with me and it went along the lines of – we can’t help the poor by staying poor. We can’t help the sick by being sick. We can’t help the unhappy by being unhappy and really we can’t help the world by being small.

And for this reason, I believe making money gives us freedom and choice and having a profile gives us a platform from which we have the opportunity and the strength to be able to really make positive lasting changes. As mentioned in recent posts, a few weeks ago I attended a global entrepreneurs conference with the theme, Change the World (www.amsterdam2011.com). There has been a groundswell happening since in me and I believe and hope in the other 550 plus people who were fortunate enough to experience the energy, platform and power held in that space.

I don’t yet have all the answers and I’m not yet sure what my next move will be, but I know sure as the sun shines – for me now more than ever its bigger than money for moneys sake and profile for egos sake. Its about gearing up for something much bigger than me. Its about staying open, being aware, being informed and educated, and consciously looking for opportunities about how I as one individual can truly make a difference. I would hope that every one of us starts opening our eyes and starts to really believe that we have the power as individuals and communities to do things much bigger and much more long lasting and impactful than we ever dreamed.

I am grateful for the space I am in and look forward to whatever comes next. I don’t presume to have the answers and truthfully yet don’t even really have the questions. I posed this predicament a few days ago on my facebook and people kindly gave me all sorts of advice – most of it esoteric – someone very wise said… “Working in your Grace Zone = doing just what you have been purposed to do. It feels easy, there is no striving, things fall into place and you know you’re there because your heart feels satisfied. Everyone has their own special job to do. Just do that! No need to do anyone else’s job. That takes away the opportunity for them to do it. What is in your hand right now that you could use to outwork what is in your heart? The answer is right there!”

I thank you for this feedback and I get it – I’ve been writing books and educating myself on manifestation, laws of attraction, just being… for a long time now and I will endeavour to live in that conscious state. However my question here is really more about the tangible – I would like to have a go at really addressing major social, political, economic and environmental issues. Because some of us need to take a lead. We can’t all sit back saying we’ll just tune in and do the little bit that is presented to us. Sometimes when we feel we have the tools, the maturity and the emotional intelligence I believe we can actively pursue the bigger issues.

One thing that’s burning in my head and heart at the moment is that according to UNICEF 22,000 (yes twenty two thousand) children die every day from poverty, hunger or an easily prevented disease… I would welcome your feedback about the bigger tangible issues at hand. I believe if we bring them into consciousness, then indeed the universe does have a magical way of showing us a path to address them x L

Sidenote – I wrote this on 8th October 2011. 6 days later (today) I have had 7 meetings on Change the World / Human Consciousness related topics. Only I knew I had written this BLOG. This, my friends, is what I truly believe is the power of intention, getting clear, creating a vision and then in some divine way, the universe starts presenting us with opportunities. Some of these opportunities are just so incredible and have so much power to make a difference and I will be sharing some of those with you soon. Eternally grateful – Lisa xx