What's Your Manifesto?

This morning I was listening to Seth Godin’s "Tribes" and one of his challenges was to publish a manifesto. According to dictionary.com a manifesto is a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization.  Well, this manifesto is actually personal; it the way that I would like to live my life and I want to surround myself with people who also embrace these credos.  So here it is.  My manifesto is to:

• Live by faith not by fear. 
• Love people without judgments or conditions. 
• Let gratitude be the constant expression of your life. 
• Never stop learning, growing, creating. 
• Lead by example 
• Be transparent - Keep it real! 
• Commit to living in community; invest in others and let them invest in you! 
• Live with sustainability in mind; now and for the future. 
• Take responsibility for change starting with yourself.
• Create value wherever you go. 
• Listen with the sincere intent to understand.  
• Remember that it’s the small choices that make the big difference. 

This is certainly not an extensive list of credos for my life but I think that it’s a good start and of course I can always evaluate and adjust it as I draw closer to becoming the person I believe I was created to be.
Do you or your organization have a manifesto or credos? Please share them because they might offer inspiration to anyone reading this. Thanks!

This is Seth Godin's TED Talk on, "The Tribes We Lead".

The Cycle of Life: Are you giving back?

The infinity symbol can also be represented by the figure eight because of its continuous, perpetual path.  This is my world view.  We are all interconnected; humanity, creation and the Creator and we have a choice to join in the positive, life giving energy of the Creator/God or to strike out to find our own path, generated from our own energy.  

Regardless of whether or not we join the Creator in His plan or strike out on our own, our lives will have some element of impacting the infinity loop.  The impact of our lives corresponds with how much and the type of energy that we generate.  

So, in the best case scenario, we work real hard, we help some people along the way and we die.  Our legacy is what turns the corner and returns to the world of the living.  If we helped more than we hurt; gave more than we took, loved more than we feared than there might be a chance that a positive cycle will be perpetuated.  But if the opposite is true then our legacy or the impact of our lives will perpetuate negative cycles.  

When we join God and His plan then we are contributing to something much larger than ourselves.  As we learn to trust His plan then His strength and energy grows in us and positively impacts those around us.  

All of this might sound a bit mystical but here is another way to put it.  I believe that we are all born into this world with the seed of the Creator inside of us.  As we grow and become more self-aware, we long for connection, purpose; to make a positive contribution.  The Creator seed can only grow once we die to ourselves and the Creator seed is the key to connection to Him, others and all of creation.

What do you think about the idea of the Creator seed?  Does it make sense that we first need to die in order to live?

Growing in Responsibility

Responsibility: The ability to respond.  Are you more inclined to react to things or respond to them?  We associate responsibility with being reliable or dependable, but at the core, it has a lot to do with emotional intelligence and our capacity to take ownership over outcomes.  

Responsibility corresponds with the sixth value of I.N.T.E.G.R.8.T.E.D. and is important because society has been trending away from taking responsibility for things.  Actually, I have been failing to take responsibility for things and taking responsibility starts with me!

We find it easier to blame others for our actions, lack in judgement or difficult circumstances.  Lawsuits are being filed every day because we won’t take responsibility for ourselves.  Capable, intelligent people have been relying on subsidized programs for generations because we don’t want to take responsibility for ourselves.  Powerful, wealthy, influential people continue to support policies, make decisions, lie, cheat and steal thinking they have no responsibility to anyone and feel they are above paying the consequences of their choices.  

Why has becoming responsible become so difficult?  It’s my firm belief that once we take responsibility for our actions we will begin to see a shift in how the world responds and rewards us.  The more responsible we become the more we will be trusted, respected and compensated for our efforts.  

One way to develop responsibility is to have accountability; someone or a several trusted “someones” to keep us in line with our values, goals or aspirations.  Are there people in your life that can help you become more responsible with your time, talents (give back), resources, goals and aspirations?  Why don’t you start meeting with them regularly and I think you will see a nice return on your investment!  

Finding your passion

Excellence - overrated or integr8ed? What does it mean to be “excellent”? Why isn’t mediocre good enough. Well, in some instances it may be but if we are to become the people we were designed to be then we should embrace an attitude of excellence. 

The root of excellence is excel which means to rise up or surpass. You might ask, “what are we rising up from?” We are rising up from all the things in this world that say, You can’t do it; you’re not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough; You’ll never amount to anything; If people knew who you really are, no one would listen to you, follow you, buy from you, be your friend. 

Living excellently or exhibiting excellence in your workplace, your home, in your community or place of worship means rising above the negativity found in those places and offering your best. It’s true that sometimes our best falls short, but when it does we have two choices; we can feel defeated or we can learn from our failure, grow from them and use them to our advantage in the future. 

Excellence is not a competition against the world to be the best or the greatest. It’s the process of becoming a more integrated person; someone who is giving their best to become a whole, healthy person or organization. Do you value excellence in your life or is good enough, good enough? Who do you really want to be remembered as? 

If you are looking for inspiration about finding your passion, destiny and having a great career.  Watch this:
  
Why you will fail to have a great career: Larry Smith