I first came across Project Heaven On Earth spearheaded by Martin Rutte at the 1999 Conference on Consciousness and Business. What stood out to me at the time was the electric excitement in the room during his presentation. It was tangibly different to some of the other workshops I attended.

What made for the difference? I believe that the essential invitation to bring heaven on earth touches into our hard wiring as human beings. Surely this is the very reason for humanity’s existance? To quote Martin, “Humanity needs a new story.” Maybe another way of saying this is humanity needs to be true to its original destiny and the story it is meant to live.

So many people feel spiritually threadbare and purposeless. If we ever needed a sense of mission and purpose this is it! It is said that we are made in the image and likeness of the Creator. If this is true, then we need to ask oursleves how we are going to let the Divine act through us as we traverse this earth?

What is the character of the Divine? Most sacred texts, speak about a God of Love, a God of Truth and a God of Life. We have our human capacites to bring these energies literally into any field of endevour or circumstance in which we find ourselves.

Clearly, if the magic of God’s love and the generosity of Life are to enter into the board room, the hospital, school, home, government or orgnisation, it will take human beings to bring these qualites through their thinking, their words and their actions.

We have the potential to bring a quality of heavenly consciousness and atmosphere into literally anything we do. Obviously the opposite is also true we can create a living hell in our lives. We don’t have to look too far to see the reality of this on our planet.

God’s power is not something we only see outside of oursleves in nature, but is literally the animating force within all of us that not only gives life and breath, but can, if we choose, be a clear, powerful and delibrate expression into our world.

I think there is an important distinction to make here between what might be described as waiting for a heavenly experience to appear i.e. the ideal circumstances that would please and enliven us vs. the conscious choice to bring the enlivening experience of heaven into the very circumstances we find oursleves in, even if those circumstances don’t necessarily fit our neat pictures and expectations of how the current reality should have shown up.

I remember a farmer friend of mine once saying, “I am sure I was destined to do something greater than grow mushrooms and make compost.” My thought at the time was, maybe so, but in the meantime where we each find ourselves is the starting point for our cup to run over with our love. This is the spiritual energy that will surely move us out of the situation and on to greater things.

Somehow there is a tendency in us to constantly look for greener pastures and miss the spirtual opportunity at hand to bring heaven on the earth. It’s as though we think our relationships, our work and the circumstances of our lives should be designed specifically to fulfil our needs, as opposed to be an outlet to for our creative expression.

I am not saying we shouldn’t find the work that complements who we are as a human being and our unique talents, or that we shouldn’t do our passion, but want to suggest that often life doesn’t arrive on the silver platter we anticipated. There will always be things that, in both our home and work lives, don’t excite us, or that we would rather not have to do.

This is when we can delibrately choose to align with the causal transformative power within us and say to oursleves, “here is an opportunity to bring heaven on earth!”

We can literally decide to have extraordinary experience with the ordinary. Instead of looking for the extraordinary outside of ourselves, we can express the extraordinary into the circumstances at hand and this changes everything!

It is interesting to notice how the word “destiny” is often related with a large vision and mostly attributed to great leaders, but not necessarily seen as something to develop in the the “little things” in life. What would it take to seek the spiritual opportunity right where we find oursleves? e.g. in the traffic jam, standing in the queue at the post office, cleaning out the shed, making lunch for the children, shopping at the super market, sitting in a boring meeting, running our business, working with a diffcult person, ending a relationship, living alone, dealing with our anger, jealousy and other emotions and on and on. The list is endless.

Being alert to the spiritual opportunity at hand to bring the transforming power of God’s love, to create heaven on earth is I believe the destiny of humanity. It is not so much about doing great things, although we may do great things, but rather has more to do with bringing our greatness, spiritual stature and significance into the immediate situation we find ourselves no matter how seeminly insignificant.

The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Our deepest fulfilment comes from living into this truth and in so doing we transform our own consciousness and the consciousness of others as our lives become an outer revelation of the inner divine reality which is the birthright of each one of us.

Vicky Coates 2011

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Dear Vicky,

Just a few words of feedback from our “CARE…I CAN” course held on 19 and 20 March 2001. Participants flocked to my office raving about this exceptional course. Your phenomenal energy has inspired our team to take ownership of their lives and circumstances. By assuming responsibility for the choices that they make in life, we have no more victims, just synergized, highly motivated leaders, who model the way in all aspects of their personal and professional lives!

Management have reported increased productivity, staff that are willing to be held accountable and a deep sense of fulfillment.

By inspiring a shared vision through our company culture and philosophy, this dynamic programme has created a new value system embracing the qualities of integrity, positive attitude, personal responsibility and excellence.

Vicky, many thanks for touching and encouraging the hearts of our staff. We look forward to putting all our permanent as well as core contract staff through “I CARE…I CAN”.

Once again thank you for your potent impact.

I am delighted and overwhelmed by the amazing change in attitude we have had in Steers after “I CARE…I CAN”. It has created the context to launch our change programme that will entrench the Steers purpose and values.

All crew members are talking about having a powerful awareness of purpose and meaning in their work, home and social lives. Thank you for the wonderful and inspiring energy that you bring to “I CARE…I CAN”!

Chris Lourrens, the General Manager, was sitting in my office the other day ‘shooting the breeze’. Amongst other things, we were talking about the close, almost familial relationships which now exist between each of us here, and how this type of closeness is often not fully understood by ‘outsiders’. After all he said, “we go around hugging each other!!!”

Now I remember a time when we weren’t that close and so whom must I attribute this physical camaraderie? To Vicky, of course and the wonderful ‘I CARE….I CAN’ programme.

I’ve read each of the feedback reports you’ve sent me and discussed with numerous people their feelings about the programme, and can honestly say that, without exception, every participant was touched in a unique way. There is an almost tangible electricity throughout the store and friendliness and caring that people are not afraid to show or speak about. “ I CARE…I CAN” has become a buzz phrase for us whenever there is a challenge to confront or a problem to solve.

I am personally delighted at the effect the programme has had on each one of us and the synergistic effect we can see on the standard of customer service in the store. This is backed by some amazing statistics. For example, in the month of July, our customers told us, through our regular in store survey that over 93% of those surveyed thought that the standard of service was worth smiling about; only 2% thought that we botched it up; and the rest thought we did okay. This compared with figures in May (before the programme started) of 81%, 13% and 6% respectively. It remains for us to sustain this momentum, but we have plans for that as you know.

Thank you Vicky and Valerie for offering this programme to us. If asked, I would recommend that Companies run the programme in the way we did, if at all possible – the immediate gains make it a worthwhile investment.

Please stay in touch, I may have run out of budget for the time being, but wondrous things happen, as you well know.

Makro

Being a financial services company, it is important for our administrative staff to portray a caring and concerned attitude towards our customers. This is particularly pertinent in our recently established call centre.

Since running the “I CARE…I CAN” programme we have received many compliments from our customers regarding the enthusiastic and caring manner in which their queries have been handled.

Furthermore, our staff have also expressed the impact made by the programme on their personal lives, outside of the business environment. It appears that Vicky has struck the right combination of corporate and personal introspection and relationship building in this course. As a result our company and our staff are reaping the benefit of the changing attitudes, brought about by the I CARE…I CAN” programme.

We look forward to discussing further opportunities to run similar programmes in the near future.

By CATHERINE EDEN

Three years ago, the New York Times reported that religion was creeping into the workplace. God was on the agenda at prayer breakfasts and seminars, and one or two CEOs were going public about their spiritual practices. More recently, heavyweight American publications from the Wall Street Journal to the Financial Post and Business Week have confirmed the trend, reporting on the wave of spirituality that is transforming the work ethic of some of the world’s top companies.

There have been Torah lectures at Microsoft, Islamic study groups at Intel, Koran classes at Boeing. The formation of a Spiritual Unfoldment Society at The World Bank drew comment from The Washington Post that even this institutional pillar in the Washington power structure was gaining a reputation for enlightenment. The society mushroomed out of a small, weekly discussion group on spirituality, started by Richard Barrett, a specialist in organisational transformation, who was working as a consultant to the bank. Barrett was subsequently asked to design a programme to align the bank’s activities with spiritual values, which he did before leaving to establish a consultancy that now takes on corporate clients around the world.

‘ I want to change the philosophy of business at the global level, in my lifetime,’ he says. ‘Amazing things are going to happen in the next ten years. They are happening already.’

From coast to coast on the American continent, management is realising that profit is no longer the only bottom line to watch. Business is still about making money, but now it’s also about making a difference to individuals and to the whole of humanity.

It’s not just philanthropy that’s behind this drive, but sound economic sense. Employees are not machines; they bring feelings, values and belief systems to work. Factor these into company policy and the result is a more content, loyal and stable workforce. Creativity soars, productivity improves, and profits increase.

It’s especially important to define a company credo in a multi-cultural country like South Africa. Engen’s Shared Values Programme recognises that people from diverse backgrounds won’t necessarily interpret values in the same way. Also that the country’s political history has left a legacy of mistrust and prejudice that continues to impact on the way we interact with each other.

‘ Lack of agreement undermines productivity,’ says Engen’s Hamede Ali, co-ordinator of the programme. ‘So we have agreed on a common value set that defines how we treat each other. Past conditioning determines the way we respond under pressure: do we fight, flee or freeze? In a complex workplace we have to create a history that makes us rethink those old responses. Change must come from the top, from leaders who show their good intent, their trustworthiness and their competence. We go through a very detailed process, working with eight core values, each of which has its own set of guidelines. Basically, the values relate to truth, trust, mentoring, being receptive to new ideas, taking personal risks, giving credit where it is due, avoiding dishonest money, and putting others’ interests before your own. The programme has been enormously successful, not only in South Africa but in all the African countries where Engen operates.’

Ian Mitroff, co-author of A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America (Jossey-Bass), claims that a spiritual focus could be the ultimate competitive advantage. It certainly worked for Xerox when their employees plugged into a little mysticism and made the company millions. Ignoring the scathing remarks of skeptics, they took to the hills on a mind-expanding vision quest and came back with the inspiration to build a 97% recyclable machine that’s proved to be a winner. Spirituality, it seems, is a very sound base on which to build a better business plan.

Not everyone would agree, of course. There’s a valid objection to the workplace being used to promote religious dogma. Fundamentalists are quick to spot the devil in any philosophy that doesn’t adhere to their particular party line. And there are always the chancers who abuse a lenient system, such as the self-proclaimed witch who forced his well-meaning employers to give him the day off on Halloween.

But dogma and fringe practices are not what this movement is about. Rather, it’s about basing a business on the basic rules of life that are at the core of all religions and that are common to all holy texts. Official sanction for the trend came from an unexpected source: a giant organisation that deals with the world’s most powerful companies. At the 1999 International Conference on Business and Consciousness in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Michael Rennie and Gita Bellin from the Australian branch of consulting powerhouse McKinsey & Co reported that they were successfully using spiritually based training programmes to boost clients’ productivity and increase their profits. We are not just humans dabbling with the sensitive side of our nature, they stressed, but are essentially spiritual beings having a human experience. As such, we have the ability to contribute towards a major shift in human evolution, steering a process that will result in new levels of understanding.

With spirituality on the rise among individuals who are searching for the meaning of existence, it’s hardly surprising that it should at last be penetrating the corporate arena. As more business leaders declare and practise their code of ethics, so the climate of the workplace changes. This doesn’t mean that the company will lose its edge. ‘You can use honesty, integrity, faith, compassion and wisdom and still be successful,’ says Bob Marx, associate professor of management at the university of Massachusetts. ‘There should be something more in the vocabulary of the business world than profit, incentive and performance.’

Vicky Coates, a business trainer from Cape Town, is poised to teach that new vocabulary. She was a delegate to the Mexican conference in 1998 and returned in 1999 as a speaker to present a workshop on The Art and Science of Foundational Spiritual Leadership in Business. It’s her mission to introduce spiritual principles into the South African workplace.

With a background in sales and management and experience in running her own business, Zimbabwean-born Vicky spearheaded a customer care division for Renaissance Business Associates with whom she was in partnership before launching her consultancy, Capstone Consulting.

Her unique customer service programme, called I Care I Can, inspires participants to identify their own strength and to bring a fresh sense of purpose to their work. Vicky has a deep respect for truth, and has been searching it out in the teachings of various spiritual disciplines and training programmes since she was 19 years old. She lived in spiritually based communities for some years, and became a trainer for R.A.L.I (Responsible Action and Leadership Initiative), a multi-cultural youth leadership programme.

Now, after 20 years of putting her principles into practice, Vicky is convinced that, in order for training to be truly effective, it must include a spiritual dimension. This she defines as anything that raises awareness or challenges mental models of the world and the way it works.

‘ We spend billions on training that often effects very little sustainable change,’ she says. ‘Why continue to tread well-worn paths that have not worked? It’s my view that the world is an outside reflection of an inside condition. Apathy and a lack of respect in the hearts and minds of individuals will be reflected in the world they inhabit, as will enthusiasm, joy and love of work. If the world is to change, people have to change. There are no short cuts. We cannot solve problems with the same level of understanding that created them. To change an organisation, a new impetus must be present, to create the context for change. People learn not only by receiving information but also by witnessing role models in action. But there are so few authentic role models. How many of us truly have personal transformation at heart and fulfilled employees as our new bottom line?’

Vicky is developing the I Care I Can programme into a six-part video series to give it wider application, and is designing a programme on the spiritual components of leadership. Her special interest is in working with managers and trainers to explore the less visible dynamics of human interaction and to coach companies who want to redefine their fundamental principles.

It’s not a task to be taken on lightly. As Richard Barrett says, organisations don’t transform, people do, and transformation takes a lot of soul searching. ‘Embracing spirituality is not work for the timid of heart,’ he says. ‘The benefits of it are immeasurable. Yet it requires personal struggle. Only when you change internally will you see those benefits reflected in the outside world. You have to go through a process and it’s painful. You have to show up fearlessly.’

Traditionally, power and aggression are associated with success, whereas a business style based on the principle of love seems weak and ineffectual. But it need not be. For all its flaws, South Africa’s truth and reconciliation process frequently displayed love’s transcendent power.

‘ Our attitudes can either create or destroy our health, our relationships and our environments,’ says Vicky. ‘Every moment we choose to add value, we are shaping our life story. South Africa has a unique spirit that has already been demonstrated. The integrity here is solid. But now we need to create Ubuntu within companies, so that people can say, “I love to go to work because I feel I’m making a difference.”’

Getting this process under way is Vicky’s goal. She has the experience to facilitate dialogue, the knowledge to be an invaluable resource, and the passion to see her projects through. There’s a demand for her skills in an environment where the definition of work is changing as old forms of security fall away. It’s no longer the norm to stick in one job and be parented by your employer for life. Downsizing and re-structuring have fanned anxiety but also inspired people to look for more creative and satisfying ways to earn a living.

‘ The security we thought we got from the corporation is a myth,’ says Canadian-born Martin Rutte, who runs a successful management consulting company, Livelihood Inc. in Santa Fe, New Mexico. ‘Real security comes from a connection to that which is truly secure – the spirit.’

Rutte has addressed the corporate leadership and ethics forum of the Harvard Business School for four consecutive years. He’s the co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work, and lists the World Bank, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Apple Computer and Virgin Records among the companies whose outlook he has helped to expand. He visited South Africa as a delegate to the World Parliament of Religions, and also presented at the Beyond 2000 Business Symposium, the first symposium on spirituality in business in our country.

Because ‘humanity needs a new story’, he devised Project Heaven on Earth, which invites everyone to participate in raising spiritual awareness by bringing a new sense of purpose to their everyday tasks. If you can carry positive energy wherever you go, you have the ability to uplift your world.

Rutte got started on this path when he concluded that what was missing from his life was a connection with the Divine. Undaunted by his colleagues’ warnings that it would be professionally suicidal to introduce the S-word into his practice, he stuck to his conviction that ‘if the human spirit can be unleashed with very good management to support it, we’ll have wondrous companies.’

Part of the process of self-empowerment is to stop being manipulated by the system or locked into patterns that hinder personal growth. Have a vision, says Rutte, and forget about old limitations of what can and can’t be done.

The president of KIIT (Khalsa International Industries and Trades, a group of companies structured on spiritual lines) started off as a food chopper. She was promoted to waitress, accountant, and then to executive status. How? By simply doing an excellent job wherever she was, and by realising that it is we who give meaning to a role, and not a role that defines us.

Spirituality is not an answer, says Rutte, but a question that allows you to look more deeply at life. It encourages open, honest communication, develops an atmosphere of trust and demands ethical behaviour.

‘ We’re in a paradigm shift,’ he says. ‘There will emerge new businesses and new ways of work. Environmental degradation and lack of fulfillment are coming to an end. Respect, a calling forth of people’s individual gifts and spirituality – that’s what’s coming in.’

The day has already dawned when a declaration of spirituality is a requirement of a job. When Vicky Coates expressed interest in becoming involved in McKinsey’s leading edge training projects, she was asked for a spiritual biography, outlining her personal journey of transformation. ‘We are keen to understand the journey as one not only of intellectual intelligence (IQ) emotional intelligence (EQ) but also soul intelligence (SQ),’ they wrote. ‘In other words, we are looking for the trinity of experience in all living things.’

In the light of this remarkable request, the writing is on the wall: companies that are concerned with nothing but their own profits occupy the bottom rung of the spiritual ladder. Barrett describes various levels of corporate consciousness that must be navigated to reach the top. It’s quite a climb through communication, transformation, development of a corporate culture based on shared values and vision, trust, strategic alliances, environmental awareness and employee fulfillment to the long-term perspective of improving societal conditions, but the effort brings rich rewards.

Ken Macher, an organisational development consultant says, ‘Leaders need to become philosophers, but what importance do we place on maturation and wisdom? There are two bottom lines: fulfilled people and profits. Don’t work with companies if they are not interested in both.’

Spiritual wisdom could elevate all fields of human endeavour to unprecedented heights. And then we’ll really get down to business.

By CATHERINE EDEN

We’ve come a long way from the bad old days of Dickensian workplaces, where the boss was a despot who could fire a snivelling underling at a whim, and where there was no perception of the link between staff development and success.

Thankfully, management styles have evolved to become more inclusive, and are continuing to evolve as our understanding of human dynamics deepens. Today, if you’re in charge, it’s not enough to know your product; you need to know your people, and you need to know how to make the most of their potential.

‘ There are a number of models, resources and techniques that can be used to facilitate change in an organisation,’ says corporate trainer Vicky Coates, who offers businesses tailor-made courses. ‘The trick is to discern, in the moment, which will be the most effective. In any facilitation process the key elements are to define the task (What is our objective?) and to ask the right questions (What work must be done?). Whether the task is to resolve conflict, design new policy or re-define roles, the job of a facilitator is to help others communicate their views, engage in dialogue, and adjust to change.’

Facilitation is all about enabling a process, unlike leadership and management, which have a different focus. International consultants Richard Weaver and John Farrell describe a leader as someone who provides direction and long-term vision. Leaders set the tone of an organisation and ask ‘what’ and why’ questions. They are innovative and inspirational. Managers, on the other hand, provide stability, set the pace and define limits. They ask ‘how?’ and take the short-term view to accomplish tasks and find solutions.

‘ To succeed, an organisation needs managers, leaders and facilitators,’ says Vicky. ‘More and more companies are expecting their top personnel to master all three roles, but many lack the necessary people skills. These skills can be taught. Armed with new awareness, companies could achieve so much more.’

Five steps to facilitation:

Know yourself
In order to understand others, it’s necessary to understand yourself. ‘Facilitation requires an awareness of the hereditary influences that each member of the group brings to the process,’ says Vicky. What this means is that while each of us is inherently extraordinary, with wonderful resources like joy, courage and creativity, we also have overlays – experiences that have affected us positively or negatively, and that colour our responses. As a facilitator you must be aware of your own issues and how they translate in a group context. If you grew up in an overly polite, non-confrontational home, for example, you may find conflict resolution very stressful. Similarly, if your family interaction was volatile, you may feel inclined to react to the group process, but you can’t – you have to hold it. To be an authentic role model, you have to practise the tools you teach and have an interest in your own learning and transformation.’

Know others
Like you, team members bring their history, needs, sensitivities and expectations to the process, and each contributes differently to the group. You need to know how to handle the overbearing one, draw out the shy one, and appreciate how changes to the status quo can create a sense of loss that individuals need to express.

Understand group dynamics
Any creative cycle goes through four recognisable stages. At the start of a process uncertainty among individuals is normal. If the facilitator fails to clarify the ‘why are we here’ question, the group may struggle to become cohesive and productive.

As people settle into the process, conflict may arise as a result of personal differences, role confusion, resistance to the task, or a discrepancy between ideals and reality. If the questions ‘what do I expect from others, and what do they expect from me?’ are not answered, participants may feel that their expectations are not being met and that they do not form a useful part of the team.

The third phase is characterised by negotiation, identification of common goals, and the development of trust and a group spirit. The question ‘how are we going to work together?’ must be addressed, or individuals may find themselves at cross-purposes. If these stages are successfully navigated, there’s finally clear role definition, collaboration, interdependence, achievement and satisfaction. Here, the question is ‘how will we know when we have been successful?’ If this is not conveyed, individuals may not know when they are falling short, and the opportunity to celebrate the group’s accomplishments may be missed.

Use the tools
The challenge facing the facilitator is to select the tools that will help individuals achieve their goals. What process can be used to break the ice? What technique will shift the conflict or energise the team? You may use listening or questioning skills; you may use mirroring or validating techniques. You may choose to make explicit what is implicit, because it is the unspoken information that drives the complexity in any partnership, group or community. For example, instead of assuming the meaning behind someone’s body language or behaviour, you would test the accuracy of your perception by enquiry.

Open-ended questions (how, what, who and why) demand a full response, expanding the debate. Closed questions (Do you all agree? Have we covered everything?) require yes or no answers and effectively close the debate. Probing questions (could you be more specific? What does that mean?) elicit more information and increase everyone’s understanding of the issues being dealt with.

Establish values, beliefs and behaviour
Values are the qualities that people consider to be important. A facilitator honours individual differences, and builds on good relationships and shared values in order to get the work done.

Beliefs are the things that people think are true. A facilitator will explore positive and negative beliefs in order to help the group achieve its highest potential.

Behaviours are those actions that can be observed. Effective facilitators are helpful, respectful and encouraging. They are alert to the impact they have on the group and use their skills consciously and with integrity.

‘Facilitation is geared towards providing clarity,’ says Vicky. ‘Groups can become extremely complex, and communication can break down, derailing negotiations. If managers and leaders have some facilitation skills in their repertoire, they can effectively steer a process, get far more out of their employees and make the work experience more satisfying for everyone.’

By CATHERINE EDEN

We all know extraordinary human beings; people who carry a certain air of greatness, regardless of their circumstances. It’s not money or power or looks that does it; it’s an attractive inner quality that conveys stature of spirit and contentment with life. Such people respond courageously to challenge and inspire others with their positive attitude. Are they born this way, or is their outlook something that can be acquired?

Actually, each of us is inherently extraordinary, and each of us has the potential to live with purpose and passion. The trick is to seek to have an extraordinary experience within a seemingly ordinary life. We may never be famous and we may never be rich, but we all have the ability to live life to the full, to impact on others and to leave the world a better place. Vicky Coates, a local consultant in the field of leadership training, identifies the steps that help to awaken our exceptional nature.

Identify with your greatness, not your smallness
Acknowledge your strengths and your fine qualities. Know that you have the resources of joy, courage, compassion and patience. You can choose to express the best of yourself in each encounter with another person, in a crisis or in any field of human endeavour. Welcome opportunities to stretch your capacities, while recognising your limitations.

Walk tall
If you are not noticed it might be because you are not standing up and being counted. Celebrate your greatness and your achievements and do the best you can with what you have today. The action you take now shapes what will be in the future. Life is an ongoing project. Don’t burden yourself with unnatural pressure to perform, but allow yourself room to grow and learn.

Choose the road less travelled
The well-travelled road is the path of mediocrity. People often choose the familiar, the safe and the unchallenging. The less travelled road is more exciting, as it is the path of change and opportunity. On this road the invitation is to express a remarkable attitude in unremarkable circumstances. Extraordinary human beings choose the more creative option, knowing that a host of possibilities is set in motion the moment they say ‘yes’ to life and step out in a new direction.

Be courageous
Change can be scary, but choosing to tackle something that you fear can be exhilarating! Take a good look at what really matters to you, and then take a chance. That doesn’t mean recklessly burning all your bridges, but trusting that an appropriate choice will be supported. ‘Jump and the net will appear’ means that action generates results.

Identify your core values
Identifying the beliefs you hold to be true and the values that are important to you helps you to develop a mission statement for your life. Who are you, and why are you here? The work you do is less important than the way you do it, so focus on the positive, life enhancing qualities you want to express. Having a powerful sense of purpose and an understanding of your role in the world allows you to live more meaningfully. The example of your life will bring about change in others.

Give thanks for all things
Give thanks for the good times and the difficult times. It is often easier to give thanks for the things we like. However, in our society, cruelty and injustice are part of daily life. If we cannot prevent suffering, we can at least choose our response to it. Since none of us is exempt from pain, it’s worth recognising that there is something to be gained from every experience. Crisis is often the catalyst that stimulates genius, and hardship may be the very tool that teaches us something we need to know.

Keep your word
Your word is your bond – let other people know (and prove to yourself) that you can be trusted. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Words have the power to build and also to destroy, so be aware of how you use them. You can sabotage yourself with negative mind talk or you can choose the vocabulary of empowerment.

Tell the truth
This is often a hard one for people who like to keep the peace. Being truthful does not mean being rude or heartless; it means being authentic and not compromising your integrity. If you are uncomfortable with a situation, be honest, stick to the issue at hand, and direct your words to the correct person rather than gossiping to others. There is an art to saying what you feel, without blame and without judgement.

See the bigger picture
We are inclined to put our own interpretations on the data we receive. Before jumping to conclusions or taking offence, check the facts. ‘He didn’t return my call’ might mean that he never wants to see you again, but another possibility is that he was busy, or delayed. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes to get a wider perspective on a situation.

Let go
Sometimes, bad things happen to good people. You can choose to hold on to your anger, sorrow and resentment forever, or you can decide to get over your trouble and get on with your life. Don’t waste you precious energy on the small irritations. Drop them, and use the experience as an opportunity to recreate your life in the moment.