Gen Y Gives Thanks: Challenging the Norm

Gen Y Gives Thanks: Challenging the Norm

Generation Y

\’\’Have you heard the stigma surrounding my generation, Generation Y? Apparently we’re lazy and ungrateful, and, we only care about ourselves.

I’m sure you can guess how I feel about a ridiculous generalization that supposedly applies to every person born in the ten year period between 1980 and 1990.

Talk about black and white thinking. Talk about conventional thinking. How is it that every generation manages to claim that the one proceeding it is going to shits? Didn’t the Boomers call the Gen X’ers slackers until they went and developed the Internet?

I’m representing the grateful members of Gen Y on Examiner.com

Sharalyn Hartwell of Generation Y Examiner is attempting to prove that Generations Y isn’t a pack of selfish fools with her series, Gen Y Gives Thanks. Sharalyn interviewed me about what I am thankful for and you can read the article in it’s entirety here. For the lazier of us in the crowd, here’s my favourite excerpt of what I said… Damn, that sounds egotistical. Maybe they’re right about me and my entire Generation;)

I am grateful that a change in consciousness is occurring in society, that the accepted rules of business and life are being challenged and that new ways of thinking are being embraced and cultivated. I smile each time I see someone casting aside the chains of our society’s ‘shoulds’ to explore what they intuitively feel is right.” Read the rest here!

photo credit: dalechumbley

The 2 Determinants and Derailers of Your Business Success

The 2 Determinants and Derailers of Your Business Success

Two4Success

1. You

\’\’Don’t worry about the business idea before you’ve come to understand your Self and your gifts, and what you want from your business. Starting with the idea is starting the process in the middle. Your idea isn’t going to make your business a success, you are. So do the work and find your answers. Discover what it is that you would really love to do. For it’s not the idea that that is going to shoot you into the stratosphere, it’s the quality of You that is turning the idea into a reality.

2. Your Relationships

Don’t worry about finding an accountant before you’ve taken the time to determine the role your most important relationships will play in your business. They, and you, need to have a realistic picture of how your relationship, and your time together, is going to change. Conscious effort is needed to realistically plan how your relationships will support your efforts and not derail them. Many businesses are destroyed by lack of support, unexpected demands, unmet needs, unspoken expectations or personal loss.

If you’re supporting, and being supported by, both You and Your Relationships, you’ve got “what it takes” to turn your dreams into reality. For it’s what’s within you and what supports you that will bring you the success you dream of.

photo by: Derrick T

The Shape of Things @ElasticMind

The Shape of Things @ElasticMind

Retreat photo by h.koppdelaney
\’\’

Check out elasticmind.ca.

I’ve totally re-hauled it. It looks a lot different than the last time, or dare I say, be still my ego, the no times you’ve seen it.

I think it’s a clearer reflection of me, and how I can add value to you.

I’m a work in progress, so my site is too

But hopefully it speaks to you. And perhaps one day we might even connect…

Because whether you need a little strategic support, or a little bathroom reading, me and my words, are here for you;)

photo by: h.koppdelaney

The Distorted Lens of Familiarity

The Distorted Lens of Familiarity

Life Through a Lens

It sounds stupid, but I am often amazed that people don’t know what I do. I see the world through my lens, focused on my passions, and in my little world, I’m no more interested in a given topic than anyone else.

I don’t know what I know

In my distorted world, I know no more about the web, marketing, communications and culture than anyone else. To suggest that I am an expert seems silly, as the more I dig, the more I feel I have so much more to learn.

My passion provides clarity, as it focuses my attention on what matters to me, but it also distorts my view of my Self and my world. Sometimes my lens is all I can see. Sometimes, I actually believe that ‘everyone’ really is on Twitter. I forget that most people don’t see my world the way I do.

I can’t know what you know

It’s a ongoing challenge to identify my lens of familiarity and work to ensure that my zeal is not distorting my clarity. For the last thing I want is to be so caught up in my enthusiasm that you can’t hear me through it.

photo by: lytfyre

Faux Restraints or Why the Elephants Don’t Lose Their Shit and Break Free

Faux Restraints or Why the Elephants Don’t Lose Their Shit and Break Free

Elephant Measure

Ever wonder how the circus manages to keep elephants captive? After all, elephants are crazy strong, being the largest mammal in the world, and all.

Why don’t the elephants lose their shit and escape? Why do they just stand there? Why don’t they create some crazy elephant hubbub, squishing cars and shit? They have the power to.

The Power of Artificial Constraints

When a circus elephant is a baby, it’s taught to stand still and be restrained using a rope tied to a ground peg. As a baby, the elephant might not have the strength to break free from the restraint, but as it grows, it certainly does.

The thing is, by this time, it’s been conditioned by the rope and the post, the artificial constraint, into believing that it does not have the capacity, the power, to free its self. So it just stands there, never seeking liberation.

The entire circus elephant community believes the same, that they can’t free themselves. Their natural instincts are silenced by the continued exposure to this fake restraint. A perfect example of mind over matter.

Why You Can Lose Your Shit and Break Free

You’ve got your bullshit limitations too, just like the elephants. You tell your self you can’t do things that you can do. You silence what’s within you because of a made up story about not being capable. You’re just a dumb animal. We all are.

We do have a special gift, as humans, that puts us slightly ahead of the rest of the animals — conscious thought. We have a choice in how we act.

Get a Clue

Through practiced self-awareness, we can actually identify our limiting behaviours, the ropes and posts holding us captive in our own life, and work to break free of them.

We’ve got no excuse for our dumb behaviour. We’ve got no reason for our inaction. Only the elephants do.

This article was inspired by the movie, Cold Souls (viewed on my plane ride home from Paris) and my OAC drama project, The Circus Isn’t Fun for Everyone, on animal treatment at the circus (the content was heavily plagiarized… I tended to do that… but the title was all me).

photo by: marcokalmann