| The path to peace Posted: 10 Nov 2008 02:06 AM CST  All of the conflict we see in the world is simply a reflection of our collective inner conflict. Corruption, crime, war, aggression in business and politics, bullying, fundamentalism, exploitation of people and nature are all conflicts that cannot exist when we are at peace with ourselves. The path to world peace requires enough of us to find inner peace that the conflict ends - that is all. It is an individual process and, if we seek world peace, we must each take responsibility for our own inner peace first. To be clear - it is not possible to fight for peace, we must simply find our own peace and then help others to find theirs. A map is helpful in making any journey, so what follows is my best current understanding of the map of the path to peace. If you believe in peace and if you believe in this map, please share it with as many people as you can, we urgently need to move on from conflict. "Legitimise" - We first need to accept that we are where we are. There is no blame. Whatever has occurred to get us to where we are was valuable. No matter how painful our experiences might have been, if we can let go of the blame, they will contribute to getting us to where we are going. We need to accept that fear, confusion and weakness are inevitable at this stage and that we can move on from them, if we choose to. "Visualise" - The second step is to articulate our potential and our purpose. To create a vision for how our life can be. To do this we must let go of societal limitations and soar. My free life purpose e-book can be helpful at this stage. For our vision to be effective it must be fully present for us. It must be more present in our daily life than distractions. Think how present distractions, like media or an unloved job, are in your life - how can you make your vision more present than them? "Release" - Our true purpose will happen if we let it - we are held back by baggage and tensions, once we have articulated our purpose and vision we need to let go of the junk in order to get there. As you articulate your vision it is very likely that all sorts of negative thoughts will swamp your mind. Write them down. The real work of the path to peace is releasing these tensions. Common ones are: Parental relationships that need healing Who am I to... - who are you not to? Money issues - see my free Authentic Wealth e-bookConfidence/fear of failure - practice, practice, practice Location - we need to be in a place that inspires Releasing these tensions may need some help. Find a friend or coach who can help you through this. No world class athlete would expect to achieve top level performances without the help of a coach - why should we? Why should any of us settle for less than our top level performances? "Come out" - at some point the pull of the possibility overcomes the inertia of the baggage and it is time to declare our truth to the world. Ideally this is done in a way which will sustain during the dark moments that will follow. A way which is so committed that we have to work things out and going backwards is not an option. "serve/teach" - the sense of liberty, peace, clarity and unlimited possibility of the breakthrough to authenticity comes with a responsibility to share it with others. As we make the breakthrough we discover how much more there is to learn and that learning is best done through teaching and service. This is my work. I help people, both as individuals and within organisations to live at their highest potential. I am profoundly grateful for this gift. If you feel I could help you or your organisation - lets have a chat. "Transcend" - at some point we can make the shift from doing to being. We have learned and contributed so much that all we need to do is to be. If you find these e-mails valuable and energising, you may like to contribute some energy to help me continue to write them. £5 per year seems like good value. Take a look at my new Motivational Coaching web site at www.neilcrofts.comWith love nx Neil Crofts Inspirer authenticis inspiration innovation motivation +44 (0)7775 658534 neil@authenticis.comwww.authenticis.comThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Confidence Posted: 03 Nov 2008 02:36 AM CST  The world is changing. The old solutions are no longer appropriate or acceptable. War and competition are no longer adequate or acceptable ways to allocate resources. We are learning that ultimately the cost of simply taking resources from people is too high. We are learning that in a globalised world the cost of failing to understand people and cultures is too high. We are beginning to see that much what have been considered "normal" social, business and political practices amount to little more than bullying and intimidation. We are learning that the cost of bullying by individuals, businesses and governments is too high, economically, environmentally and socially. But where does bulling come from? Bullying is a symptom of insecurity and fear and it only creates further insecurity and fear. There is a growing movement of cultural innovation that is about building the self confidence of business people, public servants and the next generation. With a population confident in their own worth and their own abilities, bullying at all levels would end. Self confidence does not lead to arrogance. Arrogance is just another symptom of insecurity. The truly confident feel no need to prove themselves, the truly confident only want to help others to grow. There is a cycle (Identified by Norman F Dixon in his seminal work " On the Psychology of military incompetence") where people in responsible roles, who are themselves insecure, see little personal benefit in building the confidence of those they are responsible for. In fact many consider it to be a threat. It is now vital to break this cycle and to start to focus education and training on real leadership. Leadership that has the courage to tackle the real issues and the wisdom and humility to engage people where they are. One of the great misunderstandings of leadership is that it is possible to appoint leader. Leadership is emergent by definition, leaders cannot be appointed. I meet so many people these days whose "talent" ( see my FREE life purpose e-book) is leadership and yet they are reluctant to admit it, because they believe that they need someone to appoint them to leadership. This is not true. Leadership is not appointed, nor can it be hierarchical. Leadership is assumed by people who believe strongly enough in something to do something about it. We need to re-design our businesses and our public organisations to encourage people to lead on the things that they believe in. By doing this we release a tidal wave of motivation, creativity and commitment that will transform the productivity and relevance of our organisations. The only thing that holds us back is the insecurity of those holding the levers of power. Do you have the courage to unleash the full potential of those you are responsible for? Do you have the courage to unleash your own full potential? Authentic Leadership is one of the key strands of work that we do with Authenticis . We can help to unleash the full potential of your organisation through it's people, lets have a chat and I can explain how it works. For more breakthrough thinking on cultural innovation take a look at my Authenticis Blog. If you find these e-mails valuable and energising, you may like to contribute some energy to help me continue to write them. £5 per year seems like good value. Take a look at my new Motivational Coaching web site at www.neilcrofts.comWith love nx Neil Crofts Inspirer authenticis inspiration innovation motivation +44 (0)7775 658534 neil@authenticis.comwww.authenticis.comThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Authentic Capitalism Posted: 27 Oct 2008 02:52 AM CDT  In spite of the current melt down and the views of some capitalism is not a fundamentally bad system for managing the distribution of wealth in society. Capitalism has some tremendous strengths; the way that it can reward creativity and hard work, the way that resources can be made a available to promising ideas and in the way that the market defines demand. It also has weaknesses in that rewards can be completely disproportionate and that the market can demand products that are destructive. However the fundamental challenge with capitalism that I would like to address here is the fine distinction between gambling and investment and it's very human counterpart the distinction between passion and addiction. Of course at the more polarized ends of the spectra it is easy to distinguish between gambling and investment and between passion and addiction. The challenge is to make the distinction in the blurry area in the middle where it is more difficult to tell. Being able to make that distinction is important. Money is a human invention which we use to facilitate the transfer of energy (for more detail see my free Authentic Wealth e-book). While money is used for fairly transferring energy it is healthy and energising for those involved. As soon as money is used for gambling or exploitation it is corrosive and harmful to all involved. It is just as harmful to the gambler or the exploiter as it is to the more obvious victims. Investment contributes energy for the development of greater value and implies a level of care for the process. Gambling simply bets on one, possibly negative, outcome over another and cares only for the result. The distinction between passion and addiction is that passion leads to growth, learning and wellbeing. Whereas addiction leads to contraction, narrowing and dis-ease. Some businesses operate on the basis of addiction and gambling. Providing addictive thrills and rewards for their staff while using their resources to gamble for greater returns to feed the addiction. These practices although they might appear successful for some time are ultimately destructive. This is where authentic businesses show us the way. The success of authentic business is based on the energising foundation of passion and that leads to growth and sustainable success. If we can take the opportunity of this economic crisis to learn and make the distinction between passion and addiction, between investment and gambling, we will be taking a step towards sustainably profitable businesses and a more sustainable society. Our new company Authenticis is specifically about working with businesses to engage their people with their own passions. We then work with the business, the people and the brand to enable the business to be a platform for the passions of their people. When a business is driven by the passions of it's people it becomes an authentic business and can enjoy the benefits of high levels of motivation and engagement from staff and customers. Authenticis can help you raise the authenticity, motivation and engagement in your business, lets have a chat and I can explain how it works. If you find these e-mails valuable and energising, you may like to contribute some energy to help me continue to write them. £5 per year seems like good value. Take a look at my new Motivational Coaching web site at www.neilcrofts.comWith love nx Neil Crofts Inspirer authenticis inspiration innovation motivation +44 (0)7775 658534 neil@authenticis.comwww.authenticis.comThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Loving life Posted: 20 Oct 2008 02:11 AM CDT  This is really, really important. Please bear with me if you feel I have written similar stuff before. We stand on the brink. The triple challenges of environment, economy and meaning are reaching their climax. On one side lies another loop around the same fear/greed based cycle, on the other side lies progress to the next level and towards peace and sustainability. The time that we make that choice is now. Love is what works - love leads to healthy relationships, healthy solutions, healthy futures. You know this from your own experience, think of the relationships in your life that are energising and motivating - they are based in love. The more loving we can be the more energised and energising we are. If enough of us can live with love in everything we do, virtually all of the challenges we face as a society will melt away. Just think about that for a moment. If enough of us let go of our fears and are loving, with our family, with our colleagues, with our community, with our society with life on earth; poverty, war, exploitation, abuse and more will disappear. We don't need poverty, war, exploitation or abuse - they are choices we make, by accepting fear. So in this moment of choice please choose love. If you are making someone redundant this week (or being made redundant) how can you do it with love? If you need to deliver a challenging message to someone this week - how can you do it with love? As we are loving, so we open up the opportunity for those around us to be loving too. If you would like help in being more loving yourself or creating a more loving culture at your workplace lets have a chat. The choice is not just for your own happiness or the success of your organisation, but a vote for a more positive future for us all. I am not the only one who believes this is happening - take a look at this article from the UK Guardian newspaper.
If you find these e-mails valuable and energising, you may like to contribute some energy to help me continue to write them. £5 per year seems like good value. Take a look at my new Motivational Coaching web site at www.neilcrofts.comWith love nx Neil Crofts Inspirer authenticis inspiration innovation motivation +44 (0)7775 658534 neil@authenticis.comwww.authenticis.comThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Another piece of the PIE Posted: 13 Oct 2008 01:27 AM CDT  We all have the potential to be magnificent. We all have the opportunity to be brilliant. It is only confusion that holds us back. We have just finished running The PIE Retreat over the weekend, it was another fabulous experience. 15 of us secluded for three days in our mountain top monastery, focussing on clarity. Clarity in how our bodies can release the tensions that we hold and how we can move from dis-ease to ease. Clarity around how we experience, interpret and respond to our emotions. Clarity of purpose and understanding in how we respond to the world around us. A collective shedding of confusing and e big step towards inner peace and outer magnificence. It is a choice that we are all making every day. Do we choose to play small or do we choose magnificence? It is important, which you choose. Not just for you, but for us all. We are at a point of inflection, a point of choice and it could easily go either way. The triple challenges of economy, environment and the war for the ownership of meaning is reaching it's climax. We will choose to go either with fear or with love. If, as a society, we choose to go with fear it is likely that things will become extremely uncomfortable for many of us, for a very long time. It may even be that we (humanity) do not get another chance to make the choice to go with love. If we choose to go with love then the possibility of a sustainable, peaceful society is open to us. This choice is not one made for us by politicians, business leaders, religious leaders or parents. It is our choice alone whether we choose to be loving in every thought and action, or whether we allow ourselves to be fearful in the way that we deal with ourselves and others. To be with love is perhaps the most vital thing we can do. Today it is more vital than ever. Please take the bold step to learn to be with love in everything you do, because the moment that enough of us can be loving all conflict will cease. PIE is not a therapeutic experience, it is a training camp for spiritual athletes. It is not about healing old wounds (although that does happen) it is about learning strategies and techniques for brilliance. We don't know, right now, where PIE is going or what it will be next. We are fairly sure that it will be available at David's Onda Vital Centre in Palma Mallorca full time for those living in or visiting Mallorca. We are considering other events and also ways to offer PIE remotely so that is accessible to all. We believe that PIE can make an important contribution to the choice we are making as a society and would like to make it available to as many as possible. We would love to have your ideas on how this might be accomplished or where we should be taking PIE. Please do send me your thoughts.In the mean time if you would like help in training your own spiritual athlete - get in touch.Please note that I have finally found some clarity in my own work and am separating my personal work from my corporate and organisational work. Personal coaching will be via www.neilcrofts.comOrganisational training and executive coaching will be through www.authenticis.com. This Monday e-mail will continue to combine both, because, in the end we are all just people. With love nx neil@neilcrofts.comwww.neilcrofts.com +44 (0)7775 658534 Neil Crofts Inspirer authenticis inspiration innovation motivation +44 (0)7775 658534 neil@authenticis.comwww.authenticis.comThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Don’t Panic! Posted: 06 Oct 2008 01:16 AM CDT Many of us could be excused for feeling a little edgy right now. But whatever is happening, there are always opportunities for the bold. We all have the choice - we can hide from the fear of what is happening, or we can step up and define the future. A downturn is a great opportunity for authentic business. We are all looking for alternatives that we can believe in. Number one - of course is to understand your life's purpose or the core motivation of your business or organisation. With this you can identify the challenges facing society that you or your business care enough about to make a living by solving them. If you want some help you can use my free Life Purpose e-book - or give me a call.Second look for the "pain" in the area of your purpose. Where are people, or is nature, uncomfortable and how can your passions and talents help to turn that pain into peace. Third come up with your breakthrough idea for solving the problem and get started. Start on a small scale, build up interest and a following and then develop your plan to grow and evolve. Lets look at some obvious areas of pain at the moment and the people who are offering innovative and, in some cases, authentic solutions: Banking - businesses are struggling to find funding and at the same time savers are nervous about the security of their bank - it is time for Zopa. Zopa cleverly brings together consortia of savers and borrowers ensuring security and a good deal for both. For a bit of fun - take a look at one of my ideas for banking innovation - banking with a flight simulator as a way of making banking more engaging and therefore easier to understand. Transport/communication - spiraling fuel costs and environmental concerns mean that people are looking for cheaper and less polluting ways to travel and communicate. Plug in Hybrids massively increase the effectiveness of hybrid cars, reducing emissions and fuel costs. Truphone enables very low cost voice over IP (VoIP) phone calls from your mobile. Zipcar is a cross between a car sharing scheme and low cost car hire that really works. The Hub an innovative working environment increasing collaboration and reducing commuting. Other obvious areas ripe for innovation are home energy generation, connecting suppliers with customers more directly (it has worked well for Google), long distance travel, localised food production, recycling and so on. Now is the time to innovate and offer your solutions to the world, there are plenty of investors out there looking for somewhere safer and more responsible to put their money. Let's create something amazing.with love nx Neil Crofts Inspirer authenticis inspiration innovation motivation +44 (0)7775 658534 neil@authenticis.comwww.authenticis.com |
| The Future Posted: 29 Sep 2008 02:12 AM CDT  For many the future is looking uncertain at best, bleak at worst. Both the economy and the environment are fragile and in spite of this we still find the energy to be at war with each other. But necessity is the mother of invention and crisis the cauldron of creativity. Although many knew we needed to, we were not going to re-invent our economic systems or our treatment of the environment without a crisis. Governments will demand tighter regulation and populations will demand greater integrity and responsibility for the greater good. Businesses and brands will have to inspire confidence in their wider contribution to the good of society as a whole. It will no longer be acceptable for companies to throw up the smoke screen of shareholder value and ignore wider responsibilities. Now is the time to re-invent our economy as a responsible, caring servant of society, that will spread wealth without exploiting people or the environment. Utopian? Only if we are prepared to settle for compromise. It is up to us to redesign the system. We are the responsible ones. As the computer scientist Alan Kay said: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." I have for a long time articulated my own life's purpose as being "to heal the world through authenticity". This is based on the belief that if enough people were authentic to themselves most of the challenges we face would disappear. For me this means working both with individuals and with businesses, helping as many as possible to understand their true values and principles, and to live them without fear or compromise in all situations. Up to now I have, rather confusingly, merged the individual and the organisational under the Authentic Transformation banner. This week I am separating them. Today, in partnership with my wife, Benedicte, we are launching Authenticis. Authenticis creates cultural innovation that will help people and businesses flourish. We unleash the power of the passion of the people in the organisation, for both profit and the greater good of society. We help businesses and other organisations become and benefit from being authentic. I feel like this is the moment that the last seven years of work and research have all been building towards. I am very excited about the future. I would love your help in the success of Authenticis. Can you help us to spread awareness and connect with clients? Can you help us to inspire and transform organisational cultures? Can you help us refine and develop our message with feedback on the web site? Please get in touch with us and recommend us to others who you feel may be inspired. It is only through collaboration that we can change the world. Let's invent an authentic future together - Now! with love nx Neil Crofts Inspirer authenticis inspiration innovation motivation +44 (0)7775 658534 neil@authenticis.comwww.authenticis.comPS - There are still some spaces on The PIE Retreat. If you want to unleash your full passion in your life come along at find out how you can let it out (safely). If you find these e-mails valuable and energising, you may like to contribute some energy to help me continue to write them. £5 per year seems like good value. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The ONLY way to go Posted: 22 Sep 2008 01:59 AM CDT  Contrast the fortunes of two different styles of doing business. In the last week we have seen the most dramatic evidence of the frailty of the traditional model of business. Banks and other financial institutions, who have sought to maximise the redistribution of wealth from the population and the environment to a few senior executives and shareholders, have foundered. Part of the reason for their troubles is that they exist in a world where they compete with everyone. They compete with other financial institutions sure, but they also compete with customers, staff and even governments to extract the maximum financial return. It is like building a tower of blocks, one block on top of another, and just seeing how high it can go before it topples. While it works, it works spectacularly well, but it is always vulnerable to changes in economic, political or social climate. By way of contrast, take a look at www.betterplace.comThis is an authentic business that is building a solid foundation because staff, governments, business partners and customers REALLY want it to succeed. Their authentic purpose inspires and motivates every member of staff, every day and in every action and interaction. The clarity of purpose facilitates innovation and problem solving as well as engaging partners, suppliers and the media. All of this is available to almost any business in almost any market sector and all they need to do to get there is to articulate their authentic purpose and align the business around it. Authentic businesses are more like building a pyramid than a tower of blocks. The growth may not be quite as spectacular, but the positive purpose inspires loyalty and support, which make for rock solid foundations that remains stable even in challenging conditions. It is possible to transform your business into an authentic business and you do not need to be the chairman or CEO to make a start (although it helps ;-). If you want help in working out how to do it - give me a call.
If you want to bring the stability of the pyramid to your whole life, you might like to consider The PIE Retreat. It will help you to articulate your life's purpose and overcome any barriers that might prevent you from achieving it. If you find these e-mails valuable and energising, you may like to contribute some energy to help me continue to write them. £5 per year seems like good value. Take a look at my new Motivational Coaching web site at www.neilcrofts.comWith love nx neil crofts - coach, consultant, facilitator Authentic Transformation - join the evolution UK mobile 07775 658534 neil@authentictransformation.co.uk www.authentictransformation.co.uk"Individually we make a difference, through collaboration we create change" This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The Shift Posted: 15 Sep 2008 11:22 AM CDT  I am really excited. Looking back on it, I started this whole authentic journey nearly six years ago because I felt something was changing. I felt that our society was changing. People were starting to believe in different things, in different ways of working, in different ways of being. Over those years I have learned a huge amount, I have spoken to thousands of people about authenticity, about the shift. I understand it well now. In fact one way that I describe what I do, is that "I help people who have come to the edge of our society's cultural map. I help people find their way in this emerging, post transformation society." I have written about this shift before, but in the last week two new pieces of evidence have been sent to me that show how this shift is starting to move from a tiny group of pioneers to the wider leading edge of society as a prelude to going more mainstream. The first piece of evidence is The Shift Movie . You can see the inspiring trailer by following the link. The second is an article about spiritual business from business researchers WP Cary. I am excited because this is the point where we choose. Do we want a society based in love, where most of us work for the benefit of the whole. or do we want to continue in a society based in fear where we focus our energy on ourselves and those immediately around us? In reality is a non choice because the only route to sustainability is the path of love. Let me be clear - the ONLY path to maintaining our lifestyle, maintaining our culture, maintaining our society, maintaining our economies, maintaining our populations - is the path of love. And right now we are choosing. Every day and with every action, we are choosing. And we don't have much time for any more false steps. The evidence is there. Any business or organisation that cannot move to a proactive, love based, sustainability driven, innovative model quickly will very rapidly pass into history. What choice are you making today? What are you doing about it today, and tomorrow and forever? Let's embrace this positive, fulfilled, peaceful loving future right now and in every interaction we have going forward. If you would like help with making this shift either for yourself or for your organisation give me a call.Or come to the The PIE Retreat, 10-12 October, is designed specifically to propel people to a level of learning they had not considered possible. It will awaken you to what you know to be possible but so often struggle to reach. If you find these e-mails valuable and energising, you may like to contribute some energy to help me continue to write them. £5 per year seems like good value. Take a look at my new Motivational Coaching web site at www.neilcrofts.comWith love neil crofts motivational coach +44 7775 658534 neil@neilcrofts.comwww.neilcrofts.comThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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I love the innovation. I love the efficiency with which resources can be enabled to do great work. I love the clever business models that enable win, win, win solutions.
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