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Archives for January 2021

Four practical experiences to clarify your purpose

January 18, 2021 by Alicia Curtis

For years I’ve been helping people uncover a truly meaningful purpose in life.  There are a number of truly wonderful reflective (research based) activities you can do to demystify purpose, break it down, understand it and start to form it for yourself. This is your life’s work to keep focused on it and refine it to give you meaning in your life.

I love it so much that I developed a 3-month online program called the Greater Good Collective, where I walk through through these reflective activities as well as practical challenges to get you not only thinking and reflecting but talking with others, stretching yourself and doing stuff – to help you uncover your purpose in life!

In this post, I wanted to share four practical activities that will help you in your journey to purpose as they have done in mine.

1. Volunteer

“If our hopes of building a better and safer world are to become more than wishful thinking, we will need the engagement of volunteers more than ever.” – Kofi Annan, seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Volunteering has been the BIGGEST pathway to purpose for me. I started volunteering as a ten year old in my school environment club and I’ve never stopped. The picture to the right is me at my first international conference representing my community project and country!

It’s allowed me to see the challenges in the world and focus on how I can contribute to them. It’s given me a platform to develop my skills and master my strengths. It’s offered me the opportunity to meet and develop friendships with some incredible people from around the world! The list goes on.

Finding a cause that it not focused on you but other people (or animals or our environment) taps into a deep force of energy in our lives.

How to start?

  1. There are many websites that can connect you with volunteering opportunities. If you have no idea where to start – try a few out to see what really connects and engages you.
  2. See if your family, friends or workplace are involved in any volunteering projects.
  3. Get a group of friends together and find a place to volunteer as a group.

 

2. Travel abounds

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustav Flaubert, French novelist.

Whether it’s a regional town in Western Australia, a very large city in China or the regional communities of Italy, my travels have taught me so much and maybe most importantly it’s taught me that how I live is not the only way to live.

There is a huge world out there. Taking the time to explore how people live their lives gives us greater understanding of our own culture, values and norms. It highlights our own worldview and hopefully allows us to gently uncover how you came to that worldview.

Another way that you can do this in your own backyard is to meet people who are different to you. Perhaps from a different culture or religion. Attend the multicultural festivals, eat at different restaurants, explore the different cultural museums. In Western Australia (my home town), we have the incredible Museum for Freedom and Tolerance facilitating powerful experiences to break down barriers and invite curiosity and learning.

How to start?

  1. Be a tourist in your own city.
  2. Learn about another culture.
  3. Pick up a novel that takes you to another place.

 

3. Experience (or create your own) art

“Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness.” – Anni Albers, German-born American textile artist and printmaker.

We are all artists, remember that! Music, art, theatre, comedy or dance to name just a few.

These experiences get us out of our heads and into our bodies. It’s an opportunity to truly be in the present moment – without worrying about the past or the future. To just be! This is the transformative power of the arts.

Art gives us a safe place to challenge boundaries and learn through being part of an absorbing experiences. The creativity of art gives us inspiration in our own lives and helps us fully tap into the human experience.

I love how art organisations are continually stepping up and give us transforming experiences to share with our friends and family. I can highly recommend Perth Symphony Orchestra and the WA Ballet in my hometown.

How to start?

  1. Go visit the Art Gallery, see a play, go to a concert or comedy show.
  2. Get into art yourself – sign up for an art class, dance class or do some improv!
  3. Listen to different music than you usually would – jazz, African, hip hop or classical.

 

4. Revel in Nature

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” – Rachel Carson, marine biologist, author, and conservationist.

There was nothing like hiking up the mountain to Tiger’s Nest (Paro Takstang) to the sacred Buddhist site and temple located on the cliffside of Paro Valley in Bhutan (see the pic above at the half way point to Tiger’s Nest which you can see in the distance on the side of the cliff). The natural environment has a transformative power to invigorate. The good thing is you don’t even need to go to Bhutan to experience this. The beach, stars, trees, waterways and connection to animals can do this for us too.

Nature improves our mental health. It helps us to think clearly. It encourages us to breathe deeply. My friend Erika runs beautiful walking tours in Margaret River and around the world.

Nature creates this space for mindfulness. It encourages movement and increases the use of our senses – touch, smell, sound and sight.

The trouble is that we are too disconnected from nature in modern society. We forget about its transformative nature. We wonder why we lack clarity when we are cooped up in buildings all day every day.

How to start?

  1. Watch a sunrise or sunset. Observe the rhythms of nature.
  2. Find a short walk or hike close to home.
  3. Find your natural environment happy place – is it at the beach, under the trees, near a river, the outback, in a park or out under the stars.

 

Get started today

And this is just four practical experiences to help you find and live your true purpose in life! These practical experiences can support and inspire the self reflection and awareness needed to defining your purpose in life.

 

Want to join the Greater Good Collective? Launching 1 March

On 1 March, I’m launching the Greater Good Collective, a 3 month personal leadership journey to live and lead courageously to create a better world.

Check it out here to join us.
 

 

Filed Under: Purpose Tagged With: art, experiences, nature, practical, travel, volunteer

Why we need Greater Good Leadership more than ever?

January 11, 2021 by Alicia Curtis

This revolution will ask all of us to shift our ways of thinking to connection rather than consumerism, to purpose rather than profits, to sustainability rather than selfishness. We must awaken to see workers not as inputs, the environment not as our personal domain, and shareholders not as all-powerful. And we need to move away from old models of doing what is right for me and assuming it will turn out right for you.”

— Jacqueline Novogratz, Author, A Manifesto for a Moral Revolution

Amongst the pain, destruction, fear and uncertainty, the world is demanding a new form of leadership. Leadership that acts on aspirations beyond personal goals or even beyond the traditional bounds of a business or organisation but instead seeks to work towards the greater good. As a global society, we are facing unprecedented challenges that need solutions outside our current thinking. We need models that stretch our thinking and we need new frameworks to inspire our action.

 

We need leaders who serve the greater good.

First and foremost, Greater Good Leaders serve a purpose beyond themselves. We dare to imagine a future which affords everyone opportunities for safety, growth, choice and dignity. We dare to imagine a future which values the intangibles as much as the tangibles – our environment, human connection and the arts.

Greater Good Leaders take radical responsibility for the challenges in the world. We do not shift to blame others or shirk away from these responsibilities, but we take them on – together with others, with all the vulnerability of not knowing the answers. We live and act with integrity and take on our leadership duties with the greatest sense of honor and responsibility.

Greater Good Leaders hone our strengths and talents to face these challenges and responsibility. We act with humility through always listening, learning and building trust with others. We focus on changing ourselves first – growing our talents as well as understanding of the world. Leadership is not about me – but it is personal. We can only start with me – improve me, transform me – then we can attend to the global transformations we seek.

Now more than ever, we need a moral revolution, a moral compass to guide our leadership. We are yearning for something different – from our political leaders, business leaders and community leaders.

 

Here are 9 reasons we need Greater Good Leadership more than ever

 

1. We want to trust our leaders again

There is an all-time low level of trust in leaders and institutions – from government, politics, business or religious organisations. Trust has been broken and it needs to be repaired.

We want to trust our leaders – we want leaders who have honed their competence to perform their job well, leaders who care deeply and listen to concerns, and who are genuine and sincere in their words, actions and decisions. We’ve over leaders talking one way and acting another – you lose all respect, trust and credibility.

 

2. We want leaders who are ethical

An individual has not started living until they can rise above the narrow confines of their individualistic concerns to the broad concerns of all humanity”

— Jeff Klein, Author, Working for Good

Great success, profits and power can’t be at the expense of people or the community as a whole. Unfortunately, we see leaders who are willing to overlook wrongdoing if it benefits their success. Greater Good Leaders view performances within the lens of ethics, asking what has been the means to create this success.

Being ethical in your decision making and actions is core to greater good leadership. Being a person of integrity, honoring your word and doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

We want leaders who walk the talk who are inspiring people who lead by example. Our actions matter more than our words. Every day we show our values through our words, actions and decisions – what are you communicating through your behaviours today? Greater Good Leaders are cognisant of the values that drive our behaviours and work hard to ensure we are reflecting our values clearly.

 

3. We want leaders who take responsibility

Making the choice to take full responsibility is the foundation of true personal and relational transformation”

— The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership

Leaders who blame and shame others for the problems we face are tiring. We seek leaders who take responsibility – radical 100% responsibility. These leaders understand they may not have created the problems but they will definitely not be part in continuing them. We must be accountable for our words and actions and openly acknowledge our mistakes when they occur. We are all human. We are all learners.

 

4. We want leaders with true vision and imagination

What does following in the footsteps of everyone else get you? It gets you to exactly the same conclusions as everyone else.”
—  Ryan Holiday

The goal posts have moved – we want goals and ambitions, vision and futures with less greed, corruption, pollution and poverty and more wellbeing, connection, ethics and dignity. We need to inspire long term thinking, audacious goals as well as small incremental change. We ought to encourage leaders to dream of what could be – looking for solutions which are inclusive and sustainable. We need leaders who are willing to challenge the status quo and with that the traditional powers.

 

5. We want leaders who display courage

People see the injustice in the world. We want change. We see the discrimination, greed and corruption, and we need to see these injustices brought to justice. Otherwise we lose confidence in our democracy.

This takes true courage – the ability to face discomfort and be brave to work towards the greater good. Courage means using your voice, standing up for what you believe in, seeing things from different perspectives and working together with others.

 

6. We need more than a strong man – we need diversity

We’ve seen a resurgence of a ‘strong man leadership’ with global leaders exhibiting tough guy, hyper-masculine toxicity. We’ve also seen the world see the race discrimination that still infilitrates our structures, norms and behaviours. One man, race or country does not have all the answers to solve the complex problems of the world. We need now more than ever, a diverse collective to overcome the challenges we face. We must embrace diversity in all its forms, be willing to listen and learn, and seek conversations for understanding.

This is love work. Love is one of those words that is hard to define. But in the context of this work, here is what it means to me: It means you do this work because you believe in something greater than your own self-gain. It means you do this work because you believe that every human being deserves dignity, freedom, and equality. It means you do this work because you desire wholeness for yourself and the world. It means you do this work because you want to become a good ancestor. It means you do this work because love is not a verb to you but an action. It means you do this work because you no longer want to intentionally or unintentionally harm BIPOC”

— Layla Saad, Author, Me and White Supremacy: How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World

7. We value more than just the bottom line

We can no longer afford false divisions between work and community, between ethics and economics. But how can we change from a system which values endless increasing profit and materialism to one in which the core values are community, caring for the environment, creating, growing things and personal development? We empower people. There aren’t many motivating forces more potent than giving your staff an opportunity to exercise and express their idealism”.

— Anita Roddick, Founder, The Body Shop and Author, Business as Unusual

There is more to the world than profits. We need meaning, we need well-being, we need connection, we need a clean and enduring environment. These goals don’t even need to be in opposition to money and growth but we need to re-imagine it’s relationship. Conscious capitalism is re-envisioning what could be and it’s the way of the future.

 

8. We want vulnerability from our leaders

Our ability to be daring leaders will never be greater than our capacity for vulnerability”

— Brene Brown, Researcher and Author, Dare to Lead

Greater Good Leadership requires vulnerability. We don’t know all the answers and we can’t be perfect. Brené Brown describes vulnerability as “uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.” It’s that unstable feeling we get when we step out of our comfort zone or do something that we can’t control the outcome. Greater Good leaders commit to showing up and doing the work anyway.

 

9. We want leaders who work for our most disadvantaged

Greater Good leaders are characterised not by what they get (power, fame, fortune) but what they give. They put themselves last – they serve others first. They are working beyond their own self interest and instead have a genuine concern for others. They put themselves in other people’s shoes. They listen and work together with people. Do you give more to the world than what you take?

 

We are the leaders we desire…

Greater Good Leaders are not out there waiting to be discovered. We need to be the leaders we desire. In these challenging times, we must not seek outside, we must seek inside ourselves to grow into the best leaders we can be in this moment in history. To improve ourselves so together we can improve the world around us.

 

Want to join the Greater Good Collective? Launching 1 March

On 1 March, I’m launching the Greater Good Collective, a 3 month personal leadership journey to live and lead courageously to create a better world.

Check it out here to join us.
 

 

 

Filed Under: Leadership, Purpose Tagged With: greater good, influence, inspiration, leadership

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