Let me start by saying, you are all leaders. It’s not that this blog is elitist. And it’s not that you are each CEO’s and leaders of industry. It comes from the fact that you all care about the direction the world is going, and you’re conscientiously making an effort to understand and improve yourself to be the change that you want to see in the world.

That is leadership.

When you set out to find your own path, you are leading, simply because, you are no longer following.

When you lead in this manner you won’t always see your followers. You won’t always see your impact. But it is there and it is powerful. As surely as a wake of air ripples out behind a jumbo jet, it is very hard so see, but when the wind hits you, it’s impossible to deny.

So it is in this spirit of speaking to leaders that I share my quote of the week:

Our job as leaders isn’t always to teach something new. But it is mainly to remind people of something they already know.

People don’t always need to hear the new and novel. All too often, in this modern world, everybody has heard everything that the world offers to them. But they haven’t thought through it all. There are ideas in their minds that have been seeded, but not fertilized. There are thoughts that have not yet been processed. And in that, lays the value of a repeated message.

One of my favorite movie quotes comes from the movie ‘Twelve Monkeys’ with Bruce Willis. This movie involves time travel, and at one point in the movie Bruce Willis’ character (James Cole) finds himself sitting in the same theatre movie as he watched as a young boy. After watching part of the movie he looks at his companion and says ” The movie never changes — it can’t change — but everytime you see it, it seems to be different because you’re different — you notice different things.” I often paraphrase this when sharing with others “The movie hasn’t changed, but I have…”

And in this concept comes the value of repeated lessons. Each time a story or an idea is repeated to us we can process some subtle input that eluded us before. This can be the result of concentration or perhaps a side benefit of life experience. But whatever the reason, as we change so does our ability to learn and process different aspects of the lessons around us.

So approaching the world as leaders, don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Don’t feel like the slowest person in the class when you approach an old book and read it for the 3rd or 10th time. Don’t be surprised if the mundane world that you walk through today, where nothing ever seems to change, offers you a new exciting lesson that you never saw before.

Namaste,

Kevin

I got to see one of my favorite bands perform last week. The band ‘Cake’ performed for a small group of one thousand people at a conference I was attending in San Francisco. To be at the front stage when a favorite band is play, is just amazing. There is nothing else in the world like it.

The lead singer knows how to work a crowd. Once everybody was having a good time he started to work the crowd through sarcasm and self deprecation. It’s not a technique I would choose myself, but the crowd and I were eating it up. We would yell back in response and sing along as he commanded.

In that situation, with the music blasting out of the speakers a few feet to my left, individuals without a amplification are background noise at best. I yelled myself hoarse and still could only barely be heard (but that didn’t stop me from trying). But when the lead singer organized us, when he set up the rhythm and instructed us to sing along. It was magical. A sea of tiny imperceptible voice joined into a chorus of singers and we became a tidal wave. Individually we could contribute nothing. Together we rivaled the band.

I love seeing this small demonstration of the power of the crowd. Together we can do so much more than we can as a lone small voice. Individually we can complain, together we can change the world.

This power can be used for good or evil. Once it has begun moving it is often unstoppable. It reminds me of a quote from a favorite Science Fiction show, Babylon 5: The avalanche has already started; It is too late for the pebbles to vote..

I encourage you this week to mindfully find a cause that you believe in, and add your voice to the chorus. It could be as simple as commenting on a blog to let others know you were there and you had a feeling to share. It could be as complex as writing a letter to your government representative about an issue on your mind. Or perhaps, you’re feeling called to be the metaphorical lead singer, find your amplifier and move the crowd to sing along.

Namaste,

Kevin

We have a special guest blogger this week. Heather Isaacs works with hospice patients and people that are nearing the end of their journey. She posted a facebook update recently that struck a cord with me and touched my heart, and I just wanted to share it with Chakra Community.

Heather’s update:

Once again, I am amazed by the the mysteries of the mind. I sat with a patient who has advanced dementia today. Often, she goes for days without saying more than a few words and she sleeps much of the time now. Always she is peaceful. Always she radiates warmth and kindness and humor. But there are spectacular and bizarre moments with her that take my breath away. In the same way that the sun will break through a cloudy day, she can become downright eloquent. And in those moments I feel like I am sitting at the foot of an oracle.

 

Today, she talked about how we are all parts of the whole and though we don’t know what role we are playing that we don’t have to worry about it because in the end it’s all going to be okay. She said that she’d forgotten what she had come here to do but wasn’t worried, either. Looking at her own body like it was a piece of clothing, she said “I could be almost anything now. And they could throw me away.” And though the words were strange, even sad, she laughed at the absurdity of it all. And I laughed with her. She said, “Whatever I am, I will be.” Over and over again, she talked about waiting, how we simply need to wait. She told me, “Take a breath. Relax. And wait to see what happens.” And looking at a plush toy bird hanging above her bed, she said, “I wish it could spread its wings and fly away. But it is waiting, too.”

I hope you find something in this gem to enlighten your day.

Namaste,

Kevin

About Heather:

Heather has her own blog to and loves hearing from visitors. She can be found at http://oddbygod.wordpress.com/.

I had a hard time coming up with my post this week. I usually like to find something that’s wrong and spin a positive, or more appropriately constructive, view that can empower and uplift. But this week, I’m just finding things to complain about.

I got an email this week from the California Board of Equalization (they collect sales tax here in California for business sales). It was a friendly reminder that this was “National Customer Service Week” I couldn’t help but draw a connection to the government shutdown and how they’ve chosen to highlight National Customer Service week by providing no services.

So to buck the trend and despite my lack of government funding, I’ve decided to post this weeks update, free of charge. As a free services to the world.

The worlds problems are tough. There is, quite literally, a whole world of challenges and problems out there to be solved and be stymied by.

We could spend all day being blocked and worried and uncertain.

However, fear doesn’t make the world a better place. Uncertainty doesn’t solve problems.

Shutting down in order to get your own way doesn’t help anyone.

So this week, instead of shutting down, start up.

Instead of boycotting, girlcot… (I think that’s the opposite).

Keep moving forward, keep your chin up, and keep doing good.

Namaste,

Kevin

I am pleased to report that this blog post has been created with 100 percent post consumer ideas.

It’s all been done. The ideas have all been thought up. The products have all been repackaged. The tools have all been repurposed.

Everything that we busy ourselves with day in and day out has been done before. Day in day out we spend our time on the timely. We focus our energy on meeting goals, measuring accomplishments, putting out personal fires and trying to make the grade. None of that amounts to much in the end.

Spend your time working on the timeless.

The only thing that you can do with your life, that hasn’t been done before, is live your life.

The only thing that is unique about your experience here is you. Your particular passion, your personal goals, your soul mission. Just to be clear I am speaking about your actual personal goals here, not that ones you’ve taken on because it seems like society wants you to.

Millions before you have already lived their lives. There is very little to show for it. The buildings from past civilizations are mostly all but gone. What does remain has lost context and the meaning it was meant to pass on.

The people that we remember from the past, are the people that lived passionately. Even the people that lived passionately and behaved terribly, are remembered now, for their passion. I’m not encouraging you the live terribly, but it is a way to be memorable. In many of the best cases, the remembered people were not living passionately in an effort to be remembered, they were living passionately in an effort to truly be alive.

If you are interested in bringing value and richness to your life, the only unique thing that you can do is to be yourself. Do recycle someone else’s life, live yours.

Namaste,

Kevin