Meeting time. Are you looking forward to a gathering of like minded individuals working toward a common goal? Or are you dreading a wasted two hours that could be spent doing something more important?

The narrow zoom
When the person leading the meeting has a narrow focus, think of a zoom lens on your camera, it’s easy to lose touch with what’s going on outside the current view. It feels like just a time for a bunch of people to get together to talk about certain subjects.

Discussion subjects digress and time runs long. People don’t make the decisions necessary to progress situations. People leave feeling disconnected from priorities and like nothing was accomplished.

The wide angle
When, however, the person leading has a wide focus, she has an inherent sense of the purpose of the meeting as a means to fulfill objectives toward a shared mission.

She is aware of the time–important for beginning and ending the meeting on time as well as keeping tabs on how long to spend on each agenda item. She keeps discussions relevant and to the point, and knows when to call for action in order to move on. People leave with a renewed connection to priorities and a sense of accomplishment.

Zoom + wide angle
This leader has an ability to simultaneously zoom her focus to deal with the details while holding a wide pan view. Whether in a leadership position for a business, a family, or your own project, you can train yourself to do this–it’s a developed skill.

The next time you are in a meeting, practice your wide angle view. At a few different times, pretend that you are zooming out to a bird’s eye view.

• Remind yourself of the mission of the business, non-profit organization, or project.
• Then recall the mission of this specific gathering.
• Who is present and what are their roles in the project and organization?
• Observe how the discussion at hand fits into these larger contexts.

Practicing this skill has huge pay offs; you’ll spend more time on important activities, you’ll feel more accomplished, and will waste less time. While this is awesome for you individually, the goodies will overflow to your team, business, and family. People will look to you as someone who gets stuff done.

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Photo credit:
Fall 2009 1
Originally uploaded by st_photos

Photo credit:
aspen_trees
Originally uploaded by Zest-pk

One of the muscles you get to strengthen on your simplifying journey is discipline. (Yes, the dreaded D word.)

You might exert discipline in some areas of your life, but it may be a big challenge to hold the line when you are in that hazy realm between intention and habit.

Simplifying “tips and tricks” come down to are knowing yourself–what makes you tick, what you have a hard time resisting, just how picky you are about your cafe lattes. That kind of important stuff.

Option #1 Don’t do it.

• If you know that you’ll get sucked into at least three hours of TV if you watch a certain show, don’t turn the TV on.
• If you know that you’ll blow past your 10:30 pm bedtime if you open up email or Facebook at 9pm, don’t open those up.
• If you know that you’ll get frustrated and irritated calling the phone company when you are tired, don’t call when you are tired.

Option #2 Call in the troops
Even more than not doing something, you can also plan ahead.

For example, I know that when I travel, I often bail on my daily writing. (As did happen this last weekend when I went to visit my sister and her hubby.)

Even though the consequences are crappy–i.e. I start feeling icky* and then have to break myself back into the habit when I get home–I still let myself slip.

(*icky here, of course, meaning that awful, agitated feeling that oozes from lack of purpose)

Clearly, discipline was Lacking with a capital L. Ah-ha! a perfect opportunity for reinforcements.

Some ideas I’ll work with next time:

1. Set an alarm to get up by 6am.
2. Tell my sister ahead of time that I’ll be taking off to write for an hour and a half at a cafe and not to hold breakfast for me.
3. Scope out writing location ahead of time so that there is no question about this in the morning. (which cafe opens that early? or which chair will I sit in at the house?)
4. Have laptop ready to go. (packed up for cafe, or in the room where I’ll type)
5. Set a time limit. (one of the best psychological simplifying time games on the book!)

These probably sound kind of silly–they probably are kind of silly. But when discipline is weak or flighty, supporting it through a little forethought can be just the right amount of gentle strength it needs to persevere.

Sheer will doesn’t always (in my case rarely) do the trick. Pulling the fuse on the excuses trying to chip away at your discipline keeps you moving toward the good luv of your simplified life!

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Photo credit:
Alarm Clock 1
by alancleaver_2000

From their home page:

Will we use the technologies of our age consciously, in ways that benefit ourselves and the world? Or will we do so largely unconsciously, living increasingly distracted and overwhelmed, out of touch with a sense of purpose?

Sooooo a place that Project Simplify should be!

(There is also an audio version of this newsletter, available here.)

Here is a brief summary of the contents:

1. A Note From Shawn
A Passion and Inspiration Infusion
2. Upcoming/Current Events
3. Our Featured Quote
by Hardy D. Jackson
4. Project Simplify Says So
Role models-R-Us; Passion Into Action Interview; An addiction to sensation—turn off the radio!; and How we change the world without Big Brother
5. Lifestyles of the Natural & Professional
6. The Not-So-Simple Life
Wanted: Someone to Help Me Pile More On

Read the full issue here.
Listen to the full issue here.
Subscribe to The Simplifier here.
[posted by Lance]

NOTE: The links that are mentioned throughout this recording can be found in the web version of this newsletter.

(If you don’t see an audio player or link above, you can access the mp3 file directly here.)

Here’s mine on See Jane Do’s blog.

The Passion into Action conference rocked! What an inspiring group of awesome women to spend the day with… Truly a gift.

Our circle for the Living in the Flow workshop that I led was a great group. These were women who knew how to make stuff happen and were ready for more.

My focus was on reprogramming our Doing tendencies to make room for heart-head actions–the type of actions that won’t just make change, but the change we want to see in the world.

There was one more point I wanted to make in the workshop: The reason that intuitive-led, heart-based action is such an important practice for us to master is for our ability to excel as role models.

It is our responsibility to show future leaders how to navigate the world in its current state of disfunction and to do so with the grace of the feminine spirit that has been so lacking.

This comes, quite simply, from aligning our heads with our hearts, being aware of when to take action and when to rest, and listening deeply. In other words, inviting the spirit we want to prevail into the discussion via our own thoughts, actions, and words.

How can we persuade others to honor their commitments if we don’t honor ourselves?

How will our kids–our future leaders–learn to take care of themselves in the midst of a chaotic world if we don’t show them by our own actions?

Action is required. But not just any action.

One cannot alter a condition with the same mindset that created it in the first place.
- Albert Einstein

The most difficult part of this shift isn’t agreeing that it’s necessary, or that it’s a good idea. Nor is it thinking of ways that we might do this in our own lives.

It’s having the awareness to catch ourselves from falling back into the self-defeating habits of pushing too hard, of judging others and ourselves, and of holding on too tightly to what we think is best.

It’s the discipline of preventing our loud chatter minds from drowning out the subtle songs of our intuition. This connection to the well-being of our fellow beings, the earth, and all that is interrelated.

This isn’t a practice we’ve been attuned to, and look at the mess we are in. Our kids need specific tools to learn a new way of responding consciously to injustices and inconsistencies.

We are in a position to be teachers. Let’s give them something worth learning. If we don’t, who will?

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Photo credit:
Little Butterfly
by Kopfjäger (back, but very slow yet…)’s photostream

It’s been several mornings since I’ve done my morning yoga. The muscles are a little tight, and flexibility isn’t what it was even a week ago.

This morning on the mat, getting back into my body felt great. Exaggerating the poses felt like pulling taffy–I reveled in releasing the resistance.

Until… a thought floated in that had a characteristic gentle truth feeling about it. I’ve learned to recognize this as one of the ways my inner wisdom reaches out to find me when I’m being dragged down the street by my wild pack of dogs, aka, my ego.

A word of context about this thought. Yesterday I was hit by the effects of “burning the candle at both ends”. In a short writing session I posed the question: how can it be that all the things I want to be doing are so great, and yet I’m pushing hard to make progress on all of them and not taking time for yoga or creative projects?

This isn’t the groove I want to be in. What gets cut out? The answer that popped up wasn’t definitive and it wasn’t new. I’ve already cut out the superfluous commitments in my life that I am no longer passionate about.

The next step then, has to do with how I drive the car, so to speak. Ten people can start here in Nevada City and go to Lake Tahoe, and each one can take a different route. Walk, drive, horseback, bicycle, limo, helicopter, hitchhike, motorcycle, hot air balloon, or pogo stick.

My current mode, the candle at both ends variety, isn’t cool.

So I did what I know helps me get back in the groove: I reviewed my schedule for the next day, reviewed the projects that I want to make progress on, reviewed the misc Todos that I want to check off; then gave them time limits and estimated when they could happen during the day based on the set appointments.

Happily, this got me back on track with yoga and meditation first thing in the morning, which brings me to the beginning of the story.

There I am on the mat reveling in the sensation of stretching muscles and the thought arose that I’ve been addicted to sensation. Rather than listening for the gentle nuances of the energy flow in body, I was focused on the bold and the loud.

Just like being at the park on a lovely day. Instead of listening to the breeze gently rustling through the leaves of the trees around me, I’m listening to a cranked up radio.

And since I see the body as a signifier of other things going on–meaning, the body exhibits symptoms, not the causes themselves–then I’ve got some mis-tuned listening happening at deeper levels.

Just as the body is an indicator, it’s also a doorway. First step is to turn off the radio and listen for the breeze. Ahhhhh, much better. Let’s see if we can stay in the park today. I think I’ll give the radio to the Thrift Store. =)

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Photo credit:
palm trees
by leahleaf

Specifically, she was referring to my comment about not wanting more laws to get change toward the world I’d like to create. She implied that it’s naive to think that we can change the course of the global situation without laws demanding accountability.

Following are my thoughts triggered by that brief conversation 30 hours ago and 3 film sessions later.

In the many films I saw this year at the Festival, one of the recurring themes I saw was people being silenced, disregarded, and marginalized all over the world by the powers that be. Land being polluted, homes being destroyed, and racism still alive.

Anna, I agree that if we do not stand up, speak out and stay strong we will be steamrolled.

I’m thinking about the seeming contradiction between not getting steamrolled and practicing peace. In other words, if resistance is itself an act of aggression, which I see it to be, then how do we practice non-violence (ref. Ghandi)?

The answer, in part (or in whole?) comes in how we exist within the situation we put ourselves in. For example, if I arrive at a protest filled with anger or even hatred toward the entity or people I’m protesting against, then I am contributing to the darkness.

If instead, I arrive with the intention of an open heart filled with love, compassion and forgiveness, then I bring light to the situation.

My intention with the Natural Professional is to act with passion in the world while holding an open heart.

In the film Fierce Light (see it!!) by Velcrow Ripper (how’s that for a name?) he cited Thich Nhat Hanh who spoke of being aware of depleting your energy. We have just as much responsibility to care for our own spirit as we do to contribute our efforts in making the world a better place.

I believe this to be the challenge of our lifetime. We are being called upon to develop our warrior power as well as our buddha depth in the midst of a swirling, chaotic, never resting world.

Which brings me to the Q: Why is it so important to accept and persevere in this challenge?
Hint: it’s not about us.

A: the status quo has gotten us into a pickle that the status quo can’t get us out of. Not only must we know how the current game works, we must master it (i.e. play the legal system, infiltrate the executive world, and get into public office).

At the same time, we get to simultaneously envision the new world. Then we learn how to play the old game without getting caught up in it. We train ourselves to lay the groundwork for the new world while playing the old world game. How? Spirit-based action.

My statement of no-more-laws touched on my desire to just stop playing the old game and commence with the new world. Anna pointed out that ain’t realistic, and right now, I agree.

I think it’s important to recognize, however, that the goal in playing the old game isn’t as much to “change the world” in a hopeful sense, as much as it is to halt the rate of destruction caused by the old way of playing.

What will change the world for the better is to play a completely different game. Since we cannot afford to step out of the old game, yet, the two run concurrently. At this point, there is comparatively more energy flowing toward the old way.

The more capable we (collectively) are simultaneously managing chaos and being a truth warrior and sinking into our Buddha-nature, the sooner the scales will tip toward the new world.

My Simplify article for the February issue of the Nevada City Advocate has been posted on online. The editor called it: How we change the world without Big Brother.

It’s more about my dream for the world I’d like to leave for my unborn niece (actually, a nephew could just as well be brewing in her belly) than a throw back to George Orwell’s 1984.

Enjoy!