There are many negative emotions that can arise on our quest to live and work more sustainably. We can imagine these as being like weed seeds in our minds. If we feed them they will grow. All we need to do to ensure that they remain dormant is deprive them of nourishment i.e. stop dwelling on them, and instead focus on growing the seeds that are good for us.

Apparently January 25th is set to be the most depressing day of 2010. Called “Blue Monday” the Monday on the last week of January each year is the day when we’re most likely to feel down and lack-lustre. This is often attributed to the combination of debt from Christmas, cold and wet weather, suffering from colds and flu and the lack of a public holiday on the horizon! What can we do when we succumb to the Winter Blues? The usual distractions of overeating, drinking alcohol or vegging out in front of the TV that many of us are tempted by can lead to addition physical and emotional difficulties. What simple, sustainable alternatives are there?

Recently, I was in a meeting of executives and business owners. The conversation turned to work ethic and the length of their work day and work week. I heard several individuals who were intending to brag state, “I haven’t had a day off in six months,” or “I haven’t taken a vacation in five years.” In my mind, these ludicrous statements are like someone discussing car maintenance stating, “I haven’t changed the oil in my car since 1998,” or “I’ve ignored a Check Engine light on my dashboard for a whole year.” There’s a big difference between working smarter, working harder, or working longer.

Despite what our political leaders insist on telling us, we all know deep down that persistent economic growth is no longer an option if humankind is to survive for very much longer on this planet. Yet it is not “growth” per se that is a bad thing when we consider what it really means. Growth is not about achievement, consumption, exploitation, manipulation, survival of the fittest, take-overs, domination, hierarchy, power or control. This is just what we’ve been led to believe through cultural conditioning and it is now so deeply ingrained that few of us can even imagine a different, more life-sustaining way of living and working. So, if growth is not about all of those parameters I’ve just mentioned, what is it really? And how does this relate to our personal and business lives?

Is downshifting a spiritual act? Is deciding to live more in alignment with the needs of the planet, humanity and ourselves an act of defiance, a refusal to comply, to be “socially included” or is it maybe a shift towards a mode of living that supports both our personal spiritual growth and the raising of global consciousness?

Is downshifting a spiritual act? Is deciding to live more in alignment with the needs of the planet, humanity and ourselves an act of defiance, a refusal to comply, to be “socially included” or is it maybe a shift towards a mode of living that supports both our personal spiritual growth and the raising of global consciousness?

Balance has been a buzzword and popular topic in business circles over the past few years. There are any number of consultants, advisors, and life coaches that purport to help you find balance between your life and your work. I am somewhat skeptical of this in principle, because part of your life is your work, and your work should be one of the elements that makes your life rich.

Whilst downshifting or aspiring to live more sustainably can seem on the surface to be like a dream, in reality what I, and many of my clients, find is that it’s more of an interesting journey than a dream to be achieved. So, ironically, even striving towards the goal of a “sustainable living dream” can be counter productive. What guides us on the right path of our journey I would call a vision rather than a dream.

When we consider our need to live more sustainable lives, we are being called to face some very tough challenges, personally, in our local communities, nationally and globally. How can we follow our hearts and speak out for what we believe in without causing further suffering or hardship? How can we be effective and consistent in how we decide to act? How do we engage in non-violent methods of transformation?

You would think with home prices still dropping like hailstones in most areas, that homes would be bargains. The present buyer's market obscures a key fact about the housing crisis though: millions sought the refuge of cheap credit, subprime and adjustable loans during the boom because they were the easiest routes to homeownership in a time when house prices far outpaced income growth. The sad fact is that the Great American Dream is still out of reach for far too many and it was the declining affordability of decent houses that was one of the triggers of the housing bust.

A research report from the EMCC (European Monitoring Centre on Change) has stressed the importance of businesses to cultivate “anticipatory awareness” and flexibility in building resilience to change. How does this translate into straightforward, practical steps that a small sustainable business can take to help it thrive during times of change?

In our business lives, the Anyway Principle can help us become clear on our business purpose, inspiring and motivating us and the others we work with and improving our chances of business success. It’s altogether a very effective way of living and working consciously.

Downshifting is what happens when people decide that the demands of their modern working life do not justify the rewards. They want time to enjoy their families, their relationships, and participate in their communities. The process of downshifting is how people change their lifestyle to meet those needs.

Refocusing and starting over is hard. It takes a lot of soul-searching and - if done honestly - it forces us look at ourselves, our skills, our attitudes, and our behaviors objectively. But for those who do truly want to be better, and more productive going forward, we need to do something different.

In our move to a more sustainable way of living and of doing business, we know that we need to change how we act and also how we think. Our actions, after all, stem from our thoughts and, unless we change our approach to how we think, we will not manage to downshift or to sustain the changes that we make.

It is time for we Americans to wake up from our self-absorbed, egocentric trances and start taking on the more adult responsibilities of being global citizens, sharing this planet with many others in a sustainable, thoughtful and compassionate way. Instead of building walls around our neighborhoods or our country, we can start engaging with the other 95% of the world as neighbors and help create a world of neighborliness. In such a world there is a place for everyone, even cowboys!

Having run several small businesses over the last 20 years, my experience has taught me a lot about myself and what kind of person I want to be in serving a particular customer base and also what it’s like to be a client of fast moving consumer goods type companies versus smaller, sustainable companies with a more humane and environmentally responsible outlook.

One of the saddest by-products of our post-modern society is the isolation felt by many of its inhabitants. With many people living in single person households and single parent or small nuclear families we have lost the confidence building benefits and emotional support of living and working in community. We have also lost the practical advantages of sharing resources. The good news is we can re-create community and reap the benefits even if we do this on a small scale.

In 1987 I sold my business, South Mountain Company, to my employees (and myself). My sole proprietorship became an employee-owned cooperative corporation. It was a hinge point in the history of the company. Ownership has become available to all employees, enabling people to own and guide their workplace. The responsibility, the power, and the profits all belong to the group of owners. (See John's video presentation, from ChelseaGreenTV)

I hear it almost every day: “It was the right thing to do.” But how often is this heard in the average corporate environment? In most corporate cultures the normal attitude – even if unstated - is “it was the smart thing to do” which usually means it was politically expedient. In this context, “smart” means one played it safe, didn’t stick their neck out very far and most of his/her peers agreed it was a wise decision. Imagine a corporate culture in which the everyday decisions and choices are not only viewed as “politically smart” but as “the right thing to do” – that is they are both moral and ethical, regardless of the potential political fall-out. Wouldn’t that be refreshing?

Simply put, a business’s “triple bottom line can be expressed in terms of the three Ps – People, Planet, Profit, and, most importantly, in equal priority. So now, rather than taking the conventional view and running our business primarily for profit, we are running our business for the welfare of society and of the environment with the same emphasis on these aims as on earning a profit.

Trees play such a large part in our lives. On a practical level, they are the lungs of the earth and they are each self sustaining eco-systems in their own right. On a more subtle level, they can be symbolic of many aspects of human life. I’ve used this idea to map out some ideas on maintaining sound, sustainable business relationships.

Why do we need to heal? What is it about being in the rat race that causes us so much discontentment and disease? With some studies showing that over 70% of office workers in the UK are currently suffering some form of ill health as a result of their jobs, it seems pertinent to explore downshifting as a healthier alternative.

If you haven't got time for your child's pain, make the time; You can pay (attention) now, or you can pay (the consequences) later.

Heath Ledger dead at 28.  What a tragedy.  What a waste. Perhaps we should be surprised that even more young adults and adults do not fall prey to drugs. In all likelihood, many more are under their spell, but they don't quite go over the edge or are not famous enough to be "newsworthy." What is the real appeal of heroin and cocaine, or their lesser evil counterparts, alcohol/marijuana and amphetamines/speed? Are they a way for teens and young adults to escape or merely cope their lives or is there something else going on?

Spiritual and philosophical wisdom tells us that when we are out of alignment, or out of harmony, with Nature and our authentic natures, we will experience that misalignment in our mental and physical bodies. Modern-day statistics for those of us in Western industrial cultures tell a strong story that we are badly out of alignment.

I will always remember George Burns stating, “If you love your job, you will never work a day in your life.” George Burns enjoyed his life and his work for a century. If you enjoy what you do, you can substitute the “Thank God it’s Friday” club for the “Thank God it’s Monday” club. Beyond what you do for a living, you will receive tremendous benefits if you enjoy the people you work with.

Since starting my downshifting journey to a more sustainable existence, I have become acutely aware of just how frequently other people voice their exasperation at “having to lead a seemingly pointless and unhappy existence.” I was one of those people a mere 7 years ago. 7 years later and I am working part time from home, living a relatively low cost, sustainable, debt-free lifestyle. My children are home educated and I am self-employed supporting others who wish to tread a similar path. We are all less stressed and happier and are free to enjoy our lives in the moment, rather than striving forever for an imagined, utopian future.

Our Preoccupation With Trivia
 
The other day I came across a podcast entitled “Attention: The ‘Real’ Aphrodisiac.” I learned of a phrase apparently coined by former Microsoft VP Linda Stone: “Continuous Partial Attention.” It describes that “always on” way many people operate, not only in their work lives but their private lives as well.

Work/life leadership expert, author and speaker, Eileen McDargh, analyzes the data and expresses caution when reading the recently released 2007 Global Workforce Study by Towers Perrin.

Professional speaker, consulant and author, Eileen McDargh, offers five tips to refresh and renew yourself in the new year.

Do you sometimes feel that all you do is chores? You do chores at work (meetings, incessant calls, constant interruptions, boring paperwork) and at home (laundry, cooking, paying bills, picking up around the house, fixing things, running the kids to their activities). When do you have time for fun? When was the last time you did something that you really wanted to do?

An examination of current workforce trends reveals an escalating number of extreme workers. A non-stop work-style once exclusive to the executive suite is now finding its ways to all levels of knowledge worker positions. The more people work like this, the more time they pour into their jobs. Unfortunately, the extra time is actually giving them less return for their efforts. Many are operating like an old cell phone battery that has been drained and re-charged one too many times-it takes longer to refresh and the power runs out quickly.