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.

The increased pressure on the knowledge worker, caught between an age of manual labor and one of thought production, can be seen in the form of stress related diseases. Additionally, from a corporate perspective, high employee turnover and low employee productivity is a serious threat to earnings. Indeed, accounting for already achieved and potential damages of this new era, perhaps it is more appropriately titled “the Information Overload Age’. It is time for the knowledge worker to step out of the chaos and assess the situation. Diagnosing one’s company as suffering from information overload is not a complicated task, the symptoms being clear and detrimental.

If you raise your children to be happy they won’t be;
But if you raise your children well they will be happy ...
and so will you.

I believe your most important responsibility as a parent is teaching your children self-reliance and preparing them to be effective in all aspects of their life. To do this, keep in mind the principle that it is less important what you tell your children, than what they are able to tell you, and then to instill in them the 3 P's of preparation: perspective, perseverance, and patience do the following: