What's Really Important GNP or GNH?

This is a great TED talk in which hotelier Chip Conley went in search of a business model based on happiness. In an old friendship with an employee and in the wisdom of a Buddhist king, he learned that success comes from what you count.   As part of this he explores what is more important:   Having what you want, or wanting what you have.     Good question.

This is another little 10 minute talk well worth watching.

To what do you attribute happiness in your life?    Love to hear your comments.
StJohn

Is Money the real Motivator in what people do?

Here's a wonderful video that does two things...
First it questions money as the primary motivator for people doing meaningful work.    It points out there are a number of things that are much stronger motivators, (and you'll have to watch the video to see what they are).
Second, it uses cartooning as a wonderful vehicle for communication and bringing ideas alive.

So if you're interested in Mastery and a sense of Purpose in your life, grab a cuppa and invest 10 minutes in watching this.. it will give you plenty to think about.


And once you've seen it, we'd love to hear what you think.   Why not make a comment below.
All the best
StJohn

StJohn Miall: Introducing Circumference

Hi everyone,

Here's the video we made to introduce Circumference to the world...   this time without the spelling mistake!

Chocolate

A rather wonderful woman by the name of Thea was a keynote speaker in a recent conference I attended. She talked about chocolate. Well, she talked about many things, but at one stage she arrived at the true purpose and cornerstone of her presentation.

Chocolate. Glorious, sweet, soothing satisfying, calorie-laden chocolate. I’ve seen people go all glassy eyed at the very mention of the word.

It must be said that I have never considered myself a fanatic. My obsessions with chocolate pale in comparison to the certified devotee. But I have had my dalliances with the chocolate God. Cadbury’s plain milk is my chocolate of choice. And I’m rather fond of chocolate fudge. I reckon you can tell a lot about a person by what constitutes their favourite.

Now, the wonderful Thea was passing out platefuls of chocolate, which were being passed around the rows as each attendee picked a piece. Rather like the collection plate in church. But much, much better.

I picked an apricot liqueur-filled dark chocolate mound, and patiently waited for everyone else to bloody hurry up and pick their piece so we could all hoe in together. It was to be a collective chocolate experience. And the point, of course, was not to gobble down the chocolate but to be absolutely mindful and conscious of the act of chocolate consumption. Like the Japanese Tea Service. Only much, much better.

I felt the weight of the chocolate in my hand. I felt the edges melting slightly to run like velvet blankets over my palm. I smelt the chocolate (I like the bitter sharpness of the smell of dark chocolate….so much more satisfying than the cloying sweetness of it’s lighter cousin.) I imagined how delicious the chocolate would be. I thought about the splendid relief when chocolate crumbles in the mouth. About how stress melts away. About being only in that moment- no past (to have regrets about), no future (to create anxiety about)…just the chocolate covered present.

And then I bit.

And it was the most divine chocolate experience in living memory.

Interesting. It was just a piece of chocolate after all. What made it such an historic event was the amount of attention I brought to it. I'm reminded to do that more often - to stop multi-tasking and just sip in life experiences.

Delicious.

Jo Flynn

How to Get a Laugh on a Regular Basis

It’s easier than you think.

All you need to do is grab your togs and a towel and head down to the closest aquarobics class. I swear I have not laughed so hard for months.

There is a plethora of motivations for a good giggle. There is the fact that the class is filled with predominantly middle aged women who have predominantly been eating too many cream buns for a few years. So every one's a lovely round shape. A lovely round floaty, hard-to-submerge shape. Every time you try to sink yourself to do some underwater calisthenic thingummy movement - you end up exploding back up to the surface and bobbing around looking surprised.

Then you add the indignity of a noodle. For the uninitiated, a noodle is a flotation device shaped exactly like a gigantic bit of spaghetti. And only slighty less difficult to wield in a large body of water.

If you're very lucky you get to stick it between your legs and breastroke backwards for the length of the pool. If you not having such a good day the damn thing will find it's way into the inside leg of your boardshorts and tickle your fancy.

Maybe its just me but the whole experience is like giggle therapy. Fantastic fun, apparently gives your core a good workout in the process and cheap as chips at $10 an hour.

Heaven...



Don't forget to check out Jo's ongoing adventures with self improvement at the Evolution or Bust! blog. You can simply indulge your voyeuristic tendencies and watch as she courageously lurches from one developmental opportunity to the next, or better still, take the ride with her and compare notes as you both evolve together.

Check it out: http://evolutionorbust.blogspot.com/

Education and Purpose in Life

In this inspiring talk Sir Ken Robinson eloquently articulates the challenges facing education today.   
As an educator of adults, the work of Circumference is based on many of the principles that Sir Ken espouses in this talk.
It is absolutley worth investing 18 minutes of your life to watch this video... go put the kettle on, grab a cuppa, hit the play button and enjoy!
Singe

Thank You.

Thank you to everyone who has been in contact since we started to let people know that Circumference is coming into being.
The response has been almost overwhelming with so many wishes of ‘Good Luck’ and offers of help in our new venture.
To all of you many thanks and rest assured we’ll need all the help we can get and we’ll be in touch in due course with how you can contribute should you wish to.
One of the most inspirational responses came from good friend and colleague Roger Harman of Corporate Heart. Here’s what Roger wrote…

“There are days when you are mysteriously lifted by the flow, like catching a breeze, and all you need to do is spread your wings and glide. There are days when you are climbing up a steep mountain face with hands bleeding, wondering why this is your fate to struggle so. And there are days when you reach the mountaintop and realize that the effort and courage were worth it after all.
But even at this moment of triumph, it is important to know that one day the clouds surrounding that mountain will lift and you will see that there are many more mountains left to climb, each higher than the next, stretching out in all directions. And then a ray of sun will illuminate one of the mountain peaks and you will smile and sigh, then climb down from this mountain and go on to the next.
And so, knowing this, you might as well enjoy the journey. Knowing this, you might learn to enjoy the feel of your muscles as they stretch, the expansion of your heart as you dig for more courage, the company of the other climbers you team up with from time to time, and the beautiful views you have along the way.
And one of these days, a breeze may come along that calls your name and you suddenly remember you have wings. You leap off the mountain, catch the breeze and just spread out those glorious wings, ready for the ride of a lifetime, lifted and carried, circling among all the mountains, experiencing things you have never dreamt of, effortlessly riding the flow.
And then that flow, that breath of wind, will begin to drop and you will grab onto a mountain ledge nearby, to find yourself again looking up at a peak looming over you, wondering what happened to the breeze and why you weren’t carried all the way to the top.
But this is simply the way of it, the way things are in this great adventure of life.
Ah, do you feel it, that freshening of the air, that little breeze? Do you feel it beginning to grow stronger and flow your way? Do you hear it call your name? Yes, yes, fluff up your feathers, open your wings. Perch out here on the edge of this cliff and get ready, get ready to leap and take a ride. Oh, what a rare privilege it is to be alive!”

Indeed.
Here’s a thought: Print this out, and keep it somewhere handy. The next time you are in need of a little inspiration and motivation, take a quiet moment to read it to yourself and know that it’s all ok. It’s what we’re doing.
Thanks Roger and to all of you who have sent us your support.
With best wishes
Singe, on behalf of everyone at Circumference.

New Beginnings

Hi everyone,
It is with great pleasure that Robert Meredith, Shanti Clements, Alexia Miall, StJohn Miall and Jo Flynn announce the arrival of their latest venture!
If you've been wondering why we've been a bit quiet of late, it’s because we've been madly doing our due diligence. But after months and months of research, deliberation and robust discussion we have officially incorporated Circumference Pty Ltd.

Purpose: (still a work in progress)
Circumference exists to support the evolution of self, community and planet through the development and practice of conscious, authentic and compassionate leadership.
We provide support through facilitation, education, mentoring, life coaching and online programs.
We nurture the sustainable growth, wisdom and well-being of people at all stages in their personal and professional journeys in life.

Mission:
To sustain a successful facilitation network to improve the quality of personal development, corporate development, leadership facilitation, coaching, research and education in Australia and Internationally.

We’ll have a basic website up shortly and are planning to grow the business carefully over the coming years. Until now we haven’t announced our position publicly because we wanted to be very clear about the direction we were taking first, but there is no requirement to keep it quiet now. Which is a blessing to us all because it turns out we’re not overly good at keeping secrets…
All offers of help, support or blessings will be gratefully accepted and we’ll let you know more about how it’s all going to work the minute we’ve finalised details and protocols at this end.
Give any of us a call if you want to know more or if you want to slather us with good wishes.
With love,
Robert, Shanti, Alexia, Singe and Jo