This is the beginning of a new society

My first career (said in the same tone as one talks of one’s first husband) was in money. I was a financial adviser, working as a dealer when the Big Bang happened and when Black Monday blew us away – along with the Great Storm – in 1987.

From selling investments I moved into marketing investments for blue-chip companies, working on the team which launched the first ever unit-trust personal pension in the UK, and I helped Royal and Sun Alliance design a ground-breaking award-winning employee pension scheme.

So I know a bit about financial services and how to spot a good punt.

I don’t talk about this aspect of my life much because I became very disillusioned. I realised that, instead of financially empowering customers, most financial institutions were hell-bent on financially empowering themselves first. I left the industry to do something that felt more worthwhile.

But I want to tell you about someone who took a different approach. While I was busy walking away and getting all new-age, Jason Scott was summoning up his courage to take on the big boys. He was deeply saddened as he watched good people lose their hope and homes to bad money practices. He was angry. And he decided to do something about it.

That ‘something’ is Civilised Money. It’s a new, alternative way of banking based on crowd funding. It’s designed to enrich EVERYONE who takes part. A totally transparent finance initiative, it takes a sustainable and responsible approach to money. It’s fair and it’s ethical, but most of all its empowering. Not surprisingly the management team are a bunch of super-enlightened bods from a mix of relevant backgrounds including my favourite guru and authentic business leader, Neil Crofts.

This project has been years in the making: against the background of all the disappointment and rage and powerlessness we have all been feeling over the last decade as we see our economy plundered, our standard of living plummet, the gap between rich and poor soar into hyperspace and our children’s futures looking financially precarious;  as we have watched the financially unthinkable happen in the hands of the commercially uncontrollable, and experienced the reality of our powerlessness in the democracy we live in; while all this has been happening Jason has been busy dreaming and designing and creating and launching a whole new banking paradigm.

It launched this week. You have a once-only chance to get in on the ground floor. They are offering 10% of the equity in the company and anyone can invest. You have 7 more days to get in on the act and you can invest as little as a tenner. And you can pay with Paypal. So there’s nothing complicated at all.

If enough of us get behind this idea we will have an alternative way of funding and being funded, investing and getting investment, lending and borrowing. I’m not going to write any more words telling you how it all works. But I will just say that I believe it has the potential to move us into a new level of consciousness around money and why we need it and how we want it to improve our lives. And that’s got to be a good thing. Hasn’t it?

Of course, if you’re happy with the way the banking and financial services industry is running the country and controlling the government then you can just close your browser and get on with your life.

But if you do feel like that, I’d just like to remind you of one of my favourite pieces of graffiti. It’s on the top left.

Don’t forget – you can invest from £10 upwards. But hurry… there are only 7 more shopping days to go and this is going viral.

What does it mean to be awake?

The sharp-eyed among you will have spotted that I changed my strap line (why does that phrase always conjure up visions of leather and dungeons?!) to ‘your friendly wake-up call’.

It’s the result of a long process of trying to explain what it is I really do. Yes, I’m a nutritional therapist; yes, I’m a life coach – but that’s just my toolbox. I wanted to describe what my primal motivation is: why I do what I do.

I wake people up.

I help you see that there is only one life and you’d better not spend it napping.

But what does it mean to be awake?

Here are a few pointers:

Beliefs: You are more likely to believe in yourself than in other people or institutions. You will develop an ability to reflect on and evaluate the ideas you were brought up to see as facts and discover whether they are still true for you; including beliefs about yourself, your abilities and the society you live in. Increasingly you will look to yourself for guidance, trusting your own feelings and intuition rather than relying on duty, rules and tradition.

Relationships: You will be seeking win-wins in all your relationships at home and at work. The positive energy created will make an enormous difference to your wellbeing and enjoyment of life. As you feel more supported and supportive you will be able to ‘be yourself’ – risking more honesty and depth with the people you choose to be with. You will find your ‘tribe’. When that happens you are likely to find extra supplies of energy that used to be buried along with your true self.

Money: You will see money as a source of energy in your life, a way of exchanging value rather than power. As you become more confident in your own value you will be less afraid of money and less defined by your financial status. You may even discover that you no longer seek distraction and compensation in material things as you find more purposeful ways to use your time. Money will regain its natural status in your life – a tool, or convenience – not a way to measure your value as a human being.

Health: You will discover that your body is in a delicate balance that you can either nurture or sabotage. When you understand that you can choose to make healthier food choices more often, from a perspective of empowerment rather than restriction. Your idea of a treat – or a good time – may shift as you widen your definition of pleasure to include nourishing rather than anaesthetising yourself. As your energy increases your need for addictive substances will probably reduce and the substances you used to use as props will become treats again.

Work: You will be clear about why you are here and what you want to achieve. That sense of purpose will be reflected in your work, creating a sense of fulfilment that in turn fosters a natural motivation to look after yourself and prolong your experience of this amazing life. You will understand that doing your work can mean more than paying the bills and keeping you off the streets. Your choice of career is a way to express your purpose; so even if you are employed you will identify strongly with the aim of the business you are working in. If self-employed you will be pursuing a personal agenda based on your own needs, the needs of your customers and society at large. There will be a sense of meaning in what you do. It matters.

When all this happens you will be you, in all your glory, alive and kicking. Awake.

Sound good?

Let’s go.

Are you on the right road?

When I was a child I had a habit, whenever we went on a journey, of worrying that we were lost. Perhaps this was due to the fact that my Pa was in the army and we moved around the world quite regularly, so all roads were unfamiliar. Whatever… we’d be all set up for a picnic, or a holiday, mum and dad in the front and me in the back, sandwiched between my twin sisters, and there would be just one question on my lips, ‘Are you sure we’re on the right road?’ Always, without fail.

Thirty years later I was due to graduate from college for the second time in my life. This time was so different from the first. I had been working hard for 3 years avidly studying a subject I was more than passionate about, nutritional therapy. (If you knew me back then please let me apologise for how boring I was at your dinner party!) And I was just beginning to believe that I really could survive breast cancer and get a second chance. My shiny new life with all its nascent potential was going to be exciting and brave, I was sure of that. I just didn’t know how I was going to make it happen because, guess what, lurking under all this enthusiasm was a small, and rather annoying, child saying, ‘Are you sure we’re on the right road?’

At the same time, Neil Crofts was also on a journey and, as luck would have it, my road and his were due to meet. Neil was on a mission: to heal the world through authenticity. A rather grand way of saying that he wanted us all to simply be who we really are, and was committed to help. Authenticity was an idea which resonated with me deep down inside and I wanted it. I’d always been uncomfortable with the veneers people seemed to wear in public. I wanted to start my new life and my new business with authenticity as a guiding principle and be totally me, warts and all. It was quite a scary idea as I had some quite clear beliefs that parts of me were definitely not ready to see the light of day.

The even more amazing coincidence was that Neil had a gift to give me: a map. He had the answer to my abiding question, ‘Are you sure we’re on the right road?’ He had worked out a very neat and wholly robust way for me to discover what my purpose in life is; my right road, so to speak.

Not everyone realises they have a purpose. It might be more accurate to say that for some of us the idea of having a purpose seems a bit lofty. It felt like that to me – especially when it turned out that my purpose was to ‘lead breakthroughs to higher consciousness’. (Wot?) It was a while before I was comfortable saying it, let alone pursuing it. Now I realise that it’s just a posh way of saying that I help people to see their lives at a higher level (which empowers them to solve their problems). But that statement has guided me ever since and helped me navigate when I’ve weighed opportunities and directions. It has never failed me.

One part of the purpose process is to list all your talents, without modesty (no problem there, thank you Simon). Here was another dilemma: I have a very mixed bag of talents and most of my life has been spent using some of them but not others, with a growing sense of frustration. I’ve always loved writing and I’m a bit of a whizz at computer stuff, happily designing my own website, blog, graphics and generally being a mac geek. On the other hand, I have a degree in Business Management, worked very happily as a tutor and lecturer and find my deepest sense of fulfilment working as a therapist and coach. I could never see how on earth I could pursue any of these roads without abandoning an equally interesting B-road. I wanted to find a job where I could use them all. So I kept motoring on. My map had a purpose and a number of available routes; many times I was at a crossroads with nothing but my gut feeling and my purpose statement as a compass. I became increasingly committed to that way of travelling.

Before you discover your purpose, the idea can seem a bit abstract. the purpose statements themselves sound a bit strange. That’s because they’re not yours. I’ve done the life purpose exercise with many people now. Between us, Neil and I have done thousands and there is a strange magic to the process. I’ve witnessed tears, exultation, excitement, quiet recognition, the sound of cogs turning… Every time you do it there is a sense that something profound has dropped into place, a very big bell has rung, and I have friends and clients thanking me years later for the session. Finding your purpose is a big deal and it will change your life.

For a few months now I’ve experienced the most amazing sense that I’m finally on the right road. This very morning I realised with amazement that The Happy Diet finally uses all the mixed bag of talents I was born with and that I really do need all of them to make this work. What an incredible sense of fulfilment that brings! I would never have got here without spending an hour with Neil doing the Life Purpose exercise. Now all I need is more clients.

The reason I’ve shared this story is that you can now discover your life purpose much more easily, using Neil’s neat process, all on your own. Neil and I have worked together to write an ebook that guides you through in easy stages and deposits you at the other end with a statement of your life purpose. It’s quick, easy and painless. For something so profound, I’m continually amazed at how simple it is.

The book, called LIVING ON PURPOSE is available now on Lulu http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/neilcrofts

Click on the link and have a look, read the blurb, give it a go. It may well be the best value you ever get for under a tenner

If you’re one of those people who prefers to be guided I’m happy to do a life purpose session with you any time this month. It’s normally only available as part of The Happy Diet programme but, to celebrate the book launch, I’ll do it as a one-off. Give me a call to schedule an appointment.