Community Spirit, March 2018

“I think that sometimes, before people
can get to that place, they are either
gaining knowledge or they are chasing
money; or they are ambitious. Their
value base isn't necessarily part of that
and what they are searching for is very
external. As they get older, they start
to realise that it is ‘just work’ and it is
not quite as fulfilling. They might have
a nice car and big house, but they want
something more. Maybe they are
having arguments with their wife, they
drink too much alcohol or they are food
junkies! So they suddenly say, 'Hang
on! Where is the ‘thing’ that I thought
this was going to give me?'
“So as they get older, they realise that
maybe they are looking in the wrong
place. And when people start to look at
more about what there interests are,
their values are, even what their
service is to others, what they are
looking to provide value to society as a
whole, when they make that shift, they
start to be more content in their life.”
“The people, like yourself, who are not
particularly money orientated kind of
drift around looking at ideas. But there
comes a point where all of the things
that you have learnt in that journey
kind of come together. And then it
suddenly jumps into you doing
something and people can see that you
have got the skill sets and the drive, the
motivation and the experience to make
it happen. But more so, it is that you
are getting up in the morning because
it is something you want to do.”
Richard: “Yes, I agree! I was up at 5
o'clock this morning for this
interview!”
Anne: “I teach martial arts, I have a
black belt in Aikido and I say to my
clients 'Look would you get up in the
morning at 5am to drive three hours to
go to a conference?' If the answer is
'No', then I know. But if you are going
to fly to other end of the earth, to see
somebody, for a two day retreat, then
that is what you will put your money
and your energy into and that is where
your values are set! Because we live
out values, it is not something that we
just talk about, we act it out, outside of
ourselves.”
Richard: “Yes, I get that. It's like I have become this
new version of myself.”
Anne: “Or you have woken up?”
Richard: “Well, I woke up in 2010 and I keep on
waking up!”
Anne: “It is a continual process. It is not that you stop,
but you are continually evolving. The important thing
is that when you know what you are doing, and you
are getting up early, and the crap is hitting the fan and
people are generally not very nice to you, everything
is going wrong, but you can say ‘Today I did this!
Today I helped that person.’ That is what matters.”
“I know that that, was my value. And not value in the
short-term for money, but let's be honest, we all want
to make money, we all want to be able to eat and live,
and go on holiday! But most of us aren't doing it to
become multi-millionaires! Fine if people want to
make us multi-millionaires ... If we can say 'Ok, it's
been a crap week, but I helped that person, then you
see what your value is and then that becomes your
sustainer.”
C O M M U N I T Y S P I R I T