Contemplation on Newly Learned Goal Setting Methods and Futuristic Thinking Processes

Recently I attended two very interesting small workshops about goal setting and futuristic thinking processes.

The first one was a lunch workshop at Jimboomba organised by the Logan Country Chamber of Commerce, the second was an inspirational breakfast talk organised by the Westside Business Women at Springfield Lakes. Both were concerned about the future, one with a personal focus and the other with a more of a global business focus. Both were about creating that little edge that makes us reach for more and allows us to dare to take a premeditated leap of faith towards the presently desired future possibilities.

From both seminars, I acquired a book. Paula McSporran gave me a link to her eBook The Smart Start; The Basics of Goal Setting and Craig Rispin let me download the eBook version of How to Think Like a Futurist; Know First, Be First & Profit First'.



My experience

For many, many years I have recorded goals for myself and my businesses. Every now and then I have picked up a new method on how to evaluate my existing situation and how to set new goals for the future. I have received lots of mentoring and advice on what would be the best way to take action.

Mostly, I have succeeded in determining what to do and how I wanted to go forward with my life. Mostly, I feel, it has been determination, positivity and good luck that has brought me there. I feel that I have gotten everything I ever really wanted and much more of what I never consciously knew I wanted. Does that sound familiar?

I have 30 years of records on my methods of personal goal setting and action taken from that. For the first 15 years, I followed a very simple advice from the collective of feminist mentors by traveling around the world in conferences, picking up trends and researching the accuracy of them in relation to the Scandinavian situation and taking social action for Human Rights, especially Women's Rights.

The last 15 years have been more structured. I have followed many leads and methods from doing all the exercises in the Experimental Guide to James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy to experimenting with affirmations learned from Victor Boc's How to Solve All Your Money Problems Forever. I also have been inspired by many motivational speakers that have given advice on goal setting.

Paula's workshop

I was very intrigued by the simple and strait forward manner of the goal setting method Paula McSporran proposed in her workshop. It is to write a story of your 'best year yet' dated one year from the day you are writing it. The story will allow you to imagine what you really want to do in a short time-frame.

The next step is to write down what you need to start, maintain and finish in order to create your 'best year yet' in quarterly sequences. The most important step is to take action to realize your goals into reality.

This means that if you want to travel overseas for Christmas, you actually need to book your flights or if you are looking for a job, you have to write an application and send it. Wishful thinking is not productive for efficient and clear goal setting.

Re-program your brain

The most important reason why you need to be clear of your goals is that it will re-program your unconscious brain to work for the goal and attract situations that will aid in realizing your desired future.

One interesting recently released movie called 'Source Code' is based on the quantum hypotheses that there are many possible futures for us and that every decision we make will create a new pathway into the future. The goal setting processes rely on much the similar idea. Once you have programed your brain to focus on a goal, your unconsciousness starts drawing suitable circumstances your way to make it a reality.

What if you want conflicting things?

After the workshop, I went home and wrote a story about my best year yet based on what I felt and wanted on the day I wrote it. That was two weeks ago. I also took action on the most obvious things, the once I have control over. Now things have changed.

Since most of us look at life through our emotions rather than cold reasoning, it is about right that we would have conflicting feelings on a daily bases. So, now I need to write another story. The good thing is that, our brain is so plastic that it will re-program itself any time.

My conclusion from this experiment is to write a new story of the 'best year yet' every couple of months. That will enable me to determine what it is that I really want. After that exercise I probably will have some real goals for starting, maintaining and finishing.

A huge thanks goes to Paula for her practical advice. I think it is really important to start somewhere and keep on doing it.

What about the futuristic thinking?

Incidentally, a week from Paula's workshop I attended a breakfast talk by a professional futurist and a motivational speaker Craig Rispin. That allowed me to think of the future more in terms of the 'bigger picture'.

Craig is a very inspiring and enthusiastic speaker. It is impossible to get a still picture of him while he is talking. This probably is a good demonstration of the fact of how quickly the world is moving towards the future.

In 30 minutes, I learned a lot about how to think like a futurist. For example, we now have 468 million mobile net devices in the world. We are in the digital age and it has to be taken into consideration when determining business goals and strategic plans for the organisations we work for.

I also was reintroduced to many successful past futurist thinkers. According to Craig a futurist is a reverse historian. I can certainly relate to that. After reading his book, I am thoroughly convinced.

When applying what I learned to community capacity building and aged care, I can definitely see that there is lots to take in. Futuristic thinking applies to all areas from how and where to place your marketing strategy to how to strategize for finding opportunities in the growing new communities around us.

After these experiences I am re-ascertained that innovation is the key, both to personal growth and the business growth. Thinking outside the box is immensely important for the future of humanity in the global digital future with the aging population.

References:

Boc, Victor (1997) How to Solve Your Money Problems Forever, Perigee Trade

Redfield, James & Adrienne, Carol (1995) The Celestine Prophecy; an Experimental Guide, Bantam Books

Link to Paula McSporran

Link to Craig Rispin


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Contemplating How to Build Strong Partnerships in the Community; Caddies and the James Homes Services organised the James Family Fun Day at Jimboomba Park

A few months ago two people representing the James Family Home Services came to my office. Their intention was to organise a Family Fun Day for the community and at the same time fundraise for our Community Care organisation. 

As a community organisation we would reap the benefits of this collaboration and together we could involve many members of our community in compassionate voluntary action in helping others.  This collaboration proved to be a real boost for building lasting relationships between local businesses and the Caddies Community Care Centre in Jimboomba. 

Organising the Fun Day itself was a huge challenge and the first attempt was cancelled due to weather. However, everyone was determined and the second planned day was a success.

Analysing the community partnership model

After taking part on many workshops on partnership building, attending relevant interagency meetings, local groups, committees and associations that enhance partnership building between the business community and the local nonprofit community organisations, I am left to thinking on what kind of community partnerships would be ideal in creating such a compassionate atmosphere that it would lead to businesses becoming active in voluntary engagement in the local community? 

My experience is that when I am attending meetings that bring together local businesses, such as The Chamber of Commerce or other associations enhancing business networking, everyone will mention their desire to be involved in the community.  The consensus is there. Everyone is interested and basically ready to get involved. How then can this desire be transformed into real action and support?

The Ideal components of local community action initiative

The first component is the human potential. Ideally the business owner is engaged in community participation. I find many women and men who have built a small business very willing to give back to the community in some easy and convenient way.

The second component is convenience. Community engagement must be inbuilt into the business structure. If a business owner is overworked and just involved in making ends meet, who has time for community involvement?  It is a fact that strategic involvement in the community brings in more business.  How, then, can we find a convenient form of partnering for the local community organisation and the local small businesses?

The third component is access to an agreeable community organisation as a partnering platform. This falls on the community organisations willingness to be accessible and involved in the local community social capacity building. Very often it is the struggle to grow and maintain the high quality service standards that prove to be the biggest challenge. Building partnerships with local businesses just is not in the agenda.

What about the image building

Ideally a local community organisation that is accessible to everyone and involved in helping those who are vulnerable in the community will attest to the values of humanity, impartiality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality. This means the drive and willingness to include everybody in the community. It also means providing access to everybody without prejudice on the avenue. 

Still being involved with a particular business brand might be considered problematic. On the other hand, it is a normal practice of most of the large charities to partner with big companies to get more fundraising advantages. Just Google on the internet! Local community organisations can partner as well. The question is who would be an ideal partner?

The experience of partnering between JCCA and the James Family Services

In my experience JCCA’s collaboration with the members of the James Home Services proved to be an ideal partnering opportunity. As a nonprofit community care organisation we provide direct services to vulnerable people in the community. We provide aged care, youth and family support and emergency relief to those in need in our community. We also provide food services; food pantry and meals-on-wheels. 

James Home Services similarly provides direct services to clients in their homes, cleaning, lawn mowing and pet grooming. The small family franchises work their business in the community. While our aim is to involve everyone in voluntary service in helping others, they know everyone that could help.

Due to this our collaboration in organising the James Family Fun Day at Jimboomba Park was a success. The active, involved and compassionate people of the James Home Services were able to mobilise their group and other businesses in the day and at the same time fundraise for Caddies. We were able to use our organisational expertise in helping to organise the event, acquire licences and participation.

All in all this proved to be a wonderful start to successful partnering! I am looking forward to more in the future.

Notes from the 'Innovate Symposium', Brisbane, August 2011

It has taken me a while to absorb everything that was going on at the recent 'Innovate Symposium' organised through Volunteering QLD and held at the Griffith University EcoCentre in Brisbane last month (18-19/08/2011) However, finally I have had time to reflect and can present my thoughts on the Symposium.

My First Impressions

Coming in to the Innovate Symposium, I was not quite sure what to expect. I had been looking forward to attending for months, ever since my friend Ehon (http://ehonchan.com/) who was one of the presenters, had invited me to participate.

Walking through the rainy bush to the EcoCentre at the Griffith University, Nathan Campus was like walking to another space entirely.

It is a lovely building, set in the bush near the main university covered by trees and vegetation. I felt that it was a really nice touch to arrange the symposium there. It somehow illuminated to all the participants, what the organisers wanted us to experience, an un-conference, where all would be possible.





On our arrival, we had to choose two pegs from the tree besides the registration desk that would represent us. During the day we would use these pegs to get to know the fellow participants better. It was a fun way of enhancing networking amongst the symposium attendants.





What stroke me most of the symposium was it's attempt to reintroduce to the minds of the participants the different ways of artistic expression and creativity that can enhance the innovation process.

That in it's turn reminded me that the original word technology derives from Greek and Latin 'techne' meaning the 'art' in a much broader sense as 'skill' or the art that derives from the knowledge of how to do things. It also reminded me that it is only in the last 200 years that we have separated the knowledge as science from the technology, it's practical art (McQuire, 2006).

It was a really welcome effort from the organisers to make us feel, in a practical way, the possibilities the artistic expression can and should be allowed to freely contribute in the innovation process. The artistic expression is a vital part of human creativity and can be applied anywhere, even in business.




The First Day

The first day of the symposium combined listening and learning through Panel talks, World Cafe type discussions and workshops.

We were introduced to several interesting projects, including the Community Gardens in Newcastle, Stratbroke Island Men's Shed project and North Queensland (Ingham) Rainforest Rangers by enthusiastic project leaders. All the experiences mentioned were products of the creative and innovative processes that in a wonderful ways respond to the needs of the members in different communities around Australia.

I could relate to each and everyone of the presented projects and immediately apply the knowledge of their experiences in my own organisation which is currently in the process of developing similar projects. It is really important to build new relationships based on inventive mindset.

I was very intrigued by the talk on the Creative Engagement in Action by Tal Fitzpatrick and also by our house artist Tashka Urban. They had a very practical approach to creativity and showed some very inspiring pictures that demonstrated creative inventiveness in action.

Suddenly, a poem, that was recited woke the historian in me. It was read as a demonstration of a new kind of approach to life as such, namely that 'life is not fair'. As a historian I, immediately, placed the poem solidly in the tradition of the Lutheran work ethics and was struck by the fact that, here, once again, the human memory shows it's shortcomings in failing to remember.

I discussed this with the participant sitting next to me. The question arose, should we forget or remember our history? Is in fact remembering, a way to stop us from innovating as we are naming the known and placing new potentiality in an old framework?

I have recently sat in a seminar on aging where the presenter reminded the listeners that it is only due to the progressive aging of humanity since the last 10000 years, that our technological inventions have come about in the first place. It is only due to the accumulated human knowledge that innovation is possible. Is it only the historian in me that grows frustrated when we blatantly miss a cue or is it something we should carefully think about in the process of innovation?




I chose to participate in Ehon Chan's workshop about the New Media. It was a really fun experience. Especially I enjoyed observing Ehon's wonderful enthusiasm and his thoroughly idealistic way of approaching subjects and issues. We should not be limited by our possible reluctance to learn about the new media. We should just embrace it as human potential.

The Rest of It

The second day of the symposium was spent in workshops on barriers to innovation, personal practice in transforming the barriers and applying design principals to practice.

What I took away from the symposium was the great stories that were shared by both the presenters and the fellow participants. There is a lot of experience that can be shared to aid the innovative process. There also was talk about the concept of 'living on the edge'.

Many of the participants I talked with felt that this has been our lot. Being there, on the edge, just about to fall to the precipice of the new and the unknown. The Symposium really brought forward the fact that 'living on the edge' is a happy place to be instead of the frightening place that we think it is.

Now, after a month, I still think about the Symposium. Suddenly, during a busy day, I stop and visualise the picture that was shown there of a huge war tank artistically covered with a pink knitted quilt. I smile and go about my day ready to continue my 'life on the edge' of it.

Reference:

McQuire (2006) Technology. Theory, Culture & Society, 23 (2-3)


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How to Bake a Finnish Style Layered Party Cake?

Recently I was looking for some pictures to take with me to my holiday to Europe.

I am visiting family and engaging in some compassionate traveling by finding locations that inspire compassion in action.

In some old piles of pictures, I found several that were of the cakes we have made over the years. Most of them have been decorated by my daughter who has an excellent eye for tasteful looking decorations.

I came to think that finding the pictures should mean something. That I should share the art of the Finnish style party cake making with everyone.

In Australia, there is a great variety of styles for cake making. People like them sweet, dry and moist, fruit filled or just plain. One of the most popular cakes in Australia are Lemmingtons, small square sponge cakes covered with chocolate and coconut. They are eaten at every occasions. They are sold for fundraising, too. They are easy to make and do not cost much.

A sponge cake is the base of the Finnish or Scandinavian style layered party cake.

This is my simple recipe for the cake base.

One class full of eggs
One class full of white sugar
One class full of plain flour. I substitute approximately 1/3 of the class with potato flour to make the sponge fluffy.

Beat the eggs and the sugar until it is fluffy and white, add the flour and ster. Bake in a cake tin in 225 celsius temperature for 10-15 minutes

I cut the cake in three layers and moist it with pineapple juice from the crushed pineapple can. I also use the pineapple in the filling.

There is an ongoing discussion going on about the moistening of the cakes. Some people like to use rum, others use milk. I prefer the juice because it gives the cake an edge with it's taste which blends well with anything.

I blend bananas with raspberry jam for filling on top of the pineapple.

There is another ongoing debate about the filling. The most exotic of the Finnish jams is Claud-berry (lakka). Many people like it a lot and use it in their cakes. It is a matter of taste. So everybody should experience with their favorite fillings.

If you like chocolate filling then 'Nutella' and cream is a really tasty variation for a filling. Then I use milk to moisture cake layers.

The most important part of the cake is the decoration. The Finnish cakes are covered with whipped cream and decorated with whatever is available. In Australia we decorate them with exotic fruits.


The first cake pictured in this blog is the birthday cake that has been baked for my younger daughter's 21st birthday in Finland this month. The filling is of caramel and cream and it is decorated with caramel. The two other cakes are some of our Christmas cakes in Australia. They are decorated by my older daughter and add the huge selection of Australian fruits to our Finnish tradition.

Experiment and Enjoy!


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