The Leadership Blog by Ann Vanino

The Obama administration’s stimulus package for green jobs is a lot more than it appears to be. On the surface, it is a means to stimulate the creation of green jobs. If you look carefully at the requirements for receiving the money, it is also a means for creating speed, requiring collaboration, jump starting public/private partnerships and mandating transparency and accountability. Here in the High Mojave Desert of southern California we have created The High Desert Region Green Jobs Initiative. The requirements for obtaining stimulus funding are reshaping, very quickly, the way we work. We hope not only to create jobs but to maintain a lasting, productive collaboration that will build the local green economy for years to come.

There is a Hopi Indian Prophecy circulating that I believe hold great wisdom for our lives right now.

There is a river flowing very fast. It is so great and so swift, that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves, for the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

The speed of my life now is mind-boggling. There is no way to keep up with everything I have to do. It takes all that I have to stay centered. How do you maintain balance at the speed of light? I wish I had an answer. I do have some impressions. You have to let go. You cannot manage it all. Setting your priorities helps you navigate. Focus is essential. This is a new paradigm and you have to find a new way of being. Lynn Andrews told me a few years ago that the world would speed up so fast, that we would be forced to find the still point at the center of the storm. There is wisdom there. Be well as you balance at the speed of light.

Are fun and work mutually exclusive for you? They do not have to be. As a manager, do you value the positive return from having fun - both for yourself and for your team? Do not underestimate the power of fun. Fun is a balance to the pressures and frustrations of work. I found a creative web site, Fun at Work, that promotes fun in the workplace. Check it out. It is filled with ideas, inspiration and creative ways to have fun. Give fun a try for your team. You may be pleasantly surprised with the results.

I am reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. The book deals with resistance as a block to creative expression. He writes: “How many of us have become drunks and drug addicts, developed tumors and neuroses, succumbed to painkillers, gossip and compulsive cell phone use simply because we don’t do that thing that our hearts, our inner genius, is calling us to? Resistance defeats us. If tomorrow morning, by some stroke of magic every dazed and benighted soul woke up with the power to take the first step to pursuing his or her dreams, every shrink in the directory would be out of business. Prisons would stand empty. The alcohol and tobacco industries would collapse, along with the junk food, cosmetic surgery and infotainment businesses, not to mention pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and the medical profession from top to bottom. Domestic abuse would become extinct, as would addiction, obesity, migraine headaches, road rage and dandruff.”

Pursuing your dreams as a panacea to all ills? I have not thought of this before, but I think so. How would your life be different if you woke up tomorrow and had everything you need to pursue your dreams?