Welcome back!

Well after missing last years Blog Action Day (www.blogactionday.org) I thought I would get ahead of the pack this time round

It has been a while since I posted on this blog, it has been an interesting few months in my personal life. But through the challenges I have faced I have come through it stronger and more determined to make a difference.

Mother Earth is in a delicate situation at present. She has the tools to heal herself, but only when mankind can slow down the damage we are creating in an ever increasing capacity across the globe. That damage is driven by greed, the want of more money, the want of power, the want to control and the want to dominate.

But what do the people want? I would guess most people would be happy simply to have health, happiness and security, those 3 things above all else cannot really be given a value. Those 3 things are taken for granted by most Western Countries, yet for many people around the world, any of those 3 things is but a simple dream.

It’s sad that the world has the power to end poverty yet chooses not too. It is sad that the world could end starvation and malnutrition, but it chooses not too. It is sad that for the last 20 years countries and politicians have been arguing about global warming yet have done nothing about it.

Today we have the ability to live in a far more sustainable way. We have the ability to generate electricity from wind and the sun. Imagine, every house being fitted with solar panels to generate electricity. That alone would significantly reduce the need for old dirty power stations.

We have the ability to farm in an environmentally friendly way. But instead we are sold mass produced food full of chemicals that has the highest profit margins for the big supermarkets. How health even in Western Countries is being sold out to profit.

The world can change, but in order to change, it must let go of fear, it must let go of greed and the governments, religions and corporations must let go of control.

Global Warming may be a natural phenomenon, but polluted rivers and waterways isn’t. Food full of preservatives and other chemicals certainly isn’t a natural phenomenon. Desertification and destruction of natural habitats, the removal of key eco systems, certainly isn’t natural phenomenon. These are all man made problems, and whilst Global Warming may be part of a natural cycle, there is nothing natural about being choked by pollution and smog whilst walking down a street.

We have the tools to change, we know the answers, but in order for real change to happen some big businesses will see lesser profits, or may even go out of business. But new opportunities can rise from the ashes, new sustainable developments, that keep a balance between mother nature and human needs could rise and flourish.

The world needs new leadership, the problems the global community will face can be averted now, if we come together and work collectively on implementing intelligent systems to feed and support us. Corporate greed is only interested in profits, not on health and welfare. Corporate Greed would happily import foods from Africa for a fraction of the price of local farmers, whilst people in those same African countries starve.

We have the tools, and the world needs to change

Sadly laying here in bed, I was googling myself, just for laughs I guess, and found a great little article about designers understanding the basic fundamentals of SEO - http://www.wordtracker.com/academy/roundup-newsletter-12 - I noticed that my name was dropped in the piece, so thought it worth sharing

I have neglected my blog for a few weeks, not because I wanted to, more because I was stacked with a project which took up far too much my free time.

I have always believed in doing whatever is needed in order to get job done. That collective team togetherness, working under pressure, can create amazing results. Perhaps for a few days it is ok, but when the past 5 weeks of your life have been systematically taken over by something else it becomes far too much, even for me!

I am a perfectionist, I am creative, and I personally feel responsible for the work I do. My parents drilled into me that level of responsibility and so I generally will do what it takes to get the job done. Sadly 100 hour working weeks are way over-rated and as that was the culmination of 5 weeks of intensive work I can honestly say now, was it worth it? The job got done, by all accounts it was considered reasonably successful. I got to work with some great people with a real “can do” attitude. I managed to get my team of people motivated and working in unison for a common cause. On the face of it, I should be proud of the achievement.

You see for every hour outside of work I spent on that project, I spent another hour away from my wife and my home. Having moved to Australia together, she shouldn’t have gone without her husband for that amount of time. I enjoy our time together, and for the small amount of time I was at home, I spent most of it complaining about the project. The past 5 weeks have put a tremendous strain on our marriage, no reward, financial or otherwise was worth that strain.

My boss spoke about how impressed he was with my performance, and that my work was beyond exceptional, but was it really worth having to work to that level, under that amount of stress, and putting both myself and my wife through all that?

Quite simply the answer is no, regardless of how impressed many people are/were with the project, personally for me I am quite sad that what is truly important in my life (wife & family) were relegated whilst something else took priority for 5 weeks of my life. You cannot put a value on time, those 5 weeks are lost, never to be replaced again, no praise, money or time off could account for those lost hours.

Part of the reason I left the UK to move to Australia was to get the whole work/life balance correct, having nearly worked to the point of mental and physical exhaustion I can honestly say I never want to be that involved with a project ever again, life is too short, and quite frankly I don’t get paid anywhere near enough for that.

So rather than thanking the countless people who actually made the project a possibility, and there are a lot of thank you’s needed, instead I would like to say sorry to my wife for not being around much the past few weeks. I work to live, I work so I can enjoy a good life with my wife, for us to enjoy our time together. I’m sorry the past few weeks have not reflected that, and only hope I never have to do this again!

Love ya babes

Dam due to ill health and a lack of response from my website hosting, I missed the opportunity to take part in what is certainly blogging for a good cause! http://blogactionday.org/ came and went before I had a chance to take part, so I will post my after thoughts about what I see as keys to global poverty.

Basically it comes down to one simple thing, greed. We all want more, we all want bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger salaries, bigger dinners, bigger TVs and we all want them cheaper as well. This greed goes far and beyond everyone’s basic human rights, and most basic human needs.

It saddens me that whilst so many people live in luxury, there is so many more people who have nothing, or live so close to the poverty line that they have no idea where or when their next meal is coming from. We can fly all these great instruments to Mars, and spend billions on a 27km tunnel to test the big bang theory, yet collectively, as a human race, we continually fail to actually do anything which benefits mankind.

We all want the easy solution, we don’t care about recycling, we care less about food waste. There is so much overall waste, both food and money that it really is criminal how the western world eats and lives (to excess) when there are those who truly go without.

I wrote recently about defence budgets, and it is truly sad how much money is throw at defence globally, compared to how much money is spent developing a cure for aids, cancer or malaria.

The world needs to change, we need to change. Both internationally, nationally and regionally. The world needs to care, about the health of our planet, and the health of our fellow human beings. Big businesses need to start taking responsibility for their greed, and their waste. Governments need to start looking out for the welfare of its citizens, instead of how much profit business is making.

Everybody should have access to good food, clean water, security, a free education and hope that the future can be better, if we work united, for the good of mankind and all nations. Not for the good of profits, or greedy execs, the mentality of the world needs to change, and true leadership is required from those who have been elected to represent the people of the world. True leadership is required from big business, it is time to start working in a sustainable way.

The poverty that was around in my parents generation has only become worse, perhaps it is time our generation started to do something to improve these points?

I check out a lot of blogs, mostly based around professional understanding, however there are a few blogs I visit on a lesser basis. One of those is Seth Godin’s blog, and he puts some really interesting points in his recent blog post about effort.

On many occasions I feel like I don’t have enough time for life, yet I know each night I veg out in front of the TV or PS3 for at least an hour, maybe 3. What Seth proposes is for us to take 120mins a day and put it to good use! To learn new skills, improve our fitness and generally do things we wouldn’t normally do.

I believe there is merit in his points. Having recently read the book “Evolve Your Brain” there are clear parrallels in both points. One key point that Seth makes is to ensure that you only spend money on what you need to for a whole year and save the rest. Such conservative thinking might actually help a lot of people across the world deal with the current financial stresses. He also discusses learning new skills - surely upskilling will also equate to improved pay as well?

Not to mention exercise - it is no secret that people who exercise regularly are generally healthier and happier than the rest of us. So for everyone depressed about the financial state of the globe, take yourself for a walk and cancel your cable subscription! You will be rewarded with better health and more cash in your wallet.

Whilst I do Veg out everyday for sometime, I do also try to get my 30mins of exercise, walking the dog! I also spend an hour getting the train to work, and an hour back, so I try to read, and learn new skills during these crucial 2 hours each day. However having recently bought a house I can honestly say that at the moment I have too many DIY projects to try and save any extra, but maybe next year I will take Seth up on his challenge.