Today I start posting to the Pure Ambition blog. Exciting while a bit nerve-wracking as I attempt to share and invite conversation without over polishing and editing . So, I get to stretch some new muscles – always challenging while rewarding.
I find myself compelled to write about a bunch of things. Lessons I received growing up in corporate America. Lessons I received since going it on my own. Lessons I received living in a less than healthy home environment growing up. Lessons I received passing on some of the toxicity to my own daughter and the lessons I received – and continue to receive – breaking cycles. The most important lesson of all is that the system is whacked. Ok, perhaps you already knew this. I feel like there is a code that we all know, get and are drawn to yet society tells us it’s not okay to follow that code. We can’t say love and business in the same sentence. Oh wait, maybe now we can; it’s trendy. Or, is that just in California? I literally had someone call me and say “wow, I love how out of the closet you guys are with your message!”, recognizing how taboo our message has become. Well, count on us to use love and business in the same sentence as a key part of why we exist is to bring heart forward in business. We – the Pure Ambition team – felt we were really going out on a limb (even being edgy!) when we put mindfulness in our tagline, against the advice that it will alienate potential customers. Now some assume we are capitalizing on a trend. It was after all featured on the cover of Time Magazine recently. I wrote last year about trust being a trend. Seriously, why can’t it all just be? In whatever form, however it shows up today?
Have I broken trust? You betcha. Have I been sucked into the greed of corporate America? Right again. Can I leave a trail of embarrassing behavior behind me? Hopefully, less often these days. Luckily, I’ve always had the blessing of a self-awareness chip. And when it goes haywire I also have the blessing of people showing up at just the right time to hold a mirror for me. While at times reluctant, a willingness to sideways glance and then fully face that mirror is something I continue to lean into. (I am sure people have said: ‘look in the &%$##& mirror’ never knowing if I ever did. Sorry if this is you.). Some of the wisest words I ever heard are “How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Written by Anne Frank. If she had this lens, who are we not to?!
The point is, we can always begin NOW. Isn’t that refreshing??? Pure Ambition is all about creating work places where people can THRIVE and have work integration into their whole self and lives showing up as the vibrant beings they are and be celebrated for it. Engagement is at the heart, and the path to engagement starts with mindfulness. End game: a thriving world where social responsibility is the default because mindfulness is a way of being. One of my heroes, Maya Angelou, passed away this month. She liked to say ‘when you know better, you do better’. How might the world change if this was the way we all operated? What’s keeping us? I invite you to share in the conversation where we can continue to expand the possibilities and break some cycles together! <3