Ascenta

Now and again we all get stuck, sometimes without us being aware. The structure, routines, and constant planning we employ to create a good life can flip and become the primary source of our stagnation. Essentially we get stuck inside our heads and base our decisions too much on thinking and not enough on feeling.

While the mind is constantly observing and assimilating information from our experiences the heart tells us about our innate desires. Through the heart we connect with our passion and purpose. It becomes the spark of imagination, motivation, and inspiration. In other words you can say the mind has more to do with how the world shapes us, and the heart is more to do with how we shape the world.

When we allow the heart to fully express and draw upon the knowledge and wisdom of the mind, we set our course for joy and prosperity.

Those who have followed my blog over the past year know that I’ve been pretty vocal about my views on the Antarctic krill fishery. This motivated partly by my commitment to protect the planet combined with the misleading facts being marketed by the krill industry.

To help give better clarity on the debate Ascenta engaged an independent marine biologist to research the krill issue and decipher between fact and fiction.

In the same manner that our political system is heavily influenced by corporate interest, the regulations that are in place to sustainably manage global fisheries are heavily influenced by its financial stakeholders. Like most fisheries there are lot of financial resources and profit potential at state for the Antarctic krill fishery.

The krill fishery makes many claims about it’s environmental soundness and precautionary management system however when all the available science and data are brought forward there appears to be some serious underlying issues that pose a serious threat to this very vulnerable eco-system.

As a consumer you can change the world simply by thinking about the impact you make with each dollar you spend. Please read Ascenta’s position statement which clearly outlines the key issues threatening this rapidly expanding fishery.
 

We all care about a lot of things in our life. But it’s not often we “care a whole awful lot” about the things that matter. If we all “cared a whole awful lot” we’d have the health we always wanted, we’d have the job we always wanted, we’d have the love we always wanted, we’d be living the life we always wanted. But caring a whole awful lot is not so easy because of something called fear.

Most people define their life by successes and failures. They are therefore attached to the outcome. In our minds when the outcome is uncertain we suffer from fear, and fail to take the necessary actions. But we can override this fear by detaching ourselves from the outcome of our actions and focus in on the actions themselves.

Think about it in terms of what makes a good year. It’s made of good months, which are made of good weeks, which are made of good days, etc. In essence how we achieve success is the conscious decision to live each moment with passion, love, gratitude, and inspiration.

When you care a whole awful lot things will get better. They will.

The big question we have to ask ourselves from time to time is, “are we happy” or “are we having fun”? Not with specific reference to an activity, but life in general. The vast majority of adults would characterize their life as lacking happiness, fun, and success. As adults we view fun much like we view happiness, it’s a reward system for being successful at something. It’s much like being compensated with money for performing a task. Most of the time this leaves happiness just out of reach, or very short lived. But we can all agree that fun and happiness are part of the good stuff in life. If we all had more fun and more happiness we’d feel we were leading a better life.

So what if fun and happiness shifted from being the reward for success to being part of the process for success? Shawn Anchor, author of the Happiness Advantage, found that something remarkable happens when happiness becomes part of the process. If we subject ourselves to a positive state of mind major changes occur in the chemistry of our brains leading to enhanced cognitive function, energy, creativity, motivation, and productivity. This leads to the powerful notion that the reward for happiness is increased success.

In the book The Art of Possibility, author Benjamin Zander distills it down to the simple idea of “possibility thinking”. For every situation or every decision in life we can shape the outcome and experience by always seeing the possibilities versus the obstacles. Zander uses music in his lively seminars to demonstrate this simple conscious shift by seeing all the possibilities of how those musical notes can be played and how they shape our experience of the song. Please watch.

Texas is all about being big – big cars, big homes, big food portions, and big waistlines. The term “Texas sized” is a synonym to “supersized”. That is until you get to the state capital Austin. During a recent two day visit I was encountered by a city that in many ways made me feel I was no longer in Texas. Austin is – young, friendly, fun, active, creative, compassionate, and what I was most surprised about is how dedicated they are to local and organic.

I don’t typically take pictures of food menus however while eating at the Dahlia Blue café I was very inspired by the mission statement printed on the menu. If you can’t read from the photo below here its is:

Dahlia Blue mission statement
Although our primary goal is the financial well-being of the business, it is imperative to us to be conscious of these important other objectives:

1. Using organic and local products whenever available and being conscious of the effect of our products on the health and well-being of our customers and our staff. Click here to read more about our local sourcing of food.


2. Optimizing the impact that our business practices and choices will have on the environment and our local community. Click here to read about our green initiatives.


3. Maintaining a high quality of attitude, fairness, understanding and generosity with our staff, our customers, our vendors and the local community.

Awareness and implementation of these objectives will give our efforts a sense of purpose and meaning beyond our basic financial goals.

As a contrast here is MacDonald’s mission statement.

McDonald’s mission statement
McDonald’s vision is to be the world’s best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile.”