An EON of Values

It's the ECO2NOMY..  If we look forward at 2009, we also will be looking at new values - new values for our assets, new values for our economy, and new values for the way we live and grow our businesses. In the US, incoming President Obama is working on his top priority - stimulus for the ailing economy. How to stop the slide to even deeper recession, and how to extract a new system out of one that is no longer functional.

It's a challenge, but it's more than that - it's a whole new way of thinking. We now have the opportunity to re-value our industrialised and consumer lifestyles, and the values of Energy, of Ownership and of Nature (EON).

Energy is the new economy, and whoever can produce clean energy will be the managers of that new energy era. Our values about this are the most important ones, because we, as one global family, will continue to fight with each other unless we can find equitable ways to access low cost and clean energy sources.
By Ownership I do not mean a move to a socialist economy - we have all observed the issues that come with that. Ownership is about stuff that we all, as one planet, should own - like intellectual stuff, pictures, words, formulae for medicines, and the air, sea, resources, the land. Certainly, there will be licences to manage and provide services, but Ownership? We need to ask these questions.
And thirdly, our new values will embrace Nature or else. This is not so much a choice but a sword hanging over our collective heads. Nature has its own power, its own agenda, and will very easily restore its own balance with or without us. Nature does not need us, so we need to include Nature as part of the EON of values.

Values come first - if we value something we then take steps to protect it. This downturn has given us a space to stop and consider big stuff, not just the economy but the values that underpin the way we live. My hope for 2009 is that we stop and consider, and re-value the way we consider energy, ownership, and nature and then set that new course to protect the future.

Symptoms of Success

Affluenza – it’s something we can catch anytime of year, and it’s easy to see someone who has the disease. Symptoms are an oversized or overpowered car, a home that could you could get lost in, a waistline that displays too many dinners out, clothes and accessories worn only to impress, a mindboggling entertainment schedule, and constant chatter about the latest travel destinations. The other main sign is stress, and a booking in the local Happiness Seminar, as if happiness were something to be added to the list of purchases.

Affluenza is a direct result of our value system, of what we as a society promote as “success” - success being one or all of the above symptoms. I am not by any way rejecting a well thought out moderately comfortable lifestyle, but we all need to think about our values, individually and as a society. How can we aspire to living well and not to excess, how can we each meet our needs and then contribute in a meaningful way?

For everyone, the mix is different, but as a society, we are beginning to hold up new values – those of community, of sharing resources, of moderate consumption, and of entertainment that is based around connection with others. And the major spin off of this mind-shift is happiness, not a few hours of temporary joy, followed by a crashing emptiness, a happiness that is an inner comfort, a feeling good with the world.

Business is about achieving through transactions to supply what others need. If you are thinking about going into business, think about the new values that are emerging in our society. Think about a business that connects people, and helps them re-connect with the world of the future. We stand at the door of a new energy era, one where affluenza will no longer be the driving force in our economy, and small business owners that understand this will position themselves for real success in the next few decade.