I am just back from a long run along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. It’s a beautiful day–bright, clear and warming up nicely. It should hit 10º C (50ºF) today, unseasonably warm weather for this time of year. It’s been a reasonably mild winter here in Toronto, very little snow and moderate temperatures all winter long.

The birds are busy, noisy and abundant. Yesterday I was awakened by one of the Red Tail hawks that live in the back-yard, year-round. It brushed the skylight over the bed as I lay looking at the sky urging me to get up. They are very noisy neighbors, these Red Tails. They squawk all day long. I love them, especially when they hunt. Once, I snuck up on one of them while he/she was cleaning a kill. It diidn’t like me so close and chased me home. I didn’t blame it, I don’t like to be stared at when I eat either. The Red Tails are busy getting the nest ready for egg-laying. They haven’t had much luck with reproduction over the years. Hopefully, this year will be different.

The Owls seemed to have moved on. I haven’t been able to get a close look at them but there were several out back. You could hear them at dusk and during the night, hooting away. Something other-worldly about that sound, opposite to the effect that the Morning Doves have on you. They are soothing and reassuring where the Owls are mysterious and impending.

Saturday afternoon brought an unexpected sighting of a Fox. Not that the Foxes are unusual-there are a mating pair that live at the ravine at the end of the street. We see them every day. What was unusual was to see the female sitting on my neighbor’s roof. The neighbor has a bungalow cottage pressed back against the ravine, easy transit for the critters. Racoons and Cats are the regulars up there. The Fox must have envied the vantage point and was sitting there with full command of the street. We haven’t seen the litter yet, but you can hear the Fox family at night screaming to each other about something to do with food. Last year they had seven pups. They were a hoot to watch as they learned to hunt.

The Coyotes have been spotted on the opposite ridge. They come and go, a less welcome neighbor all the way around. They push the Foxes out of the ravine and take over, decimating the Cat population and eating as many Squirrels as they can. Eventually they move on or are run down by the traffic. We don’t care for the Coyotes too much given there are so many small children on the street. But nothing is quite as exhilirating as walking down by the pond at twilight, hearing them announce your presence with their canine howls. One time my wife and I were down there walking in the mist and there had to be six or seven Coyotes howling. They don’t scare me but we don’t encourage them to get too friendly either.

The Geese and the Swans are waiting for the pond to thaw so they swim at the shoreline of the lake, patiently waiting for the ice to retreat enough to begin the nesting season. The Red Wing Blackbirds are not yet in attack mode. That will come with the eggs. They chase man and beast, unconcerned about the size or disposition of the intruder. I felt in good company when one chased me for half-mile during a run, pecking at the top of my head. It tore after a swan shortly after it drove me away, teaching both of us a lesson in respecting limits and boundaries.

Gratitude to the spirits of land and place and to the abundance of nature here in the City. Gratitude for the change of seasons and the cycles of natural law. We’ll see some late snow, no doubt. But the back of winter has been broken and new growth has already begun.

© Patrick O’Neill 2010. All rights reserved

Many of you have asked, “Where the heck is the book?”

It’s currently out in the world seeking a publishing home. I never thought it would take this long to go from what I believed to be a finished manuscript to a book available for purchase. As a first time author, there is a lot I don’t know about publishing a book.

Here are some of the lessons learned so far:

1. What you think is obvious and clear doesn’t make it so because of the strength of your belief. Feedback strengthens your ability to connect.

2. Telling people that a book is coming needs to be carefully managed so that there isn’t such a long gap between blabbing about it and delivering the product. Duh.

3. There’s more to publishing than just writing a book. It’s a business in the middle of massive changes. Ultimately, art and commerce must converge. An author needs to understand the requirements of both writing and marketing. I’m learning.

4. Reading ain’t what it used to be. People seem to want their spiritual nutrition in concentrated, easily digestable bites. The Visionmaker is demanding and that goes against the trend.

5. Finding the right partnership between an author and a publisher is like meeting your mate. It requires tenacity, resiliency and commitment.It can take a while.

6. Rejection is normal. You can’t take it personally or see it as a condemnation of your work.

7. The process of writing is initiatory. It demands that you create something from nothing every day. Whether your work gets published or not, you are a stronger person as a result.

8. Persistance is everything. Taking positive steps every day keeps the process of creativity rolling along and staves off the temptation to become impatient.

9. Sometimes, it’s better to give yourself some time to re-read your manuscript several months after you think it’s finished. You’ll discover a whole world of ways to improve on what you thought was perfect. You see things on the page that were previously invisible, revelations that are less than becoming. Self-hynosis is an early stage of delusion.

10. Never tell anyone that you have completed a second book prior to publishing the first one. Ooops.

© Patrick O’Neill 2010. All rights reserved

Recently I was asked for a definition of faith. The person asking didn’t trust such words, he informed me, and why was I introducing such a word into a secular discussion? I’ll call him Doubting Thomas (DT) after another famous skeptic. I could see DT was spoiling for a fight.

I explained that in Visionmaking, faith was seen as an unshakeable belief in Destiny. DT didn’t care for that idea much either.

Since he had asked, I continued to define the term. The conventional definition of faith, I explained, requires a belief in something that carries no proof or guarantee. In Visionmaking, faith is seen as the energetic link that is set up between a Visionmaker and Destiny.

We all have an individual Destiny, a path we were formed for specifically, which no one else can follow. That is why we are born unique. We all have an original body and a never to be replicated configuration of aptitude, gifts, talents, character qualities, knowedge, life experiences and other resources. These are not random or haphazard. They are the hand of Destiny shaping us for a specific journey of meaning.

DT became even more agitated. Undaunted, I continued.

Faith provides an umbikical linkage with Destiny that serves as a guide for the pursuit of one’s life dream. This linkage is called Intuitive Vision.

Faith also funds the power to make the life-long journey towards our singular Destiny despite the circumstances and challenges that we meet. Through faith, each of us has the power to take that next courageous step into the unfamiliar and unknown territory of life’s experience. And to do so without an illusionary guarantee of safety or success.

Supported by faith, the fire to act grows stronger than our fears and concerns. Mohandis Ghandi writes, “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” Of course, he is right.

Every Visionmaker knows that whatever we fear, we will face it on the journey of meaning. Without the faith that we are up to the challenge, we would never get out of bed in the morning.

My friend was unconvinced. We agreed to disagree. Was he satisfied that he was living his life fully and that life was the meaningful adventure that he had hoped it to be? Things were ok, he said rather flatly.

There is a Doubting Thomas within each of us. There is also a capacity to believe in ourselves, trust that we are capable of achieving our dreams and that we have the resiliency to learn from our experience. The unshakable conviction of a Visionmaker is that each of us has a greater purpose and that this purpose is attainable.

Keep the faith.

© Patrick O’Neill 2010. All rights reserved

Visionmakers must be on their guard when meeting the challenge of disappointment. Nothing can undermine progress toward a dream faster than those unexpected occurances where our expectations and outcomes do not meet.

Disappointment is a part of every journey of meaning. The average person sees it as a catastrophe. Visionmakers see disappointment as an opportunity to re-calibrate vision. The difference here is that the average person collapses into a state of victimhood; Visionmakers embrace disappointment as an initiation.

Inititiations are high learning experiences. They are seldom fun, especially when they involve disappointment. We must either rise above the gap between our expectations and outcomes or shut down, withdraw and settle for less.

Visionmakers are committed to continuous learning and facing things as they are rather than how they wish they were. Ultimately, we are being shown the weaknesses and defects of our own plans, attachments and philosophies.

Here are ten things we can learn from disappointment:

1. Every journey of meaning is an expedition into unfamiliar territory. Expecting that things will always go smoothly is unrealistic.

2. Surprises, even the unpleasant ones, are opportunities to recommit to our dreams.

3. Betrayal is a self-inflicted. Perhaps we are guilty of refusing to see what is right in front of our eyes. Perhaps we preferred to avoid conflict rather than face it squarely.

4. Visionmakers always say what they see, even when it’s not pretty. That is not license to be rude, unskilled or blunt in our communication. It is a requirement to say what we see in a way that others can hear. Disappointment provides practice.

6. Other people may not see what we see. Patience is required to help them cross the bridge from their present perspective to a new way of seeing.

7. Self-pity is a popular trap. Many of us use it to get attention from other people. These behaviors are “less than becoming.” Yet, we are all vulnerable to them in states of disappointment. Visionmakers strive to avoid self-pity and enrolling others into their mood because they recognize that it is toxic to their dreams.

8. Experienced Visionmakers earned their mastery by overcoming disappointment not wallowing in it. They have the resiliency and mental toughness for the life-long journey of meaning. They don’t wimp out.

9. Reactivity wastes time. For every hour spent brooding about what woulda, coulda, shoulda happened, we could be engaging in self-improvement and redreaming.

10. Disappointment is announcement that we are taking things very seriously. Maybe we need to take a break, chill out and gain some perspective. Sometimes we forget that this is an expedition! Stuff happens. Lighten up.

© Patrick O’Neill 2010. All rights reserved

Thank God for Nelson Mandela.

Twenty years after his release from prison on Robben Island the world is a different, better place because of him. He is a living testimony to the impact that one person can make for the common good.

Four years after his release I was invited to South Africa by Angeles Arrien to work with youth leaders in Soweto. It was a memorable experience, a trip of a lifetime. South Africa was still in its early stages of transition and there was still the spectre of apartheid everywhere you went. Crime was a growing threat to civil society, a trend that continues to this day.

But when you think of what could have occurred there in the post-apartheid years, it is something of a miracle that the whole country did not explode in bloody reprisal for the injustices that occurred.

Mr. Mandela, and others who supported him, saw the dangers of continuing racial conflict, and steered the country on a different course. The film Invictus, currently playing in theatres, captures the spirit of those early years and the commitment of Mr. Mandela to a new South Africa.

All of this becomes even more inspirational when you consider that the Nelson Mandela who was sent to prison and the man that emerged 27 years later are quite different.

Mr. Mandela, by his own admission, was an angry, impatient man when his detention began. He emerged as a wise, moral and disciplined statesman. That transformation occurred when Mr. Mandela realized that non-violence was the only way that lasting change could be achieved. Mr. Mandela said:

“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

These are the words of a Visionmaker. Let us never forget the example of Nelson Mandela.

© Patrick O’Neill 2010. All rights reserved

There is a difference
between the optimist
and the fantasist.
The optimist
sees the future
realistically
and with hope
and confidence.
The fantasist
sees the future
as they wish it to be
but divorced
from reality.
Chance favors the optimist.

© Patrick O’Neill 2010. All rights reserved

Last month I posted a “help wanted” ad on my blog for 1000 Visionmakers. The purpose of the call to action was to begin the process of mobilizing a small army to redream our world.

Every day we are assaulted by images and messages of dysfunction. They depict the world as teetering on the brink of global breakdown, full of problems that are too large and complex to solve, problems that make for juicy news coverage.

This contributes to a malaise and a growing belief that we are hopeless and helpless. We default personal responsibility for being part of the solution and project that responsibility onto heroes whom we hope will rescue us. When they can’t solve our problems immediately, we turn on them. President Obama is the most recent and perhaps the most graphic example of the pattern.

My dream of 1000 Visionmakers is one step to push back against this dangerous cultural drift toward ennui. It’s easy to particpate. All you need to do is open a Twiiter account and tweet one positive idea for change daily then tag it “ReVision Our World.” Follow anyone who is tweeting this way and retweet their daily offering.

1000 voices together can make a big difference.

© Patrick O’Neill 2010. All rights reserved

The Four-Chambered Heart is the home of vision. When we are full, open, clear and strong-hearted vision is 20:20. For Visionmakers, maintenance of the heart is a navigational necessity.

Join Patrick ONeill for a two-day exploration of the Four-Chambered Heart. This workshop is based on Angeles Arrien’s model and will provide participants with an indepth experience of the Vision of the Heart. We will employ a variety of traditional and modern techniques, including visualization, journeying, reflective practice, journaling and dialogue, to support you to discover what is at the heart of your journey at this time.

The full heart is the home of deep engagement. It is here that we learn about being authentic, about commitment and about full expression. What am I full-hearted about? Where am I half-hearted? How can I resolve issues of half-heartedness through problem solving?

The open heart teaches us to trust self, others and circumstances as they unfold. It is the home of love, balance, compassion and tolerance. Where am I open-hearted? What has caused closed-heartedness? How do I forgive and reopen the heart?

The clear heart teaches the lessons of integrity and discernment. What am I clear about in my personal journey - in my roles, relationships and activities? Where do I stand on important issues? What are the dilemmas or areas of confusion in my life? How do I resolve my concerns and move forward?

The strong heart is the home of courage. Where am I strong-hearted about my journey, relationships, and actions? Where am I weak-hearted and unable or unwilling to make difficult choices, say what’s so when it’s so, and stand by my convictions? What strengthening work do I need to undertake?

The Four-Chambered Heart is the place that vision assembles and is the source of the unique and unfolding path that every Visionmaker is born to pursue.

Please join us. Make your heart your priority.

April 24/25

Location: Toronto

For more information and registration please visit our website or call us at 416-361-3331.

Tonight’s State of the Union address by the President of the United States is being billed as Obama’s chance to regain his footing. He has “misunderstood the public anger, set far too ambitious an agenda,and is out of touch with Main Street and Wall Street,” say the pundits.

I predicted his honeymoon would be a short one just before the inauguration. Here’s part of what I said in my post entitled How We Can:

“When we pin our hopes on just one man to deliver us from a collective mess, we avoid the personal leadership required to do our part to solve the issues of the day, and set him up to fail. What the Obama Presidency requires is leadership at all levels of society… with the courage to do things differently.

The recovery that we seek is likely going to take time. I wonder if we have the collective patience to give President-elect Obama the time and ongoing support required for change to happen. Watching someone lead is not personal engagement and involvement. It is passivity that leads to breakdown.”

I am afraid I was right. The public lack of patience for the overhaul that is required on multiple fronts reveals a lack of foresight that endangers not only the stability of the United States but also the global community.

President Obama has accomplished a tremendous amount in a short time in an imperfect political system. People seem to forget the crisis that threatened to overcome the world economy. They also seem to forget that the Republican administration was steering the ship of state into treacherous waters for two terms.

Now, there is an expectation that a fix can be accomplished in one year? That’s magical thinking.

Barack Obama is not Superman. He is a gifted individual with fine aspirations and big challenges on his hands. He deserves support, time and high engagement from leaders within the United States and around the world.

The problems that America faces threaten us all. It’s time to row together.

If there has been a surprise for me in my career it has been the confidence deficit of leaders.

In mentoring and coaching sessions what often comes to light are deep insecurities and concerns about being up to the challenge of leadership, of measuring up.

When the discussion turns to the foundations of confidence-gifts, talents, character qualities, knowledge, skills, and experience-often the leader involved cannot identify these internal resources.

But they can tell you about their faults in a New York minute.

There is something radically wrong here.  I don’t know if it is because of how we are raised, educated or mentored at work, but we must strive to overcome the confidence gap.  Our visions for positive change, the very future depends on bold action, commitment and heartfelt action.  These are not available when we doubt and second-guess ourselves.

One thing that professional athletes know-confidence comes from careful development of skills and preparation for engagement on the playing field.  Many of us in organizational life are out on the field but have not continuously developed our skills or prepared properly for the game.

Every Visionmaker should be able to give at least ten responses to these questions:

• My gifts and talents are…
• My character qualities are…
• My aptitudes are…
• My character qualities are…
• My positive contributions are…
• My challenges overcome are…
• My successes are…
• My aspirations are…

Many of us are not even able to distinguish between a gift and a character quality.  No wonder we are filled with self-doubt!

Visionmakers are careful stewards of self-confidence. They recognize it as a necessary ingredient in the ability to generate purposeful action. Let’s make a clear distinction here-confidence is not arrogance.

Arrogance is simply lack of confidence in disguise. Visionmakers never succumb to a belief that they are somehow special or superior.  They see the positive attributes that they have been given, and developed, as a sacred trust.

As a result, Visionkakers are more concerned with the contribution they are making to others and to their communities than measuring themselves or competing with others.

Ultimately, confidence supports the freedom to act in accordance with the heart, in alignment with Destiny. This is the ultimate goal of Visionmaking-to create a meaningful life through deep engagement.