King 5 (TV on the NW Coast) has posted an interview I did with them a few years ago.
Enjoy!

For a month, Pierpaolo Petruzziello’s amputated arm was connected to a robotic limb,
allowing him to feel sensations and control the arm with his thoughts. Rossella Lorenzi
talks to him about the bionic experiment.

I’m going to go out on a limb here, but hey; seeing it’s the end of the year, why not?
This new ebook from Seth Godin could well be the most important book (“e” or otherwise) you’ll read this year; perhaps next year also.
It’s called ‘What Matters Now’, it’s my gift (courtesy of Seth) to you for 2010, and it’s available at the link below.

Enjoy!

I don’t like being lied to. I also don’t appreciate people treating me like an imbecile. There’s lashings of both in this utterly absurd ‘statement’ from homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano. She stated yesterday that flying is “very, very safe” and the terrorist in Friday’s attack “was stopped before any damage could be done.  I think the important thing to recognize here is that once the incident occurred, everything happened that should have.”

You’re kidding me, right Janet? I mean, you have got to be joking…

Thinking of perception again this afternoon in Auckland as Margo and I make our way back towards Canada. Things aren’t always as they seem, as I was reminded yet again in a parking lot in Devonport, Tasmania a few days ago…

Margo and I sat incredulous in our car, as we watched, seemingly in slow motion, as a woman took literally minutes to back out of parking spot in a kind of 12 point turn; blocking the whole road, and then once straightened up, slowed down and began looking for something in her purse. Of course, we still couldn’t get by her and by now, I’m not proud to say this, but we’d tried and sentenced her as the most incompetent driver on the planet… Actually, that’s putting it quite mildly…

As she slowly pulled up alongside us and wound down the window, my thoughts turned to “now what?“.

“Here you go love; there’s still two hours on it.“ as she handed me through our open windows her parking ticket; then added “Have a Merry Christmas!“

Lesson learned; one I should know more than anyone.

It pays not to be so quick to judge.

Lessons abound, as always.

Hope you had a great Christmas!

Some great comments from the Dalai Lama in Melbourne yesterday; far too many gems to cover here. One thing he kept coming back to though was that we can’t change the external without first changing the internal. We can’t solve world conflict until we deal with our own internal conflict. We can’t fix the environment until we fix our own internal environment. Clearing the garbage out of our minds (my words, not his) and taking responsibility for our own throughts and perceptions of ourselves and others.

Summed up perhaps in a couple of sentences:

What is it you want to create?
What kind of world do you want to see; what kind of world do you want your children to inherit?
And most importantly; what are YOU going to do to help create it?

Margo and I are on our way to Australia right now (writing this from Auckland airport) and experiencing lots on hands on examples of perspective.
We booked our flights using air miles, and as a result accepted a milk run to get down here.
No big deal, we hadn’t given it much thought until every airline employee that pulled up our itinerary gave us the “Oh, I’m really sorry…“ treatment.
We figured; hey; at least we’ll get to see more of New Zealand having to take one more internal flight than we really wanted; so again, not a big deal.
At our stopover in Rorotunga (Cook Islands); our plane got delayed by 30 minutes.
Bummer, but again; no biggie.
After takeoff, our super friendly attendant comes over and says “I have some good news for you Mr Macdonald. Because of the delay, you’re going to miss your connection to Auckland, so we’re putting you on a direct flight now straight to Melbourne”.
Perfect; we’ve had enough of this flying caper anyway.
Except of course, now we don’t get to fly over the southern alps…
There’s good and bad in everything; depending on what it is you want to see…

January 22nd- 24th 2010 in Ouray Colorado

It’s on! Our first ice climbing event in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado with Margo and I as your facilitators. This is a great opportunity for those of you that have expressed interest in coming on an adventure with me. Well, here’s a mini adventure; it’s going to be great fun and I promise you’ll learn something. Great for individuals as well as pulling your small team together for an experience that’s sure to help them blow through any obstacles that follow.

Includes:

  * 2 nights lodging (Friday & Saturday night) at the Ouray Chalet Inn.
  * Dinner Friday night and all meals through to Sunday afternoon pre-departure appetizers.
  * Gear rental (Helmet, harness, tools and crampons).
  * Airport Shuttle and shuttle into the ice park.

$1250 ($500 deposit; non-refundable).

Being focused and paying attention isn’t automatic; at least not for me. It takes work and it takes constant vigilance. When we stop paying attention we can miss the obvious. We limit our perception of the world, and us such, we limit our opportunities… Case in point:

For easily two years, I’ve always approached United’s Red Carpet Lounge (RCL) at the Denver airport with trepidation. Actually, it’s not just Denver; it’s any airport where the star alliance lounge happens to be run by United. “Should I even bother going in?” is the question. It’s not a question I find myself asking at any of the other airlines lounges; just United. Here’s why. The first time I flew through Denver after wifi was introduced, I rolled up excited at the prospect of getting some work done during my layover. I was politely told that wifi in the lounge was only for United Mileage members… “But what about Aeroplan members” I asked, referring to my membership with Air Canada’s mileage program of which I’m a gold member, which I have to point out has nothing to do with the character in the Austen Powers movies; it basically means I fly a lot and with Aeroplan being a member of the Star Alliance, as United is; usually receive reciprocal privileges at any participating airlines lounges. “Sorry sir. The free wifi is only for mileage plus members”. I was outraged. I felt like blockading the Maple Leaf lounge at Vancouver airport and denying entry to any Mileage Plus member who tried to get it. Because of course, Maple Leaf lounges across Canada; across the planet actually, if they have free wifi, give it to everyone. Not only did I get outraged; I stayed outraged. For two years. Every time I approached an RCL, anywhere, I readied myself for a fight as I approached the desk. Not once, after multiple “I can’t believe you guys; who do I need to talk to?” conversation; not once did I stop to ask myself the question that the woman manning the desk this morning asked me:

“Why don’t you just become a member?”
“Why? I’m already a member of Aeroplan.”
“You don’t have to use the card to accumulate miles; you ca still use Aeroplan for that. But why don’t you just sign up, get a number, and that number is all you’ll need to get online…”

At this point, I’d like to say I started kicking myself for not thinking of something so simple myself, but alas; no…

My first reaction was: How is it that I’ve had this situation come up literally a dozen times; probably more, over the past few years, and only now does someone bother to point out something so obvious. After all; it’s their job; they must be having this situation pop up every day. I could think that; indeed I did think that, but on reflection I realized that the track I was going down was a cop out.

I should have figured it out. It’s that simple. If I had allowed myself to think rationally, instead of getting all lit up at the audacity of the situation; I could have stepped back; seen an obvious solution, and asked the question: “So, what do I need to become a member?”

None of us are immune. Next time you find yourself butting heads with a brick wall, or an RCL employee for that matter, stop and ask yourself.

What am I focusing on here? Am I focused on the problem, or on finding a solution?

We all know that we don’t all see the world in the same way. We know it, but do we truly get it? Do we truly understand how deep the rabbit hole goes?

Great news for you blog subscribers and offer you can’t refuse…
To celebrate the release this week of my new *Live Onstage* DVD, “The Challenge of Change”, I’ve got a special offer for you. Not only will you get 20% off the price of the DVD, but you’ll get 20% off of anything in my online store.

Details: This offer closes Friday (9/11); so it’s this week only, and you’ll need to enter this code on checkout: EE5847BHW9P47

Here’s a preview of what to expect:

And here’s what people are saying about the presentation the DVD is based on (“The Challenge of Change” was filmed before an audience of 3000 in Denver CO):

“Warren’s presentation was nothing short of inspiring.  Our group consists of highly accomplished management and professional staff working for the University of British Columbia.  They can be a tough audience to say the least, but Warren completely captured them with his energy, conviction and the undeniable truth of his message, “when you change the way you see the world, you CHANGE the world”.
Jasmin Harry
Member Services Officer, AAPS at UBC

“I believe you received the only standing ovation of our three day event because you went out of your way to customize the message not only based on the details I’d given you earlier but also on the information you gleaned from attending several sessions earlier in the day.  I have never seen a more captivated and inspired audience or a more dedicated speaker.“
David Christopher
Manager People Department, 1-800-Got-Junk?

“… an extraordinary speaker with a powerful message of the positive nature of change.  His message is thought provoking, informative, and inspirational.“
Insp. Ward Lymburner
OIC Support Services, Pacific Region Training Center, RCMP

“At a time when it’s easy to be discouraged and disheartened about business or life, it’s tough to come away from Warren’s presentation, without feeling more gratitude, more committed and more resolved to change the way we perceive life, business and adversity.“
Jimm Holland
Director, UFA Petroleum Operations

“Throughout your presentation I went from wanting to cry to uncontrolled laughter. Most of all it re-ignited my hope in mankind and gave me the tools to view the world and workplace in a different manner. I can’t say enough…if you haven’t seen Warren’s presentation and viewed his DVD, you are missing the boat.“
Gordon Currie
Marketing Manager, Lake View Credit Union

You know you’re in for a treat with the “dirt eating” opening scene…

Well worth watching even though it runs for almost 20 minutes. If you’re sitting on the fence waiting for the government to make everything better; if you dream of a better world but feel powerless in what you can do; this video is for you…

Could any of you have ever imagines a bike could be ridden in this way, say, 20 years ago? I don’t think so. Think about what it means in relation to what’s possible now, not just for a kid on a bike, but for all of us. An important point: Over the years, we’ve closed skate parks, we’ve ridiculed young kids who skate or ride as young punks who should “get a job”. What do you think they’re thinking now as they watch much of our world turn out to be a lie? We need more guys like this, not just to show us what they can do on a bike, but where we can go with some vision. Where we can go when we’re prepared to create something that didn’t exist….
Enjoy.

Exciting news with the publication of this months Outside magazine in China. Magazine features a six page article on my story.
Here it is; enjoy!

Here it is; my 2009 Challenge of Change preview video.
Enjoy!

Service. What does the word “service” mean? Yes, it can be sued to describe a positive or negative experience in a restaurant or store; that’s one example. More and more though I’m seeing talk turn to “being of service”. Of making a contribution. Rest assured, the days of having a job whereby you simply turn up are either gone already or are severely numbered. It might have been tolerated in the old world where money seemingly grew on trees; won’t fly in the new world. Nope, we need to ask ourselves; “How can I be of service?” What do I have to offer that both fulfills me and is of value to someone else?

Value is the key word here because if we want to be paid for our work, it has to have value. Our time alone doesn’t fly in this new world. With people out of work, there’s an oversupply of time. Your most precious resource now (apart from your health and your relationships) is the value you bring to the table.

Something for you to think about:
What value do I bring to the table?

What got me thinking about this topic was the realization recently that in the past, to have an online presence was confined to having a website. You could either learn to build one or have someone build it for you.

Now, with the explosion of social media; it’s not just the building; that’s the easy part. It’s the managing; it’s the connecting all of the dots. It’s making sure you’re up to date with the tools people are using to connect with you or find you or your products and services. That’s when I realized the opportunity for a job that simply didn’t exist a year or two back; that of the Social Media Guru. The person who can come in; set you up on whatever networks you need to be set up on; link them all to the extent they can be linked, and then come n once a month or so to make sure everything is still working, that you are utilizing the latest add on’s and widgets; all the stuff that would be a full time job for most of us that frankly need to be spending our time elsewhere.

Amazing really that this job didn’t exist a few years back (except in the minds perhaps of some very forward thinking individuals), to the point whereby I see this role being so important as we move towards a time when I presence on social networks may be more important than our company website.

Did I mention I’m still looking for such a guru?
Drop me a line if that’s you, and of course I’d love your comments on any other areas whereby you see an opportunity to contribute value that breaks out of the traditional mold.

Somebody called me a motivational speaker the other day. Frankly, I couldn’t have been more insulted. Sure, I kind of motivate people (I prefer the term “give them something to think about”). But the kind of motivation that comes to mind for me when I think of the term “motivational speaker” is the kind of motivation that got us into this mess in the first place. It’s that Secretesque kind of motivation that says that if we think about it hard enough, we can wake up with a new Lamborghini in the driveway. The kind of motivation that says that if I just think “happy thoughts”, nothing bad will ever happen to me. Guess what folks; it’s a real world we live in here. Real things happen. Our actions get real results, and it’s our actions that have bought us to where we are right now. It will only be our actions that get us out of it.

What kind of actions am I talking about? Think about this: nobody gave two hoots about “the economy” until a year ago. Why? Because it was working for us. We never really questioned the fact that our pension funds are invested in companies that make cigarettes that give us lung cancer, or landmines that kill people. Nobody really questioned how on earth anybody growing up today was ever going to be able to afford to buy their own house. I mean why would we question something that was making us a fortune as we flipped a house here; a condo there? Now we’re all screaming about what the banks have done to us. We did it folks, through our actions (or inaction in some cases), and until we can admit that; it aint going to be easy to move forward.

When I talk about creating your own reality, I mean it. You might call that hypercritical considering the first paragraph above, but of course we now know that we created this recession, mainly through being greedy and ignorant. In the same way we created our way into this, we can create our way out of it.

How? By first being able to see the kind of world we want to live in; and then taking the actions required to get there. Do you see a world paved for our convenience, so we can jaunt from one strip mall to the next, endlessly consuming to our hearts content, gloriously oblivious to where the materials and labour that created our “stuff” came from? It would be great wouldn’t it; we’d barely have to lift a finger and our lives would look like something out of “lifestyles of the rich and famous”. Seems like we just came from there and it didn’t work. It was never going to, not in the long run.

What if we imagined a world where everybody had enough to eat for a start? Where we didn’t have entire villages kept in poverty in Africa because we convinced them to stop growing food in favour of growing coffee beans for us. Where we don’t have entire cities built up around behemoth automobile companies that have done everything in their power over the last 40 years to crush any kind of alternative fuel or power source, along with creating the not much talked about sub prime auto market? What might that kind of world look like?

Pretty much like Europe actually. Don’t get me wrong; they’re not perfect over there, not by a long shot, but a lot of this stuff they’ve already figured out, but that’s a whole other story.

For now, I want to leave you with this:

We can change the world; we’re doing it all the time whether we know it or not. It’s time we start doing it a little more consciously rather than unconsciously. To make it easy for you, here are three things you can do today to help move us towards a more sustainable future.

1/ Get your money out of the big banks and into a local credit union. You’ve seen what happens when your money goes to Wall Street. Enough said.
2/ Support locally grown (preferably organic) food. Buying from big agribusiness in California doesn’t support your community, in fact it doesn’t even support the community where it was grown. Most of those big farms are owned by Wall Street, and we’ve seen what happens when our money goes there…
3/ Turn off your TV, or better yet, throw it away. It’s stealing your time, robbing you of your creativity and sucking the very life force out of you. Take it out into the yard and shoot it if you have to, but get rid of it.

Now that’s what I call motivational; something we can do that takes us to a better place. Maybe I am a motivational speaker after all? Just not “that kind” of motivational speaker…

On my way to speak at the 5th Annual Men’s Health Forum in Mankato MN.

Here’s a flyer (below), as well as some recent press about the event.

Be great to see you there!

Warren

One thing that gives me satisfaction from what I’ve been through is being able to share insights to help others who find themselves in similar situations; such as shark attack victim and navy diver Paul de Gelder who lost a leg to a bull shark last week in Sydney Harbour.

I had a guy take me to task last week with the following:

“If we all create our own reality like you say we do, why is it that I have to get caught up in this recession/ depression? I bought a modest house, I don’t buy a new car every three years despite the flyers turning up weekly in my mailbox offering me “0%, nothing down”, I don’t have a 50 inch TV. If we all create our own reality, why is it that I’m losing my job next week, when I didn’t do anything to create this situation?”

Good point Joe (not his real name of course, but we’ll call him Joe). And lot’s of people I come across feel the same way. The fact is though, that yes, we do create our own reality, and it’s that reality that then filters out into our family life, our work life, our community; where it forms the collective reality that we call our society.

The truth of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of us have been living beyond our means, and it’s the majority that shape the collective reality. Now, when I use the word reality, please don’t think that I’m going all “woo woo” on you. By reality I’m referring to our collective consciousness; what’s acceptable, what’s not; what we value as important; how we live our lives basically.

It’s not just in how we’ve chosen to spend our money that’s shaped our reality. A huge factor has also been how we choose to spend our time and where we’ve chosen to put our energy. Just because you didn’t go into debt, doesn’t necessarily mean you were paying attention. Remember, our reality is shaped by what we give our attention to, and the sad fact of the matter is we know more about pop culture and sports than we do about how our economy works, or at least we did before the melt down started….

So, my question for Joe, and my question for you, is: What are you putting your energy into? If you, like Joe, are staring down the barrel of losing your job, you’ve got some tough questions to ask yourself. Have I been spending more time at work pretending to be busy that actually doing something? Have I been spending more time on Facebook than actually working?

What if you spent that time looking for ways to tighten up some of your processes? What if you spent it taking the extra step to solve an issue for a client; therefore providing more value? What if you took a training course that would equip you with skills valuable to both you and your employer?

This goes for time outside work also. If you’re really worried about losing your job, should you be investing another minute of your time caring whether the Cannuck’s ever win another game.

Please don’t make the mistake of going into denial; the writing is on the wall, there will be more job cuts: Caterpillar 20,000, Sprint 8,000, Home Depot 7,000, and that’s just his week…

So, the reality we’ve effectively created is all around us, and it doesn’t look pretty. We can get all overwhelmed by that, we can feel all defeated; or we can choose to take action. What are you going to do? What are you going to do to make yourself not just recession proof, but depression proof?

Let’s start with what you have right now, and to get you started I want to share this story with you.

Last week I visited a family of refugees fromBurma, brought toCanada by the Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB). I’d been asked to visit to provide some encouragement to a nine year old boy named Ta Hey Tha who’d been born with no arms or legs courtesy of the Burmese military using agent orange as part of its “campaign” to stamp out the riff raff…

As we were being introduced, you could see interest in Ta Hey Tha’s face that I was different; that I was more like him than anyone else in the room, but a deep sadness still pervaded this little boys eyes. A sadness built up over a lifetime of, not just being limited, but of being shunned by his community. Disability is not treated the same way in other parts of the world as it is in the west, and although we still have a long way to go here; in many parts of the world the disabled are hidden from the community out of shame. So, I think you’ll agree Ta Hey Tha has a fair bit going against him; it’s no wonder he’s not happy, but when Shauna (CFOB) suggested I challenge him to a game of marbles, something in him changed. I’m not going to say he got excited; Ta Hey Tha didn’t smile the whole time of our visit, but when the marbles were bought out and dumped on the floor in front of him, all of a sudden he had a purpose…

Over the next twenty minutes, I proceeded to get my arse kicked at marbles by a nine year old boy without arms, or more accurately, with no arms just below the elbows. My clumsy flicking of each marble with thumbs that hadn’t flicked a marble for 30 years were absolutely no match for the way Ta Hey Tha rolled each marble between his two stumps carefully whilst taking aim, then rubbed them quickly together to shoot the marble out with incredible accuracy. He didn’t just beat me; as I said, he absolutely kicked my arse!

The moral of the story of course, is that Ta Hey Tha beat me by focusing on what he has. The list of things he doesn’t have is immense, far greater than you and I can imagine and far beyond not having arms and legs. He doesn’t have any control over what bought him to be in this position in his life; the reality of others determined Ta Hey Tha’s reality before he was even born. But it was he who turned himself into an arse kicking marble player, and it’s you, and you alone who can equip yourself with the mindset and skills to not just survive, but thrive; no matter what happens to the economy.

It’s your move.

What have you got?

What are you going to do with it?

A Test of Will: One Man’s Extraordinary Story of Survival

February 19, 2009
8:45am-10:00am

You know the “family man” we’re all supposed to feel for because his jobs on the line, the guy that’s just trying to make ends meet by logging the last of our old growth forests? Well here he is, with his buddies…

I think we’re finally starting to get it. God, I hope so. If we don’t start waking up now with all that’s going on we’re really in trouble. We’ve put all our trust in our governments. We’ve put all of us trust in the banks. You could say we’ve been kind of let down; led astray even.

The kicker is, we let it happen. I’d go as far as to say we wanted it to happen. I didn’t hear any complaints while the going was good, but it was obvious to me that while we won, someone else must have been losing, but I digress…

Some solutions for moving forward. Educate yourself. Fast. I mean really fast, drop everything that’s not absolutely necessary, and educate yourself about whats really happening here.

A couple of places to start, with two books that I’m finding incredibly useful:

It doesn’t matter whether we’re in a recession or not. Only one thing is certain. The game has changed. It had to; it was totally unsustainable and simply could not go on. The lessons here are numerous; I ask you to focus on one to begin with.

Are you going to adapt to the new game, or continue trying to play the old one?

You can’t change the outcome of whether we go into a recession or not. It’s too late for that now. We need to focus on what we can change, what we can do to determine how this period of, let’s call it “uncertainty”, affects us.

Sorry, I have to digress here now that I’ve used the “U” word. I’ve been watching the economy steam towards what’s happening like there’s no tomorrow for some time now; nothing was more certain in my mind than this outcome we have now. North Americans and the western world in general have been living above their means for decades, we can all be certain of that. On top of that, oil is a finite resource. Now that we’ve seen the $100 barrel of oil, we can be certain we’ll see the $1000 barrel. It’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when.

Rather than get all depressed and overwhelmed by the above, let’s look at what it means. If we can make decisions and take action on what we know is true, we can move into uncertain times with certainty. We can move away from living in dreamland to creating a more sustainable future for our children, and their children, and their children’s children, etc, etc…

Some questions for you to ponder in moving forward:

• What measures can I take to protect myself and our members during this period of uncertainty?
• What kind of opportunities may come my way as a result of the changes taking place, and am I well positioned to take advantage of them?
• If not, why not?
• What do I need to let go of in order to move forward?

Remember, the key point I’m always reminding people of:

When you change the way you see the world, you change the world.

What kind of world do you want to create?

Is that the world you’re seeing now? If not, its time to take a fresh look…

Lot’s of you saw the interview I did with George when it went to air, or caught one of the many repeats of the show, but I’m glad to finally post it here as to me this one one of the best interviews I’ve been in. Why; because George just kept it real. No dog and pony show, just two guys shooting the *#@% on a shiny red sofa. Enjoy…

I was recently interviewed by Alan Kearn’s at Workopolis. In Alan’s words: “you shared so much valuable wisdom. Thank you!“

I’ve been speaking to a lot of healthcare groups lately. A common thread running through the entire health sector is that people are incredibly stressed; not just those working in healthcare, but the majority of their patients are showing as a result of incredibly busy lives with increased demands being made of their time and energy. It’s a familiar story, one we know all too well. Who isn’t stressed these days; really? What is becoming more and more apparent to me though is that while the sector faces some very real challenges; those working within it also have an incredible opportunity on the horizon. For some it may have already arrived. What I’m talking about is the opportunity to finally have the work they do recognized; to receive validation for the contribution these people make to our lives each and every day. I see a big shift coming. It’s been a long time coming, but with the current wave of “greenwashing” were seeing at the moment comes an emphasis on organic food and wellness in general. Were also seeing more and more proof, in case we need it, that stress has a very real and extremely detrimental affect on our lives. Were finally starting to realize that we are what we eat, and probably more importantly than that; we are what we think; or we manifest what we think. As more and more of us figure this out, and we begin to make the shift from a sickness system to a true health and wellness system, we’ll be looking to our health practitioners to guide us. Those in healthcare need to be ready. You don’t want to be stuck in the old model (well, it’s the current model for most people) which says you’re so stressed there’s no possible way you can be of help to anyone else. You need to practice what you preach; be an example for people of what they should aspire to. You’re in a position to be at the forefront towards a kind f sustainability we should all be interested in, environmentalist or not; the sustainability of ourselves; our own wellbeing. You’re in a position to be there; to be there for people, when this shift takes place. It’s an exciting time if you let it be, full of opportunity. Bit only if you see it…

Wow, I was beginning to think we’d never see the day, but it’s finally here. Winner of EIGHT international awards, “The Second Step” is now available for download through Amazon Unbox. That means no waiting around for the DVD to turn up; no burning up fossil fuels to get it to your house; no disc that won’t play any more because the kids have used it as a frisbee…

Yes We Can.

A guy called Michael Rupert turned me on to this very simple yet very powerful train on thought that I now apply to any situation I don’t understand or need to understand more fully. “Show me how the money works. Who’s making it; where it’s going”. I bring this up now; inspired by a video I want to share with you in this post. It reminded me of the times I’ve fought; for my independence and mobility; for the forests of Tasmania; against bureaucracy trying to treat me as a number. In all of these instances, the motivating factor was never money; far from it. I see a time coming, sooner rather than later, when some among us are going to choose to fight; indeed, many have already begun. I’m not talking about a war in another country; Rupert’s “show me how the money works” puts that in it’s rightful place. No, I’m talking right here on this continent. When it begins; when the images begin to fill television screens across the nation, as indeed they always do when people protest against the IMF or the G8; stop and ask yourself; “how does the money work in this?“ Do these people have anything to gain by protesting, and if not, what is driving them? Please don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s because they have nothing better to do. I had plenty better to do in my days as a front line activist; but once I’d seen the devastation being wrought on one of the world’s pristine wild places I simply could not turn away. I chose to fight. For something I believed in. For money; not likely. I had to give up well paying work to do so.

With all this being said, I have to precede this video with a disclaimer. Don’t for a minute think that I’m interested in influencing how you vote. Or even suggesting that you vote. Those of you who’ve been reading these posts for a while will know my beliefs lie in their being much more power in how you spend each dollar, effectively voting with your wallet, than who you choose to elect as your leader.

No, the reason I’m sharing this video with you is because the message that will.i.am wants you to get is that the power to change is in your hands, nobody else’s. That this world we live in right now might be working fine for you; I know its working fine for me; but it’s not working for everybody. It’s not working for the families being caught in our “friendly fire” in Afghanistan and Iraq; it’s not working for our soldiers coming home blown to bits if not in a box; it’s not working for the children being born with AIDS throughout Africa; it’s not working for the children working in sweatshops to make our cheap stuff; it’s not working for those who’ve just defaulted on their mortgages (did you know the banks had been on selling our mortgages?); and it’s not working for any of us who’ve lost or had a family member diagnosed with cancer.

We can change. It won’t be easy; we’re going to have to give up some stuff. But it’s not working; and if you think that’s ok because its working for you; think again. We’re all connected. If you think that sounds airy fairy; think again. It’s the biggest thing I’ve learnt, and if anything, my life has been all about learning. Trust me on this. We have to change, and we can. You can.