You may be, like me, an organized Type-A personality who likes to plan ahead. Creating detailed To Do lists and feeling that sense of satisfaction checking off boxes and moving completed tasks into the done category. What a high to accomplish something and acknowledge our achievement. Mostly, we do our best to try to control as much as possible. And then the universe laughs.

Life rarely cooperates and makes things that easy for us. As I’ve shared before, while some things may be within our control, sadly many things are not.

I’ve been reflecting on the pace of change and the unpredictability of life recently, as you no doubt are too, in the face of increasing turmoil everywhere all the time. It’s hard to imagine that our world has become even more uncertain, yet we must accept that Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA for short) have become the new normal. In addition to the unsettling wars and political debacles of the past year, we’ve been faced with unmitigated environmental disasters on a scale rarely witnessed in our lifetimes. From Maui to Asheville, Florida to Puerto Rico, New Orleans, and now Los Angeles (which may not include them all), we are being faced with unavoidable human crises.

The costs incurred on a physical, emotional, spiritual, environmental and not to mention financial basis are just mind-boggling and devastating. Our broken hearts are barely healing from one emergency before we get thrust into yet another tragedy. And while we can send all of our love, prayers and money to support those who have been impacted, it’s not enough. A speaker I heard rightly noted how quickly we’ve moved from being in climate crisis to having a full-on climate emergency. This isn’t some made up bullshit conspiracy theory, this is our world facing existential threat head on.

While I’d love to ask “when will it stop?” We all know that’s not the right question, since it won’t (unless we’ve buried our head in the ground and chosen to ignore the reality staring us in the face). This article provided evidence over a year and a half ago. We’ve gone beyond the point of no return as we race towards mass climate destruction (though hopefully not in our lifetimes). The more relevant question is “how can we mitigate the impact of unpredictable changes?”

This quote spoke to me:

“We control nothing, but influence everything.” —Brian Klaas

Flexibility, Adaptability and Resiliency

It’s been heartbreaking to watch and bear witness to the ongoing destruction of so many of our manmade creations. And it’s only set to continue. Mother Nature is pissed, and rightfully so. She’s blowing up all the carefully designed climate models that we tried to create to reassure ourselves that it won’t be so bad or again, perhaps we can measure and manage it. The Atlantic recently noted that global warming has moved beyond the climate models’ ability to capture what’s going on.

“Ha ha ha!” Gaia laughs, as if to say “you thought you could predict and control me. Who do you think you’re f*cking with here? You’re playing with fire and I’ll show you!” Yup, ain’t that the truth.

As we stand by and watch the unthinkable and highly unpredictable unfold, we may feel helpless, but we should not be hopeless. Each one of us is here at this time to make our world a better place. That’s right, your presence is essential and important to creating positive change.

Charting a Path Forward

Selfishness, greed and extraction have had their run and will not lead to the safety, security or wealth envisioned. Look where that approach has gotten us. Sure, some folks have gotten ahead and seem to continue pursuing their own agenda, but eventually karma is a bitch. Now it may be time for us to consider a new approach – where we focus on the values of community, connection and contribution. Let’s consider the whole as greater than the sum of its parts and recognize that we each have a role to play in accelerating positive change.

For 2 decades I worked in corporate environments that often operated with a false sense of urgency. Everything was so important – to get to market, beat competitors to the punch, go, go, go. We pushed and drove people to deliver and get sh*t done, in the name of profits and growth. But to what end?

Get ahead. More. Better. Faster. While there’s nothing wrong with moving forward with purpose, I have always believed it is far more productive to have a meaningful goal that can drive true change and positive impact for the greater good. I’d love to see us apply that same sense of urgency to eradicating the climate crisis and addressing the global challenges we face around defiling and defoliating the earth and her resources.

Getting our Priorities in Order

There is never a good time to do something difficult. Anything challenging or really worth doing, requires concerted effort and circumstances are rarely perfectly aligned. We need to prepare ourselves to move forward even when things are quite imperfect. Otherwise we run the risk of waiting for all the puzzle pieces to fall into place and then it’s too late, the window and our time to act has passed us by.

“No time like the present, a thousand unforeseen circumstances may interrupt you at a future time”. —John Trusler, 1790

NOW is as good a time as any to start making the changes that you know are needed – for yourself, your life and work, and our world. To put in place an action plan to move you towards your dreams. If not now, then when?

Don’t get me wrong, timing can make a difference and luck certainly factors into things. But above all else, we need to be ready to step forward and do the work.

No holding back. When you see that opening or choose to create it for yourself, it’s time to step forward and through. We must seize upon the chances and challenges that life throws our way. No regrets. Let’s find the opportunity in the crisis to do what is needed to create a better future!

Some Positive News

I’m excited to announce that my new book, So, What Do You Do? The Authentic Alchemy Path to Find Who You Are is now available. While my print book will launch on March 1, 2025, the ebook can now be purchased directly through Amazon here. You can also access multiple free resources I’ve put together to complement the book on my website here.

If you’re ready to take action and create positive changes in your life to align with your values, I would love to support you! Let’s connect to explore what you want to achieve. My mission is to support more conscious leaders like you to create a more sustainable planet. I will support you to step fully into your power and authentic leadership so you can make the impact you desire, realize your vision and own your gifts.

I’ll be sharing more about the book, including a free workshop I’ll be leading in February (dates and details to follow) and additional programs to support you, so please stay tuned.

To remaining hopeful,

Lenore