Can't tell you how it will end... but I can tell you how it will begin!

In 2013 there has been a lot of 'talk'... talk of the need to change, talk of the corruption and lack of honesty, integrity and morals in the leadership of our country. This has been brought to the attention of many for the first time by the now infamous video of +Russell Brand explaining to Jeremy Paxman the fact that the existing systems that we have do not serve the people. Citing sustainability of our planet and the huge disparity between the fortunes of the 1% and the 99% as just two of the issues at stake.

There are excellent people out there, visionaries such as +Seth Godin sharing great wisdom about how we are all unique and we should discover our passions... and people closer to home who are leading the voice for the small business such as +Tony Robinson OBE and +Tina Boden of Enterprise Rockers who are doing a huge amount to raise the profile of the millions of hard working self employed and small businesses who are the foundation on which this country's future lies.

But there is a huge difference in knowing the path and walking the path... how can we take these 'words', 'talk' and 'good ideas' and turn them into a reality? How can we bring together those that really do understand that there is something wrong with our society? ... and how can we begin to work together and collaborate with a common purpose so that we can build this replacement which more and more people are waking up to realise we need?

The fundamental problem lies in the reversal of the belief that capitalism and money is king. We have to shift our thoughts on this one first. A previous blog on the 'Concept of Enough' explains in detail that actually what we really want to be is happy, and that more and more money and things in our lives is not the answer. The answer is more to do with satisfying our needs as humans... such things as being valued, making a contribution, helping others, community... being part of something bigger than ourselves. Yes we all need money or its equivalent to live, but the focus has to be on what we can give not take. We are all important, we all have a purpose, we should all have a voice and we should all be able to make a contribution and continue on our life journey unhindered. We do not yet live in a country like this, nor did we have a platform to deliver it...

We need to turn people away from waiting and expecting somebody else to do something, to a nation of people that engage, accept responsibility that they are part of the solution... and then want to take action. To do this we need to first and foremost enable people to get together locally and begin to share ideas, challenges, problems and reconnect with the people around us in our communities. We are not independent islands, we are all part of an interdependent society and we have to recognise that we cannot 'go it alone'... that only leads to what we have today.

The good news is that there are a great many people out there who have already had enough of 'waiting' and have seen a problem that needs solving, taken action, and started community initiatives. But it is hard to get traction on your own, especially when there is often no monetary reward for the passion, coupled with huge effort that can be draining on the time available to earn a living.

What then if we could :-

1. Rebuild local community by getting local people to meet regularly know each other, connect with others, and help each other
2. Engage and collaborate with other like minded organisations with similar ethics and principles to support each other and accelerate the whole process
3. Establish the answers to our local challenges through dialogue with real local people so we can start to improve our local community and grow local businesses
4. Enable low cost education on modern skills such as social media, but also on a whole range of community and business topics that are going to be needed going into the future
5. Help people to discover their purpose, so that we are all doing something we love and are passionate about... which is where we would all perform at our best.
6. Create an initiative that everyone can be involved in, where everyone is important and can be heard from any background... a true democracy
7. Which is at such a low cost it is totally inclusive and there is no barrier to participate

Now wouldn't that be worth striving for?