Link4Change - Chris Ogle

30th September 2013 was the day. The day that I decided to stop using supermarkets. I must admit, as in previous blogs I have written on this subject, this decision wasn't without some trepidation. We have become so reliant on the convenience and the availability of 95% of what we want day to day that is delivered through the multitude of supermarket options that we now have available. We often forget though... these are businesses there to sell us what makes them money and returns a fat profit for their shareholders. Gibsons - Watford As the Tesco meat scandal of Willow Farms rolls through the media (soon to be forgotten by the way) we are reminded once again where supermarkets allegiance really lies... and that isn't ensuring that we have optimum food and ingredients for our health. So it was 4 years ago...  A decision very much aligned with getting to know more local people and to understand what makes our communities tick. With a vision to knit together stron

I'm a regular contributor on most of the more popular social media networks as are most people today... and it is evident through conversations that we all use them in different ways; keeping in contact with family and relatives, friendship and social connection, like minds through groups, local community groups, business promotion, and of course any combination thereof.  Looking at the business use, all the big players Facebook, Google, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, YouTube... are all engineered these days to encourage us to market ourselves through their advertising tools and self promote what we do. It is a real conundrum for business owners... It's almost like, do I step over the line and start buying advertising (dancing with the devil)... and if I do? will I ever be able to stop? will it be a never ending escalation as we chase the next sale? ... versus ... I am going to use the social media platforms as they are and rely on my established connections 'tribe

No one can doubt the positive impact that the personal development industry has enabled over the past 20-30 years.   Nowadays anyone that wants to start increasing their awareness and take more responsibility for self determination has a myriad of books, videos, live events, recordings they can delve into. Although an avid fan of " self development " I have felt for a while (as my own journey has unfolded) that the industry needs to start moving in a different direction... Or at least a new facet is now ready to emerge. Personal Development is as the name suggests a very personal thing. It is predominantly about how you can change your thinking to become... More successful. It seems to me that the emphasis is very much on assisting people to elevate themselves from ' the pack ' to be ' the one ' with the primary focus being that of, obtaining wealth... The measure of success being counted in terms of material possessions and money. Maybe it didn't

The other day in one of my early morning semi conscious lucid dreaming meditative states... I was reflecting on an event that took place in a small town in Thailand called Nakorn Nayok, north of Bangkok on the road to Vietnam. There was a celebration meal being prepared, I can't remember what it was for, but what I do remember was many people collaborating from the village and co-creating a delicious feast and that some of the monks from the local temple were also invited to participate along with some 'helpers'. I really didn't pay it much heed at the time, but I asked what the 'helpers' were there for. The response was that if anyone wished to make a donation to the temple that these helpers took the money. I asked, why the monks couldn't just collect it up, didn't seem a big deal to me. The response that came back was that the monks never touched money. 20+ years on I am now reflecting on this event as the mystery around this starts to daw

This weekend laying quietly after waking my mind was very active. A couple of things that I often ponder were being tackled by my mind from a different angle, revealing some new insights... these are some of my thoughts around relationships. Relationships always consist of giving and receiving and although no physical set of scales there can be a constant mental weighing up of whether the giving exceeds the receiving... and herein lies many of the challenges in relationships (and in business) as these scales are rarely in balance which oftentimes leads to rows and arguments... If we choose not to worry about the scales and just keep giving (a bit of self sacrifice, or I just want an easy life, it's too hard to do battle, resignation) ... in time we can feel a bit of a doormat. Just being used without really any thanks. This can lead to being resentful and bitter in the fullness of time. The opposite is where there is virtually no regard or recognition for the other and