Buy a Tree, Clean a Beach....get involved

I am very passionate about bringing people together on initiatives to increase awareness for environmental issues and to act. Small acts, big acts, whatever each person can do to contribute.

Here are some of the initiatives I am promoting in case that you are interested to share the ideas in your company or your friends. I talk to companies and bug my friends about what can be done. One of my favorite initiative is the idea to:

Buy a tree!

With the purchase of a small tree, you automatically become a member of Plant-a-Tree. We will plant the tree on your behalf and once this has taken place you will receive an e-mail with the details of the planting (this includes details of action, geographic coordinates, photographs, etc).

Small tree €20

For reasons of economy and efficiency, our members' trees will be planted in groups, in accordance with the design of Plant-a-Tree.

To buy a tree, you can choose one of the payment methods that they advertise on their website http://www.plant-a-tree.gr...and while you are there you may get inspired by some of their other ideas.

I am also a member of Clean Up Greece www.cleanupgreece.org.gr. They are a branch of Clean up the World and are always interested on new sponsors and volunteers.

For 2011 they have produced a beautiful desk top calender. For euro 1000 your company can become a sponsor and received a few hundred calenders to give to clients with the company logo inside.

If you are interested in contributing and would like to know more contact me on christiane@christianepohl.com or if you live outside of Greece then check what your local environmental organizations are doing.

with my best wishes,

Christiane

Thinking outside the Booth

With the growing use of cell phones, pay phone booths are practically
obsolete. So Telekom Austria is converting many of theirs into battery recharging stations for electric cars,scooters and motorbikes. This is brilliant thinking. How might you use your resources to serve the community? How might you turn idle assets into new opportunities?

I loved this one from Donald Copper's research. Donald is the CEO and of Human Marketing and speaks internationally on management, marketing and business innovations. He is an inspiring speaker and I just love the way he thinks. If you are ever looking for a top speaker for your busness or conference then he is the man. For more details www.donaldcooper.com.

Top 9 Traits of Successful People

Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just lucky? Actually Neither. It is because they have developed certain traits. Traits that seems that have been proven again and again to lead to success.

The people who coach with me are usually looking to succeed in aspects of their life or work. Often they want to have more impact at work or change their career path, but don't know how.

That prompted me one day ago to closely look at What are the traits of Successful People. I decided to take an eclectic approach in my research and combine the findings of 4 experts in the field, well 3 and a half: Richard St John, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Stepehn Covey and myself.

Richard St John is the founder of the St John Marketing group and he spend a whole decade researching the question of success by interviewing 500 successful and famous people.

Sri Sri Ravishankar is one of today’s most prominent spiritual leaders and has spoken about the 12 traits of good leadership

Stephen Covey is a Harvard Graduate, Professor at Utah University and the author of the book of ‘The Seven Traits of Highly Effective People”

Myself, 20 years of experience as manager, coach and trainer.

And this is what they (we) came up with. Here are the top 9 Traits:

Passion – Do it for the love, or love what you do, the money will follow

Hard Work - successful people say it’s all hard work but they also claim to have a lot of fun.
Most successful people are Workafrolics

Get Good – Put your nose down and Get good at it, sets example for others, walk the talk and practice what you preach

Persistance – Be proactive, go beyond your comfort zone – you will need to persist through failure, criticism, rejection, fears, doubt, pressure and annoying people around you, but there is no other way

Focus – Focus on one thing at the time, don’t try to do too many things at once, be alert, begin with the end in mind

Ideas - seek to understand rather then be understood, listen, observe, be curious, then act

Serve – serve something of value to your customers, your employees, your colleagues, the community

Making Money – Invite it, plan for it, it but don’t obsess about it

Awareness – get to know yourself, your strength, your weaknesses, your motivations, fears and limiting thoughts, look at them AND then DON’T JUDGE – Accept them, acknowledge them and MOVE ON

That’s it. Those are the 9 traits most commonly cited by successful people and those who have observed them. That’s how they do it. And so can you. Good luck!

Did God create the Universe?

God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawkins argues in a new book.

In "The Grand Design," co-authored with U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking says a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant, according to the Times newspaper which published extracts on Thursday.

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking writes.

An attention catching headline and article, a great way to promote a new book. Controversy is one of the most powerful selling tools - remember the Da Vinci Code -.

The part that always puzzles me is that no one seems to first ask 'What is God'? Who's definition of God are we talking about? I bet if you gather 10 people in one room the answers would vary greatly. And yet, in my opinion it is vital to first ponder on that question, before making sweeping statements. What is God for you? A man with a beard sitting in the sky? It's a image that often comes to mind.

My version of what God is that NOTHING Hawkins talks about. That nothing created something, that for me is divine, it's mind blowing. And then that something created more somethings, became conscious of itself and eventually created beings that tapped into that consciousness and this is an ongoing process. I feel in aw of all of this and find the process godly.

I can easily accept Hawkins insights, but they do not lead me to the same conclusion. I guess that his thoughts are more complex too on the matter. After all 'God did not create the universe' is a great headline and a great way to get people to contemplate their own views on the subject. Well done Mr Hawkins!

What is your philosophy or view on the matter? Does your idea of God include being the creater?

Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce | Video on TED.com

An insightful, fun talk about choice and what makes us happy. Most of us do not know what we really want. And the only way to find out is by asking the right questions and presenting choices that we may not have thought of.

That's the lesson I have learned and that I apply in coaching people ....Malcolm says it his way. Take look

Malcolm Gladwell on spaghetti sauce | Video on TED.com