A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to it’s old dimension.
Oliver Wendell Holmes.

With this post today, I’m announcing a new direction of my work and the orientation of the Idea Lab.

I am changing course, expanding my focus from one based primarily on leadership to the power of the individual.

We hear and read daily about how the world is changing but, in reality, it is we who are changing. Change is not new. Down through the millennia, it has always been with us. Surprisingly, change doesn’t come without or from what’s in the drinking water; it comes from within when some brave soul is willing to challenge the status quo, or sees a new idea or application no one saw before, or who can’t suffer one more indignation in silence any longer.

They know that the sun will come up every morning. Life goes on….there are good people out there, everywhere, doing meaningful work, making a difference and making money, too. They are always looking for ways to grow and improve their lives and circumstances and those of others. Pessimism, irony and negativity have no place in their world view.

Sometimes, though, even people at the top of their game can lose their way or get bogged down. It is not uncommon, especially in this day and age.  Occasionally, they just need someone in their corner, to inspire and encourage them to look with fresh eyes and reach for more.

After a number of personal and business/career successes, they find themselves holding back, stuck in their comfort zones, seemingly unable to move ahead, not realizing that you can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.

One of hardest things in life is to know is which new bridge to cross and which to burn down behind you. In the final analysis, you only have yourself to bring to your work.

Comfort zones cut off personal growth and creativity at the knees. The trick is  knowing how to get out of them. It is critical because it is outside of that zone that your magic lies.

Interestingly, the moment you reconnect with your special brand of magic, you immediately start growing again.

How to do that? That’s what you’ll learn at the Idea Lab, and in the process, I hope, find happiness in yourself by broadening your horizons and learning new things, moving ahead to what’s next.

Life is only a reflection of what you allow yourself to see. You can’t grow from what you already know and you can’t learn from what you’re unable to experience.

This is not for everyone, but if you find this resonating, I challenge you to dare to dream again, to push yourself to do more, experience more, and tap again into your greatness. You already have all the tools you need.

Starting Weds, April 27th I am moderating an exciting new seminar. It is being held at The Idea Lab in the Centre for Social Innovation in The Annex, 720 Bathurst – in the Mind Bomb Room on the cafe level.Time: 6:30 to 8:00 pm.

Entry fee is $25 per person, including a free Booklet, Ten Ways  to a More Meaningful Life. Hint: It’s about money and meaning!

It promises to be an enlightened evening. Space is limited. Please send me an email so we can save you a seat, and watch this space for more news.

Need to be inspired (again)? Want to step up your game? Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. It’s like having a personal fitness trainer but for your life and business.

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Whether we are in Toronto, Toledo or Timbuctu, we are living in a giant global village. Interconnected, interdependent, it demands we broaden our horizons. Smart phones and You Tube have seen to that.

Broadly speaking, a world view is a set of expectations and biases we have formed that shapes how we see and feel about people in other nations and, indeed, even in our own cities and neighbourhoods – each with their own world view.

Accommodation isn’t always easy but as distances and time continue to shrink, it is good to remember that most of us, regardless of where we stand on the globe, are just trying to get through the day, striving to stay alive, better our conditions, to do the best by our families and those for whom we care.

We are not the same, of course. Our cultures, religions, educational backgrounds societal differences can make strangers of us – but only if we let them.

The songs we sing, the stories we tell, sounds and words that to others can sound foreign, even threatening. Still, as the world gets smaller, we need to make the effort to narrow the gap, remembering that a stranger is only a person whose story or song we have never heard – until we are willing to listen.

Need to be inspired (again)? Want to step up your game? Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. It’s like having a personal fitness trainer but for your life and business.

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Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. Rumi.

Are you still growing or simply going through the motions?

We all need to grow. Growing is as necessary as breathing. It is part of humankind’s DNA. We’re hard-wired to be curious and to always be hungry for more.

In today’s environment it isn’t our aspirations or goals that count. It’s the action of striving to reach them that lies at the heart of the process of growing. This is where the excitement lies, the juice of life. It’s what makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning.

That’s because the action of striving is a creative, challenging activity. When you’re growing you are full of energy. One idea effortless flows into the next. The ensuing sense of accomplishment propels you ever further ahead, from one achievement to the next. Nothing seems beyond your reach.

Conversely, when you stop growing, inevitably your life begins to diminish. Things aren’t as much fun anymore. You become stale and dull, no longer interesting. Worst of all you begin to lose you courage. When that happens your horizons begin to narrow.

Have you stopped asking questions? Are you unable to make allowances for ideas and opinions that are not yours? Are you judgmental, critical and intolerant of others? These are sure signs that you have stopped.

Want to get growing again, step up your game, build a new relationship or repair a current one? Like to know how? You’re in luck.

Starting Weds, April 27th I am starting an exciting new seminar.

It is being held at The Idea Lab in the Centre for Social Innovation in The Annex, 720 Bathurst – in the Mind Bomb Room on the cafe level.Time: 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Entry fee is $25 per person, including a free Booklet, Ten Steps to a More Meaningful Life.

It is going to be an interesting evening. Space is limited. Please send me an email so we can save you a seat. Watch this space for more news.

Need to be inspired (again)? Want to step up your game? Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. It’s like having a personal fitness trainer but for your life and business.

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I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life – and I have never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do. Georgia O’Keefe.

No one is immune from fear. It can even be a good thing as as long as you don’t let it immobilize you. Fear can sometimes be a great motivator.  It forces you off your butt and gets you going.

You have all the tools and talent you need… it’s just that building a dream takes longer than you planned.

Fear acts as a barrier, a wall between you and your dream. Don’t let it. Take it one step at a time, one day at a time.

Be brave. Walk right into it. On the other side of that wall lies victory.

Need to be inspired (again)? Want to step up your game? Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. It’s like having a personal fitness trainer but for your life and business.

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Be who you are. Everybody else is taken. Oscar Wilde.

The other day, someone asked me what I think leadership is all about: More to the point, “what’s the secret to it” they wondered?

I have been writing and thinking and talking about leadership for a long time now. I’m not alone. Writers and consultants and coaches of all stripes have been selling books, holding workshops, and speaking about it as if it was some kind of arcane, mysterious secret; always with the objective of getting people to step fully into their lives and share their special gifts with the greater community.

Truth be known, though, there is no secret.

Leadership comes from within.

At the beginning of each day, leaders go out the door and deliver their service or product to the world.. They take action, analyzing what went well or not so well, reflecting upon what happened and then continually growing and learning, making corrections, doing what they instinctively know they need to do next to build their dream, constantly reaching out to meet their aspirations and objectives.

It is as simple and complicated as that.

The reason I am stressing action is because many people get all caught up in the daily distractions and obstacles that can easily dominate our day and obstruct our progress. They get stuck in their own minds, afraid of failing or to ask for what they really want. They never start.

They get into a rut. They feel the need to read just one more book, take one more webinar or one more workshop, thinking they need one more hit of validation before they are ready to begin to take action and create the world that reflects their lives and values.

The thing is this: You are already ready. You’ll improve upon it as you are out there, taking it to the world, making the corrections on the go, feeling more powerful and less fearful each day.

There are few needs of the human heart that are greater than the need to be heard.

Whatever your dream, vow that you are going to start building yours. Today. Take one step at a time. Work with what you have rather than waiting for what you feel you are lacking to get started.

Nothing propels forward motion, builds self confidence  and fosters self-esteem like personal accomplishment.

Get it out there. Go as far as you can. When you get there, you’ll know what to do next.

Need to be inspired (again)? Want to step up your game? Call 416.450.8867 or email drew@drewsimmie.com. It’s like having a personal fitness trainer but for your life and business.

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