Category: Leadership Development

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Are You A Force for Good?

Business as a Catalyst for Social Impact:

After co-chairing this conference 3 of the last 5 years that it has been in person, and intentionally pivoting from a focus beyond nonprofits to attending to all purpose-driven enterprise regardless of tax status, it is great to see this year’s conference meeting the moment. Join us and become part of a moment that is aspiring to create America’s kindest and most purposeful region with the social sector doing mission-driven work, businesses as a force for good, philanthropy that is evolvings from generosity to justice- as we all model and mentor conscious civic leadership.

Cause Conference Views Business as a Catalyst – San Diego Business Journal (sdbj.com)

This year’s Cause Conference is Thursday Sept 15^th at USD

Note: In the afternoon I will be facilitating a session along with Elly Brown from the San Diego Food System Alliance titled: Identifying Our Unique Roles in the Long Arc of System Change

To see the complete agenda and to register please visit:

Cause Conference 2022 (causesandiego.org)

Modeling good corporate citizenship-

Mission Fed-Cloudcast Media Launch “Spotlight on the Community” Partnership:

Listen to this podcast where I am joined by Courtney Pendleton, Mission Fed’s Public Relations and Community Manager to launch the inaugural broadcast at Mission Fed Studios of Drew Schlosberg’s long-running “Spotlight on the Community” Show. It is a cool chat about Mission Fed’s community engagement efforts and why social purpose matters to us and why it might matter to you.

Mission Fed-Cloudcast Media Launch “Spotlight on the Community” Partnership (spreaker.com)

Can you invest your Time, Treasure & Talent?
I am honored to share that I have been elected to serve on the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts San Diego, joining a committed group of volunteers dedicated to improving the lives of girls who work together to build a better world.

 This is as my 14 years of service on the University of California San Diego Alumni Board of Directors comes to a close.

One door closes, and another door opens…

Power Her Promise- A fundraising campaign to empower Girl Scouts:

You have the power to ensure that thousands of girls in our community have opportunities to discover their passions, develop their talents and seek the future of their dreams.

Your donation is more than a charitable contribution—it’s an investment in society.

Power Her Promise (sdgirlscouts.org)

Self-Care and Play-

Plenty of sleep, healthy meals and exercise are part of your routine. What’s missing?
Daily play activity is a key part of childhood development, but it’s also essential for adults, according to research. CNN spoke with play expert and psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Brown about why incorporating fun in your routine is as important as a good night’s sleep.

Importance of play for kids and adults, according to science – CNN

Animal Love-

Watch a Sea Lion and a Chocolate Lab Race Each Other In an Inter-Species Game of Fetch:

Sea lion joins dog in game of fetch (usatoday.com)

The Beagles Are Coming!

San Diego Humane Society have taken in all 100+ beagles and is giving them immediate care. We have foster volunteers at the ready to help care for many of the beagles. Approximately 50 of the beagles will stay with SDHS fosters until adoption. San Diego Humane Society is also working with local shelters and rescue partners, including Rancho Coastal Humane Society and PAWS of Coronado, to place the remainder of the beagles. This is the second airlift that Greater Good Charities has conducted to help safely rehome the beagles being removed from Envigo. The first flight took place on August 20 and transported 146 beagles to Portland, OR.

The Beagles Are Coming! | San Diego Humane Society (sdhumane.org)

Thanks this week go to Teachers everywhere, Larry K and all the Cause Conference organizers, Drew S and the Mission Fed CR team, Girl Scouts San Diego and the San Diego Humane Society.

Please pay it forward, backward and sideways.

We need all of us!

Love,
Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”— Albert Einstein:

Happy Soul Food Friday!

Can We Live In Peace?

Aretha Franklin – Border Song (Holy Moses) – YouTube

Aretha and Elton Duet Live in 1993:

“Border Song” Aretha Franklin and Elton John duet LIVE – YouTube

This week:

• The Summer Solstice
• Better Understanding Juneteenth
• United Nations International Yoga Day
• Nurture Your Soul and Open Your Heart: Sunday June 26^th, 2022

Summer Solstice 2022-

The Summer Solstice:

Here is wishing you a wonderful summer solstice!

This is a time of changing seasons.

On Tuesday, June 21, summer began in the Northern Hemisphere.

The summer solstice is the longest day and the shortest night in our year.

The sun sets farthest north on the horizon.

At this time of the year, the days are warm, all the plants are energized by the sun, and the land is filled with rich new growth.

Summer is truly a celebration of the primal creative force of nature, fertile, and blooming with abundance.

Humans for many millennia have marked this sacred time in the yearly cycle of life.

Celebrating the solstice can be a beautiful reminder that our lives are part of a larger order, always changing always renewing.

The beginning of summer represents a time for purification and renewed energy.

This is a time of cutting through resistance and obstacles, using the sun energy to illuminate and light your way upon your path.

Fire is especially important, symbolizing the light, heat and power of the sun.

Into a fire, you can throw a piece of paper with written goals to achieve, and anything to release.

Now is a good time to plant seeds for a more intuitive, simpler and natural lifestyle.

Stay in tune with your inner and outer nature!

Juneteenth 2022-

What is Juneteenth, and how is it celebrated?

Celebrated annually since 1865, Juneteenth is considered the longest-running African-American holiday. But as many as 60 per cent of Americans know “nothing at all” or only “a little bit” about the holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States. Here, we explore the history of Juneteenth and explain its significance

Juneteenth: Aims, Meaning, Beginnings, And Historians’ Views | HistoryExtra

In states where Juneteenth is still not a day off, activists see a missed opportunity
It has been one year since Juneteenth became a federal holiday, but in roughly half of the country it is still not an official day off.

In states where Juneteenth is still not a day off, activists see a missed opportunity : NPR

The Modern White Power Movement (2020)

The recent shooting in Buffalo, New York, which authorities are investigating as a hate crime, has yet again highlighted the threat posed by domestic terrorism in the U.S. At the center are violent extremists – the most lethal and persistent of whom are white supremacists and anti-government militias. They’re part of a deeply interconnected movement which, since the 1980s, has pursued a mission to topple the U.S government with guerrilla warfare. Today, this movement is made up of highly-organized groups with paramilitary capabilities, but it hasn’t always been this way. This week, we trace the rise of the modern white power movement.

The Modern White Power Movement (2020) : Throughline : NPR

A racist Juneteenth sign at a Maine insurance agency sparks backlash online
An image of the sign displayed on the front of the business was shared online Monday, gaining the attention of thousands across social media.

Racist Juneteenth sign at Maine insurance agency sparks backlash online : NPR

United Nations International Yoga Day 2022-

June 21^st is Also the UN International Yoga Day:

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented human tragedy. Beyond its immediate impact on physical health, the COVID-19 pandemic has also exacerbated psychological suffering and mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, as pandemic-related restrictions were introduced in various forms in many countries. This has highlighted the urgent need to address the mental health dimension of the pandemic, in addition to the physical health aspects. People around the world embraced yoga to stay healthy and rejuvenated and to fight social isolation and depression during the pandemic. Yoga is also playing a significant role in the psycho-social care and rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients in quarantine and isolation. It is particularly helpful in allaying their fears and anxiety.

International Day of Yoga | United Nations

Nurture Your Soul and Open Your Heart:

Free Online Live Meditation on Love

Sunday June 26^th, 2022

Nurture Your Soul and Open Your Heart

Join Us Online for a Live Meditation on Love with Sublime Live Music

Sunday June 26, 2022 4:00 – 5:00PM Central Time No Fee, No Registration, Join Online from Anywhere  Click Here to Join

Open your heart to all of humankind.   Our intention is to activate the power of love, kindness, and compassion to transform individuals, families, communities, states, nations, and the world to address the many areas that so desperately need love and healing.   Through our powerful group focus, wounds will be healed and new paths will be walked. As we join together, we will uplift humanity and strengthen our bonds to our interconnected planetary ecosystem: One world under Love

Featuring a Special Performance by Award-Winning Harpist Isabel Cardenes

Just last week harpist Isabel Cardenes played with the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. We are blessed to be joined by this gifted 18 year-old who is known for her sensitive musicianship and unique self-expression. Isabel is passionate about using music for healing and social change. She is the perfect artist to help us co-create a more loving future. Read More

Simply Click Here to Join Join us online this Sunday from 4:00 – 5:00PM Central Time (2PM Pacific/5PM Eastern)   When the Zoom meeting reaches the maximum number of attendees, you can watch our Livestream on the Love Hour YouTube channel

Welcome to the Love Hour

On A Lighter Note…

Tennis- You have to know when to take a break

This is super cute…

Goran Ivanisevic Gets Ball Girl to Play Tennis In Queen’s Final! 🤣 – YouTube

Thanks this week go to Billy S, Mehrad N, Chris B, and all you peaceful warriors out there!

Please pay it forward.

Love,

Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown,

 for going out,  I found, was really going in…

— John Muir

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Many of us have read the story about 3 people doing what looks like the same job, but when asked what they are doing:

• One says they are laying bricks
• The second says he is building a wall
• And the third says he is creating a masterpiece!

Same identical work, but experienced so differently.

How can this be?

This story was made popular in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The story is actually not by Stephen Covey, but because he sold over 15 million copies of the book it is often attributed to him.

Proper attribution notwithstanding, it does draw attention to our relationship to our world of work and invites us to explore if we experience what we do; simply as a job, part of a career, or a purposeful calling?

When we are able to find meaning and purpose in our work, the mundane can become profound and we can turn the usual into extraordinary, often leaving a legacy that lives on well past our lifetime.

Many today are revisiting their relationship to work.

Perhaps we can learn from history…

The Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, designed by the world famous architect Antoni Gaudi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and described as, “the most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages.”

Construction on the Basilica began on March 19, 1882 which is almost exactly 140 years ago.

Less than 25% of the Basilica was finished during Gaudi’s lifetime, and they are still working on it- though it was scheduled to be completed this year but was delayed due to the pandemic.

I am sure those working on it over the century, also viewed themselves as brick layers, wall builders and masterpiece producers- and they were all right.

It is after all all a matter of your frame of reference and your perspective.

What is often missing in the story, is that everyone focuses on the bricks, but people forget the mortar, and the mortar is just as important as the bricks!

The mortar is the social capital or glue that binds us together, when we know we are working together for a common purpose, when we know others have got our backs, when trust and transparency and even vulnerability become critical ingredients in the mix. As Peter Drucker famously reminds us, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”.

In a time when our relationship to our work is being seriously revisited, let’s take the time to both find meaning and purpose in our work, as well as, build our bench strength, grow our franchise value, and make sure we are playing together not playing each other by strengthening the glue that binds us.

Turns out the Great Resignation may be followed by the Great Regret as many employees that jumped ship, quickly realized that “the grass isn’t greener on the other side”, the grass is greener where you water it!

So today, let’s all attend to our purpose, invest in our social capital and let’s keep serving our stakeholders with care and consideration.

Here is to the Great Rejuvenation…

Live, Love, Learn, Laugh & Leave a Legacy!

Love All,

Neville

Enlightened Self Interest-

How to Handle Stress Situations Better Than Will Smith
Use the S.O.S. method when triggered for better outcomes.

How to Handle Stress Situations Better Than Will Smith | Inc.com

Etiquette expert says we’ve overlooked Lady Gaga’s great kindness toward Liza Minnelli
While Will Smith’s shocking slap of Chris Rock during the Oscars broadcast last Sunday has been big news, one etiquette expert says far too many people missed a beautiful gesture shown on stage that same night by Lady Gaga toward a visibly flustered Liza Minnelli.

Etiquette expert says we’ve overlooked Lady Gaga’s great kindness toward Liza Minnelli | Fox News

Try Something New for 30 Days: (3 minutes)

Is there something you’ve always meant to do, wanted to do, but just … haven’t?

Matt Cutts suggests: Try it for 30 days.

This short, lighthearted talk offers a neat way to think about setting and achieving goals.

Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days | TED Talk

How Gratitude Rewires the Brain: (10 minutes)

When a psychologist who studies well-being ends up with a brain tumor, what happens when she puts her own research into practice? Christina Costa goes beyond the “fight” narrative of cancer — or any formidable personal journey — to highlight the brain benefits of an empowering alternative to fostering resilience in the face of unexpected challenges: gratitude.

Christina Costa: How gratitude rewires your brain | TED Talk

Protect Our Planet-

The deceptively simple plan to replenish California’s groundwater
The state pumps too much groundwater, especially during droughts. Now, it’s learning to refill the overdrawn bucket. “It’s the simplest math in the world,” says one scientist.

The deceptively simple plan to replenish California’s groundwater (nationalgeographic.com)

1,000-year-old oaks used to create ‘super forest’
Could an experimental forest hold the answers to meeting the UK’s big tree planting ambitions?

1,000-year-old oaks used to create ‘super forest’ – BBC News

Eight Endangered Places We Can Still Save
Half a degree Celsius will make all the difference for these famous and far-flung destinations.

8 Endangered Places We Can Still Save From Climate Change | GQ

The Silver Years:

My doctor asked if anyone in my family suffered from mental illness and I said, “No, we all seem to enjoy it.”

Just once, I want a username and password prompt to say, “Close enough.”

Being an adult is the dumbest thing I have ever done.

I’m a multitasker. I can listen, ignore and forget all at the same time!

Retirement to do list: Wake up. -I Nailed it!

People who wonder if the glass is half empty or half full miss the point. The glass is refillable.

I don’t have grey hair. I have wisdom highlights.

Sometimes it takes me all day to get nothing done.

I don’t trip, I do random gravity checks.

One minute you’re young and fun. Next, you’re turning down the car stereo to see better.

I’d grow my own food if only I could find bacon seeds.

Some people are like clouds, once they disappear it’s a beautiful day.

Some people you’re glad to see coming; some people you’re glad to see going.

Common sense is not a gift. It’s a punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn’t have it.

I came. I saw. I forgot what I was doing. Retraced my steps. Got lost on the way back. Now I have no idea what’s going on.

If you can’t think of a word, say “I forgot the English word for it.” That way people will think you’re bilingual instead of an idiot.

I’m at a place in my life where errands are starting to count as going out.

I don’t always go the extra mile, but when I do it’s because I missed my exit.

I don’t mean to brag, but I finished my 14-day diet food supply in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

I may not be that funny or athletic or good looking or smart or talented. … I forgot where I was going with this.

Having plans sounds like a good idea until you have to put on clothes and leave the house.

It’s weird being the same age as old people.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be older… This is not what I expected.

Life is like a helicopter. I don’t know how to operate a helicopter either.

It’s probably my age that tricks people into thinking I’m an adult.

Never sing in the shower! Singing leads to dancing, dancing leads to slipping, and slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked.  So, remember… don’t sing!

I see people my age mountain climbing. I feel good just getting my leg through my underwear without losing my balance.

We all get heavier as we get older, because there’s a lot more information in our heads. That’s my story anyway.

Thanks this week go to Alan D, Jack A and TedX SD, Marlaine C and Parenting 2.0, Larry H,  and Rejuvenators Everywhere!

Please Pay it Forward

Love,

Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit.

Genius hits a target no one else can see.”

–Arthur Schopenhauer