“Let us enter the New Year cheerfully. Let us resolve to look on the bright side, to make the best of whatever may befall, to maintain faith that doing the right thing will ultimately bring victory. Let us cultivate sunniness, resist sourness. We can better wrestle with difficulties, obstacles, problems, in a spirit of buoyancy than in an abject, morose mood.  How much more the radiant mortal gets out of life and puts into life than the downcast, long-faced, self-pitying being.”

 B.C. Forbes, founder of Forbes magazine, 1937.

A couple of years ago, my organization led a series of retreats, attended by community leaders from business, government, academia, healthcare, non-profits, the arts, religions as well as student leaders and others from every sector, designed to uncover the possibilities for the region (which we call “Permission Space”) in order to create ONE Dream(R) for the entire community. (See the short video here).

As part of this project, we invited all of these leaders to go through a personal process of identifying their Destiny (WHY they are here on earth), their Character (how they wish to BE while they are here) and their Calling (what they wish to DO while they are here).   This helped to align their personal lives with the larger purpose of the community in which they live. Since that time, the power of the region’s ONE Dream(R) has helped to attract 250 new businesses and create 175,000 new jobs.

Joe Reagan is one of many who cherish their Destiny, Character and Calling Statements, using them to guide their lives.  I asked Joe if he would permit me to share his in this blog, and he generously agreed.

He sees the main challenges facing the world to be “self-centered fear” and “poverty/despair”.  The conditions that would prevail if these were reversed, in his view, would be “other-centered love” and “abundance/hope”

So he has chosen to live his life in service of bringing about those conditions.  His Destiny Statement is:

“Helping to bring greater love, abundance and hope to the world.”

His Character Statement, which describes the way in which he lives his life, the kind of person he wants to be in relation with others and the world, is:

“To be a grateful, loving, contemplative witness.”

…and his Calling – how he will use his gifts and talents to serve the world – is:

“To serve through gifts of leadership, creativity and fortitude.”

Each morning, as Joe is commuting to meetings or to his office, he reflects on these three statements of his Destiny, Character and Calling, and commits in those quiet moments to enter his day with those intentions.

As I have written in The Spark, the Flame and the Torch, “When one stands in the presence of a person who has a deep inner awareness of why they are here (Destiny) how they will be (Character) and what they will do (Calling), you are standing in the presence of an inspiring person – inspiration radiates from within them.”

This is how Louisville created a dream powered by people who became inspired and who have created thousands of new jobs.  This is how we can get our economies, cities and states and provinces back on their feet again.

Says Joe Reagan: “My Destiny, Character and Calling becomes a unifying force when it’s on the back of my business card and on my lips to God’s ears.”

Seldom is one so privileged to peek through this most intimate and private window into a legend’s life.

There is so much to ponder here, so much to be grateful for, and so much to learn.

My favorite quote comes from Robert Greenleaf who said, “In saying what I have in mind will I really improve on the silence”.

In this case it will not.

Growth and Employment Models

The policy prescriptions, industry models and performance incentives that emerged from an era of consumption and debt-driven growth must be transformed to deliver quality growth. Growth that is sustainable, entrepreneur-driven and employment-creating should be the outcome of the rebalancing and deleveraging of the global economy.

Leadership and Innovation Models

The leading countries and global governance institutions of the Cold War era must create space for major emerging economies, private sector institutions and multi-stakeholder partnerships. These new actors should have the responsibility not only to address important global and regional challenges but also to introduce innovative solutions.

Sustainability and Resource Models

The realization that human activities have a major impact on Earth’s ecosystem must drive future changes in behaviour and policies. Our ecological footprint will have to be fully internalized in business models.

Social and Technological Models

The next wave of technological innovation, particularly in life sciences, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, will not just deliver productivity gains but will also transform us by adding new dimensions to our lives. As the “Internet of things” that connects billions of sensors and devices becomes a reality, stakeholders should work together to safeguard the knowledge, data and networks that are critical resources for our future development.

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…and I say all of these are laudable.

AND, let’s add one more – one that perhaps could become an umbrella “model” for all the others because it is a condition for the success of them all:

A Spiritual Model

The world needs a reinvention of current thinking in order to move us away from a competitive model based on separateness, to a new one based on collaboration and the recognition of oneness. Economic, climate, religious, technological and intellectual events are no longer local – everything is global. We are our brother’s keepers. This new model can simply be described as one where we first consider the impact our decisions, conversations, laws and actions before we introduce or implement them.  “Will this inspire others?” is a prerequisite condition that, if asked, can help us to build the world we are all seeking. We can begin here.

World leaders have a responsibility, along with all of the rest of us, to assume responsibility for setting the tone and the pace of this change of thinking.  We need it today more than ever.

How often can you say you are so engaged in activities that inspire you, that you are “flying without a license”?  And if the answer is seldom, what is holding you back?  How do you ensure that you do not die with your music still inside you?  Here is a way to help you find your Calling.

The New York Times review of this book can be found here.