Do you function as if you are alone on this planet, or do you acknowledge that you are part of the ecosystem?
In this episode of Choice, Change and Action Simone Milasas talks with Rachael O’Brien about ecosystems and applying that to business.
An ecosystem is not just nature. We are a part of this planet. What are you choosing by being a part of this planet?
You have this ability to have this joy and appreciation and receiving that contributes to you and to others, no matter what. What if by being in question and being that joy and wonder and that curiosity you have in your world allows us to be that acoustical wavelength with nature, with the universe and be a part of the ecosystem?
What miracles can we have and be on the planet with and as our businesses?
Keys Takeaways
What Is An Ecosystem In Business?
A few years ago Simone was on a game drive in South Africa at Londolozi with a friend, and it was just their driver and the two of them out there driving for hours at a time. Different scenarios would show up to engage with the Earth and the animals there. The driver commented on their appreciation of it and not taking it for granted. He would tell them about different clients, and one thing he said was certain clients you could tell were just sitting on the truck, watching and observing like they weren't a part of it. And they started talking about being a part of the ecosystem. Just because they were on a truck, it doesn't mean they aren't a part of the ecosystem.
Simone started using that as an analogy in business. We may watch others in business and sit back and observe, but what if every choice you make you are a part of this ecosystem that contributes, or doesn't contribute? Your choice could contribute so much, and it could just be ease and joy, it could be money, it could be possibility, it could be anything. Or, your not choosing can also deflate the ecosystem.
An ecosystem is not just nature. It's not just the sound of bees around a flower or the waves lapping. It's everything. We are a part of this planet. What are you choosing by being a part of this planet? Are you choosing with it or are you choosing against it? Are you choosing superiority where perhaps you shouldn't? There's a difference between doing superiority and being superior in different areas. What miracles can we have and be on the planet with and as our businesses?
Rachael came from a very lack filled background. So, when Simone talks about the ecosystem and how everything contributes, and about the interaction between two people making something greater, she can see the true communion that Simone has with possibilities; the genuine question of improving someone's living through engagement. We all know this occurs for us. For example, Simone lives across the road from the beach. The minute she walks across the street and puts her feet into the sand, her body has a sense of peace and gratitude. When Rachael walks out of her house into the forest, instantly she has an improvement in energy in her body and the way she lives.
When Rachael mentioned the beach and the woods, did you tap into them, even though you may never have been there; whether it was the energy in your body or the energy you picked up on in either Rachael or Simone's bodies? You have the ability and the capacity to be that energy wherever you are. Simone gets to wear no shoes and walk across the road. The tarmac is sometimes a little hard on your feet, or in summer it's friggin hot. Then you get to the sand and the water. All of those energies and all of the different vibrations are such a contribution to Simone and her body, but she can access those just sitting in her office. You can access that no matter where you are. What if that is this magical acoustical wavelength across the entirety of the planet that you have access to no matter where you are. Practise that.
Right now, practise going, "What is Peregian Beach like? What are the woods in Germany like?" and go even further. "What is it like on Mt Everest? What is it like in Costa Rica?" Simone has this beautiful backyard at the moment where she's planted this food forest. What's that like? Simone is sitting in her office, but she can tap into the blueberries that were planted just yesterday. You have this ability to have this joy and appreciation and receiving that contributes to you no matter what.
Unfortunately, Rachael can’t see that living when people go to work. As a Joy of Business facilitator, it's one of the things she deals with. People come in and their bodies are tired and they are stressed out. Rachael says she used to have a lot of angst in regards to business and money, and through the awareness of the way the ecosystem works, for example, the trees don't get stressed to do their job; it sends out its roots for resources, and there is always a source of energy feeding it. This tiny seed becomes an apple tree that is abundant.
So, Rachael is applying this awareness to her business. She would sit down in her office and ask, "What energies do I require from my business right now? What's required to build it, to make it greater, to get the work that she is so committed to (because it's true for her and brings a different way of living for her) out into the world?" And, when she delivers these tools of relaxation with business, she can see that that is the future. it cannot be sustainable if you are feeding something that creates disease and angst and stress in the body. It's not a long term viable way of creating.
Choosing Something Different
Simone says her day has been interesting. She just finished Joy of Business Facilitator training, and she had Business Done Different before that. Both were awesome classes. Then she had a really awesome weekend with a friend of hers, just relaxing and doing whatever, finishing it off with a massage. And the massage therapist even commented on how relaxed Simone's body was. Then, today there were a few different things that showed up. She had an appointment in the afternoon with someone she's known for ages who asked her how she was doing, to which Simone responded that she wasn't sure. She had this energy in her world where she was almost waiting for the shoe to drop. She was on guard.
At the moment, Simone doesn't like people or this reality; they sort of suck with their points of view. And, she was laughing bout it. You are allowed to have that. But, she knew that the way she was looking at different things was creating a contraction in her body with different organs. The happiness and ease and relaxation was starting to seep out. And, she knew she was choosing it.
After her appointment, she asked questions about what she was choosing. She realised she was aware of how much is going on in the world. She is a believer in asking "What is the planet doing today? What is the solar system doing today?" because we ride those waves as well. But instead of making the angst hers, she asked, "What can I be with this? What acoustical wavelengths of possibilities can I ride today?" Then she went home and did some podcasts and met with different people and changed; flipping that moment when you are about to go down and dark hole to "No. That's not my reality. I'm going to choose something different." But, not judging it. Nature doesn't do judgment of anything. Nature says "That's a poisonous snake. It's going to bite me. Don't pick it up."
Simone thought it funny that Rachael mentioned snakes, as a friend of hers was just talking about a huge python they found next door yesterday, and they were talking about what they preferred to invite - a red bellied black snake, a king brown, a python, etc. A python is not really dangerous, but they are huge. whereas a red belly black is very dangerous; it can be fatal. And, they are both a part of the ecosystem. Neither person wanted to kill the snake. But they were like, "This is my home. You don't get to come into my home. You have your area. I have my area." - Simone continually has that conversation with animals. Her house is not always locked, but the screens are shut so critters can't come in. It’s about your awareness of the critters, your awareness of the snakes, etc., and how you be with it; not going against it.
We know the energy of everything. Simone knows the energy of shark, she knows the energy of snake, she knows when something is not correct. That's how nature functions. It's willing to follow that acoustical wave and know when to pivot and know when to change. What if we were doing that with our businesses as well?
One of the things Rachael avoided, which didn't work, was being willing to be aware of everything that was going on around her, particularly in her business, and in the world. The application of the ecosystem awareness to your business also includes being culturally aware; being aware of the different snakes when you are in Australia, being aware of deer and pigs when she goes into the woods at night, etc. The cultural awareness of your business is a massive contribution when you are willing to be aware of the people you are dealing with and their way of working in the world. When you honour people, however, it may not be returned in this lifetime, but you are fostering a future where you are honouring mankind, and that's what Rachael sees the ecosystem delivering all the time.
What Rachael adores about the ecosystem is that everything is extremely aware of what its job is and delivers that. That, for Rachael, is an exhibition of conscious leadership where she takes full authority of the impact of her words and the way she behaves in business. She is not always perfect. Too many times she has done something stupid. But she knows she can change it and choose something different. Simone agreed that she too is not perfect.
Nature includes destruction and everything and it doesn't judge it. Simone was talking to someone the other day about sharks, and she said to them, "If you want to know what this piece of paper feels like, what would you do?" and they reached over and touched it. “So,” she said, “What does the shark do? They use their teeth to feel. And we think we are being attacked.” Most people who get bitten by a shark literally get bitten by a shark. They don't get mauled. If you do get mauled, you are usually fighting what is going on and the shark won't let go.
If you look at that principle outside of sharks, we are trained to conclude and to judge what something is ("This is what this is. This will work and this won't" etc.), instead of just being present, with no point of view, and just seeing what it is and working with that; "What is this?" But, we are trained to go the opposite way. What if by being in question, eg "What is this? What can I do here? Can I change this?", and with that joy and wonder that you have in your world and that curiosity you have in your world in all its forms and shapes, allows us to be that acoustical wavelength with nature, with the universe and be a part of the ecosystem?
There’s No Such Thing As Failure
Rachael said that one of the things that Simone has always said since she met her is, "What would you choose if you knew you couldn't fail?" And, one of the things she sees in nature is this continuous movement. In nature, there is no stopping. There is this continuous movement of energy. People conclude they are going to fail, but you are already in failure if you don't even start. This doesn't even exist in the ecosystem. Where did we get the point of view that something is going to fail? Worst case scenario is, you learn something about the workings of what you created and you walk away knowing that you have more information now than you did before. This whole thing of failure is a very man-made concept, instead of being present and being spherically aware of the way everything works and getting present with what's required to change for it to work. It's so different from avoiding failure and avoiding something not working.
And Simone added giving up. Nature doesn't give up. Nature will ask for help, and it asks in the most random of ways. If you look at a forest, it's diverse. If you look at your business, is it diverse? In that diversity, who is assisting who and who is contributing to who, and are you actually asking for help? There are many different trees, for example, of many different sizes. A tall tree is going to receive the nutrients from more sun. A little shrub down the bottom is not, but it requires those nutrients. So, nature transports it through the underground root system. There's so much going on underneath our soil in the Earth that is a constant contribution and a constant movement that nature is being for each other. It's absolutely incredible.
One of the things planted in Simone's food forest was blueberries. There are 5 different varieties. Because they weren’t planted as seedlings, Simone's gardener said they required different energies and nutrients; because we put them there rather than them choosing to be planted there. So, he told her to keep the skins from her citruses and pineapples, and cut them up and put them under the mulch that they had laid down - In nature, you'll never see any soil that isn't covered. Nature protects itself - and this will contribute to the blueberries.
Simone also has 12 banana trees in her food forest. When you plant a banana tree, their leaves will droop because they are not used to their surroundings. Simone's banana trees’ leaves are all up. She has been walking around there everyday touching them and telling them how grateful she is for them. It works. She knows it works. She doesn't need anyone to tell her that. She just knows that the communion she can have with her food forest in her backyard is creating something greater for her. It literally nurtures her body.
If you look at your businesses like that, your projects and the people you work with, do you walk around and show gratitude to the people you work with? Do you thank them? Do you ask them for help? Do you ask them for contribution because your energy resources might require a top up and you might need some space? Rachael would sense that she didn't have enough energy to facilitate or be present with people and really had to look at what was required for her to have that high energy input. Sometimes she needs to go away and talk to the trees for a couple of days, and build her living energy up in her body again. Having someone to contribute to something when you are not capable of it, is gold.
Being The Energy And Space Of True Engagement
Simone just went to Australia Zoo with people who work with her, Liliana who is originally from Mexico and Wes who is originally from South Africa, and it was so awesome. They were feeding the kangaroos. There’s a huge area where you can pat them and feed them 'Roo food', and then they have these spaces that are fenced off with a sign "Please don't annoy us in here, we need our space." The majority of the kangaroos were in that space. And in the feeding area, it was very interesting to Simone watching how people were approaching the kangaroos. They were either doing it with the energy of 'something is about to happen', or they were walking up to the kangaroo as if it had no choice; "I'm about to get a photo with you" or "oh my god, the kangaroo is going to do something." Whereas, the kangaroos they went up to, they gave them space; "Hey, do you want to chat? Can I feed you something? Can I pat you?" and took a moment to approach them.
There was one male Red Kangaroo that they were going to feed, and you could see this other older kangaroo watching what they were going to do, that also came over. Simone commented that they better feed both kangaroos or else there would be a bit of a kangaroo fight, and Red Kangaroos are quite large. The first kangaroo stood up - and when a red kangaroo stands up in front of you, it's a pretty different energy; there's this power and potency - so Simone stood up too. She had this food in her hands, and he just put his paws on her and ate and looked around, and the other kangaroo did the same thing with Wes. They knew that the energy they were being with the kangaroos was a receiving of them; not assuming anything. And, the kangaroos were also receiving from them. You could tell that they were like, "These guys are okay. They are not trying to pat us and do all this stuff." And, it was so beautiful to have this energy, to the point where Wes almost burst out crying when the kangaroo put its paws on Wes' hand.
What if we could have that beautiful interaction and engagement with each other? You may already have it with animals and the Earth, and Simone is asking for you to have it with each other around the world. What would the world be like then?
Rachael has worked with many people and has become very familiar with the empowerment process by being around Simone; she now looks at what she is capable of. And, what she knows about people is, when you contribute to them and give them space to produce their fruits and come forward with their capacities by being that contribution, she has seen people step into roles that nobody knew they were capable of, and they became stronger and stronger. So, she would love it if we could really institute the incorporation of the ecosystem and the gifts we can receive from it. It's a very different way of leadership in the workplace.
Simone was talking to someone the other day about stepping into another role and they asked her if she actually thought they were capable of this. She said "Yes," and they took that; they heard it and got it. She also sees a lot of people around the world that aren't asking for it. Like the saying says, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. We would make ourselves crazy if we tried to make all the horses drink. But, for all those people who desire a drink, let's go! Now is the time to ride the wave of miracles that is available to us and choose the magic that is possible here on the planet, by being a huge part of it and playing in it and with it, with that joy and wonder and curiosity. Rachael looks forward to the application of the awareness of the ecosystem in business. Simone too.
If you look at this podcast as an example. Rachael and Simone are recording the podcast. And, there are a whole bunch of people behind the scenes that do something with the podcast to make sure it gets out there, from cutting it, getting show notes, translating it, graphics, people promoting it, etc. If Simone wasn't acknowledging that, she wouldn't be acknowledging the ecosystem that we are creating by having all of these beautiful amazing phenomenal people ride this acoustical wave of choice, change and action. And, who knows who it reaches out to. You don't have this end result of what this looks like. If you are being a part of the ecosystem, it's like a seed blowing in the wind; you have no idea where it's going to land. Keep going though. Keep going, don't give up and don't stop.
Every choice that you are making today creates a different future, and every action you take creates a different future. And, you have no idea how it will show up, or even if you get acknowledged for it. Who cares? Just let's go. Let's be that magic!
Don't let your business ideas fade away. Let's blow on them and see where they can go from here.
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