Jul 082019
 

Jacob Faller

7/1/2019

My desire for life to flourish is the Quality of Life most evident in my Vision, which I have copied below to emphasize its importance. It is the future towards which I aim.

People treat each other as equals, and respect all life as having inherent value in its existence and sentience, beyond being just a resource. Because of this, all life is considered when making decisions that could help or harm. People are happy and help other life grow and to function better. People are free to be and express themselves. Life is visibly happy and robust, be it smiling, strong people, luscious Redwood forests, or 85 year old blue whales. All kinds of life have their needs met; food, water, shelter, clean air, and habitat; additionally for humans, education and interpersonal relationships. People are reconnected with themselves and others. Those who had seen themselves separate from nature have reconnected and realized their oneness. All of this brings nature together to work as a flourishing system; life is able to withstand, recover, and grow from disturbance or natural disaster.

Jul 082019
 

7/9/19

You can’t make meaningful decisions without having a goal to aim for first. And you can’t aim for a goal if you don’t know what resources you have (money, people, organizations, skillsets), or who has influence on whether you reach your goal. Most importantly, no person or group of people can create positive change without a plan, the tools and systems to monitor that plan, and a comprehensive understanding of systems thinking (how every action affects all things.) Holistic management is the framework that provides this understanding. It gives anyone the tools they need to set a goal and achieve it. Without the type of thinking, tools, and systems that holistic management provides, we will not accomplish any sustainable positive change in our country or on this planet.

The “Quality of Life” section of a holistic goal is fairly self-explanatory. “Behaviors and Systems” are what has to happen for the Qualities of Life to become real. “Vision” is a person’s vision of the future; the life their Qualities of Life will produce.

I’ll end with a quote from At Home with Holistic Management, originally found in a church in Essex, England:

“A vision without a task is but a dream. A task without a vision is drudgery. A vision and a task is the hope of the world.”