My G.R.E.A.T. Vision is:

I came across a web site yesterday that has inspired me.  The site is www.OUTstandinglives.org and it tells the story of Sharon Love’s success in 2010 in getting over 2 million people to sign up to her campaign to get a million people to support equal marriage.  I have been vaguely aware of this campaign and the many lookalike campaigns since but hadn’t appreciated that the original campaign was actively encouraging other people to start their own synergistic campaigns. 

The web pages on OUTstanding lives are a bit confusing, but I got the main message quickly and it helped me to see my own G.R.E.A.T. vision very quickly despite the slightly chaotic mix of web pages,  Survey’s and Facebook pages and groups. 

I have been inspired to set myself a HUGE goal that will probably change my life forever.

I am now going to be very rash.  Usually when I get an Idea I keep it to myself for a while so avoiding public failure. It also is a good way to avoid commitment and I think that right now what I need is to make a HUGE commitment to a BIG goal and make my GREAT vision public.

My G.R.E.A.T. Vision is:

To Inspire 1,000,000 People to speakOUT for Gender Equality and Gender Diversity.

Now to be honest I am not sure yet how I am going to do this, I just know that I am going to do it and having made that decision, ideas are coming thick and fast and I am going to publish them here – and other sites - and trust that the people I need to help me make this vision a reality will come.

What OUTstanding lives is doing as well as inspiring people like me to create G.R.E.A.T. visions,  is to promote the idea that we can all “make a living making a difference” and this is really important. 

The past two years have been two of the worst years of my life.  I set up a Social Enterprise, GenderShift, with government funding and set out to make it a profitable business delivering training and consultancy services to the Public Sector. Then there was a change of government and the public sector across the UK stopped spending money on training, the Community and Voluntary sector collapsed and the Private Sector carried on ignoring equality and diversity or whinging about the cost.

So I have spent a few months

1. Questioning my life purpose and rethinking my goals
2. Rebranding and updating my web and social media presence.
3. Reconnecting with my network connections

There is still a way to go – but my encounter with OUTstanding Lives has meant that I now feel really connected with a new life purpose that harmonizes my passions and skills.  That’s the great thing about action – all we have to do is start moving in the right direction and the universe starts throwing opportunities our way.

I was inspired to write this blog when listening to some music from a 70’s band called Osibisa. They were a fabulous Africa Rock band but what struck me was that this was not music to listen to, it is music to engage with.  It felt as if I should grab my guitar or bongos or harmonica or even a cow bell and join in.

A group of musicians all doing their own thing would just create noise.  But as soon as those musicians start to listen to each other and work in harmony, they create something magical that has a life of its own and empowers the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts.

1,000,000 people all speaking their own messages compete with each other’s messages and create noise.  But a community of people, passionate about Gender Equality and Gender Diversity speaking in harmony can create a movement that will change the world and make if a fairer and safer place for us all.  

Have I piqued your interest; aroused your curiosity?  I hope so – enough for you to visit www.OUTstandinglives.org?  Great - but before you go:

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Tomorrow I will address the question – “What is Equality and why is it so important to us all?