There is much to say about sustainability on the physical level. For starters, there is our planet earth. Currently, we pollute our rivers, our land, and ourselves, even putting generations to come at risk. For what do we do this? Greed? Laziness? Lack of caring? Survival? We all have our reasons and in some cases, we have good ones. Perhaps until now it has been easy to blame big corporations. As an individual, my contribution to pollution is minimal, because I don't run a power plant, dump toxic waste into the river, don't spray crops with pesticides.

Sustainability is not only about going "green" and saving the planet. For many businesses, sustainability is all about cash flow projections and disaster recovery plans (DRP). As an individual, this may not interest you. But really, look again. Most people make exactly that mistake in dealing with their cash flow. Most families operate without a budget. They don't have a plan when they make large purchases, like buying new furniture or taking a vacation. Most people charge expensive purchases and hope to pay it off in the near future. Often, this future never comes. It sounds very depressing, but if we take the emotionality out of it we can look at its workability. For many people, overspending does not work. Instead of getting out of the hole, the hole gets deeper and deeper, with higher interest rates and larger penalties.

In Germany, we believe that being ready for a crisis protects us from it actually occurring. Why not have a DRP? This is not just about the planet or physical sustainability, this is also about you. What are you doing to pollute yourself? What are you eating? What kind of products do you use and what are you drinking? Are you ready for a snowstorm? Are the personal photos on your computer backed up??? Do you know where your most important papers are and can you grab them in less than 2 minutes should you need to leave your house in a hurry? Have you arranged what will become of your children if something happens to you? What about a will, last testament, trust for the kids?

Consider that the real issue with sustainability lies in the area of our emotions. Why? Because most of us are critical with ourselves. We think we aren't good enough and are forever working on making us "better." To top if off, we have some hidden part that is completely unlovable and renders us unable to take care of ourselves, and stuck in bad relationships and/or jobs we don't like. IBM did a study about 10 years ago indicating that 90% of people with a life threatening illness which requires them to make major life changes are more comfortable with the idea of living their lives as they always have, even if it means dying sooner. What does that say about us as human beings? Are we unable to change and sustain ourselves?

What about your mind? How do you use your brain, and how do you fail to sustain yourself in this area? What do you watch on TV and what are you reading? Sustaining our minds seems to suggest that we are engaged in activities that keep us sharp, such as learning a new skill, reviving or practicing an old skill, or simply using our mind in new ways. For most people, serious learning stops when they leave college or have been in a job for more than 5 years. CMU professor Robert Kelly suggests that employees' contribution to a company seriously declines after 5-7 years. He suggests either promoting or rotating employees who have been performing well at average or above average levels.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to design two courses for an international training company. One was entitled "Global Thinking" and the other "Learning Agility". While very different in nature, the research for both courses indicated that employees who were able to learn new skills and/or reinvent themselves performed best.

Finally, we have this vast area called spirituality. For the sake of this newsletter, let's define spirituality as the study of the connection one has with a force either higher than or outside one's self. How do you sustain yourself in this area? Is it even a priority? For some of you, this may mean going to church, synagogue or mosque. For others, spirituality could mean spending time in nature or volunteering in the community. Spirituality can also be found in the simply matter of identifying and living one's purpose. What is your purpose? Are you on course with your purpose?

Sustainability is a complicated topic. Initially, it stirs up a lot of unanswered questions and discomfort. It is like looking at New Orleans and Katrina and asking why the levies were not in better shape, why PHEMA took so long to respond, etc. It is uncomfortable to have no answers for these questions. But this is the part of the process you must embrace if you are to move yourself, your family and/or your business to a place of sustainability. Don't be afraid to have no answers; there is nothing wrong with not knowing (not looking is an entirely different story).

How does one create sustainability? For starters, you will need to decide what part of your life you would like to work on first, personal or professional. Once you have decided, you can ask yourself a few questions that will get you started:
1. Where am I unclear, ineffective or wasteful?
2. Where am I headed in 2009, 2010 and 2011?
3. What do I need to do to guard against an unforeseen crisis?

As a child, I heard many stories about my mother hiding out in the bomb shelter of the apartment building she grew up in. I don't advocate war or the notion that we should prepare for war, but perhaps a little preparedness for any kind of sustainability would not be so bad. I also don't believe in doom or gloom, but life has shown us that it is a ride, sometimes it is up and sometimes it goes down. Let's enjoy the up times and be ready for the down times.

Make this year your best year ever by planning for the future, both personally and professionally.

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.

--Rachel Carson (1907 - 1964)

Take a moment to evaluate your personal and or professional sustainability. How is the current situation supporting or threatening your sustainability. Based on your evaluation, select at least one thing that you will implement in 2009 to increase sustainability either for you personally, for your community or your company. For example: Use less paper towels, aluminum foil or stop using plastic containers all together. Request that your place of work start using non toxic cleaning supplies. Turn the lights off and the heat down to save on your bills. My personal favorite: shut your car off when you are not driving it.

Try out a little "green", here are some things you can do:

1. Buy and eat organic.
2. Avoid plastic products such as PVC or vinyl, styrene (found in Styrofoam) and polycarbonate.
3. Avoid heating food in plastic containers or plastic wraps.
4. Choose plastics labeled #1 PETE, #2 HDPE, #4LDPE, #5PP.
5. Check out www.ewg.org. You can view the level of toxicity of 50,000 beauty products.
6. Keep your tires properly inflated. It saves your tires and increases your gas mileage.

The ideals which have lighted my way and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, and luxury have always seemed to me contemptible.

Albert Einstein