July 5th is National Hawaii Day, an important date both for US history and the philosophy behind Living Pono. National Hawaii Day commemorates Hawaiian statehood, and specifically the moment that Hawaii became the 50th state to join the Union, contributing even more to the cultural melting pot that is the United States.
The Hawaiian people were practicing their philosophy and teachings from nearly thousands of years ago, long before the United States even existed. Now, we find ourselves often looking to this wisdom and practice for better insights into our lives, culture, and experiences. Especially within the Living Pono perspective, many of the Hawaiian principles serve as solid foundations and guides for the infrastructure of our day-to-day.
Aloha in Your Life
To many, Aloha might only mean “hello” and “goodbye.” Truthfully, however, the meaning of Aloha is so much more. It can mean love, affection, compassion, or grace. It’s about relationships, and about loving and trusting regardless of the situation. Aloha leads us to better and healthier relationships, allowing us to grow not only as individuals, but also as a community.
These might be simple enough principles to understand, but Aloha pushes us to understand them always. In our bad moments and in tough situations, people are still deserving of compassion, love, and respect. Making the effort to understand this, even when we really don’t want to, can help us build a stronger sense of Ohana, and become better as a people.
Aloha in Business
As a fundamental tenant of Living Pono, this Aloha mentality is not exclusive to personal life. In fact, great leaders can reflect and teach the principles of Aloha and Living Pono in business contexts and relationships as well. After all, Aloha teaches us about all of our relationships, not just the private ones.
Bringing Aloha into your business philosophy isn’t just about being well-principled, either. The compassion and respect of Aloha can help us build warmer and more trusting relationships in business as well, which is a better situation for everybody involved. Building great relationships is how we thrive as human beings and, really, it’s how we thrive in business as well.
This National Hawai’i day, take a minute to read and appreciate some Hawaiian history and culture. Also, take a minute to look over some important Hawaiian principles and ask yourself: Am I living with enough Haahaa? Is there anything I can learn from these fundamental principles? Chances are that, no matter what, you’ll always be able to look into the wealth of wisdom in the Hawaiian tradition and be able to learn even more. Find a way to add some more pono in your life and business today. Aloha!
Living Pono is dedicated to communicating business management concepts with Hawaiian values. Founded by Kevin May, an established and successful leader and mentor, Living Pono is your destination to learn about how to live your life righteously and how that can have positive effects in your career. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or contact us here. Also, join our mailing list below, so you can be alerted when a new article is released.
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