Stories allow us to identify with each other. They tell us we are not alone.

It makes sense that the craft of storytelling is at the heart of enduring brands. The story you tell about your brand can be extraordinary, if it's drawn from what really matters to you.

Your story comes from the moments when your business drew a line in the sand and stood its ground. The moments when you've had a chest

full of pride to be associated with your brand. The times you couldn't wait to tell your loved ones about what was happening at work. This is the stuff that taps into your humanity. You can be sure, if it moves you, it will resonate with others.

Need some help telling your brand story? Contact our best yarn spinner Kath

Sometimes our values coexist uneasily and we have to make hard choices. Different parts of us embody different values and have different intentions. Do I tell a lie for a loved one? Do I take the high paying job with the ethically spurious client, or the big-hearted, small budget job to help save the planet?

Our capacity to wholeheartedly pursue a goal depends on our ability to reconcile and manage these parts of ourselves so that we can move forward with congruence. When we are congruent, our different parts are in harmony. This gives us access to our personal power and all our inner resources are at the ready. When we're congruent, our beliefs, interests and values are working together to help us achieve our goals.

Remember a time when you really wanted something. Think back and

allow yourself to experience what it was like to want that. Note your sensory experience. What happens in your body? This is your congruence signal.

When you make a decision and you experience this congruence signal, you'll know you're on the right path.

Conversely, your incongruence signal is that icky feeling you remember from a situation where you experienced mixed messages. You might have gone ahead and done something anyway, but a small voice of doubt was niggling at you. Identify that feeling and remember it. That's your incongruence signal.

In business and in your dealings with people in general, the ability to pick up on your own and other people's level of congruence is a wonderful way to build relationships. Why not give it a go?

If you're feeling stuck in a rut, bored, stale or like you've just run out of ideas, try doing just one little thing differently. A complete about face is rarely necessary to get a new take on something. A tiny shift can have a ripple effect and transform your perspective in a flash.

If it's your thinking that's got you in a rut, try doing something different. You may have heard the expression "Act 'as if'…". This is a technique for tackling unhelpful thinking or beliefs about ourselves. If your head tells you you're not creative for example, imagine what things would be like if you were creative? What would you be doing? What evidence would you have that you were indeed creative?

The invitation is to act 'as if' you were creative; that is, to step into this picture of yourself as creative, be it and do it, and see what flows. Taking the action first can actually change the way you think, feel and experience ideas about creativity.

You can apply this to anything. Your only limitation is your imagination

FYI we are all creative. We're born that way.

Last issue we put out the call for contributions to our 'Balance' exhibition. We weren't exactly inundated with responses and we figure it's partly been a timing problem. So we've decided to hold off until next issue.

You know what made this decision easy? Knowing our values. Providing incredible service and producing exceptionally high quality material is really important to us at Active Voice. We would rather not have an exhibition at all than put our name to a token effort.

So…please send your artwork for the Balance theme to Angela by 14 July. Here's the blurb.

We're all trying to balance something - work-life-self-health-family. There's a busker in Haymarket who balances one guitar on his head while he plays another.

Commercial news networks are always telling us that someone's life "hangs in the balance". (it's usually a "little Aussie battler"…but that's another story).

All kinds of systems depend on the delicate balance of elements within that system, in order to function; ecology, orchestras, families, relationships, circus acts, organisations, nations…the list goes on. When all the parts are working together, you get harmony. What happens when one part is removed or out of sync, disabled or undermined…or pumped up, favoured or prioritised?

What does being in or out of balance mean to you? We'd love to see your take on it.

If you have an idea for an exhibition theme, we'd love to hear it.

Do you have an old computer taking up valuable real estate under your desk? Perhaps in a storage cupboard? Maybe you just updated all the PCs in your office and you're not sure what to do with the old ones. How do we dispose of these things responsibly?

Here's an idea that can help you dispose of old computers and help someone else at the same time. Green PC is a social enterprise in Victoria which refurbishes used computers received from government and business organisations and makes them available at low prices to those who might not usually be able to afford a new computer system. Check them out.

Sometimes having fun can be as simple as choosing to enjoy yourself. Other times the funniest, silliest, whackiest, most joyful moments pass us by barely observed or pushed away.

Here's the Active Voice challenge.

Life is too precious to miss the little stuff that makes us happy. Notice the moments that give you joy and appreciate them. Count your blessings. Write a gratitude list. Allow your mind to linger on the details of a happy exchange with someone. Do the things that make your heart sing. Seek out the humour hidden in the corners and bring it out into the light. Have a good laugh at yourself when you catch yourself losing perspective.

No-one's perfect at this stuff. We're not saying become Pollyanna. Just make a decision to have a bit of fun every day.

Choose it. It's transforming and it's contagious.