The anticipation of talking to Toni paled in comparison to the thrill of speaking with her in person. As Toni told me about her vision for her ‘Cause: You're Beautiful' project, I soon found out that Swaziland was not the only thing we had in common. As she told me about her ambitious plan to empower women the world over, she also enunciated her belief in how every person on earth has the capacity to create their destiny, and thereby be powerfully engaged in the change they want to see in the world. In one sense, Toni told me, ‘Cause: You're Beautiful' is about uniting people around the world in the idea that the power lies within themselves to meet every life challenge and desire.

When Toni asked me if I would think about contributing to the project by writing a monthly blog, I immediately knew that I wanted to. I also instantly knew that the theme I wanted to cover was ‘Living The End Result'.  After all, what Toni is talking about is nothing short of a revolution – over turning the tables – taking humanity to a whole new level of self-worth and self-responsibility. And my life long study of shamanism, alchemy and magic has taught me that when it comes to change, the most important ingredient – and usually the most overlooked – is the end result. I would like my column to be the anchor for this value.

To give you an idea of the power of the end result, consider Flight 232. In 1989 a DC10 was flying from Denver to Chicago when all three hydraulic systems on the plane (the main system and the 2 backup systems) were rendered inactive by an explosion in the tail engine. The only other time in history that a plane lost all hydraulic power resulted in the biggest aviation disaster ever. Because the pilots lost all ability to control the plane, Flight 123 out of Osaka drifted into a mountain, killing over five hundred people.

When the captain of Flight 232 called the engineering experts at the United Airlines emergency management centre, they told him that with one main system and two backups on board it was impossible that he had lost all hydraulic power. Their only advice was to engage hydraulic power – without it three hundred people were going to die. No one had ever flown a jet airliner without hydraulic power before and no one had ever thought of a way, even theoretically, to fly one in such a circumstance. Conventional aviation wisdom was that you either had hydraulic power or you crashed.

As he considered the reality of his dilemma, and focused on his responsibility to save the lives of his passengers, an inspiration occurred to Captain Al Haynes. What if he varied the thrust of his wing engines as a steering mechanism, and reduced or increased thrust to vary his altitude? It had never been thought of before, let alone tried. But on that fateful day, Al Haynes managed to bring his DC10 down from thirty eight thousand feet and crash land on a runway at Sioux City airport. One hundred and twelve people died in that crash landing, but the pilot had saved his own life and the lives of one hundred and eighty four of his passengers and crew. The technique of flying a plane using thrust alone is now taught as a standard emergency procedure to all airline pilots.

Neuroscientists use the story of Flight 232 to illustrate the extraordinary creative power the mind brings to bear when we focus on end results. These same scientists report something shamans and alchemists worked out long ago: that our emotions are only good at recognizing and conveying past patterns to us. They are like the engineers in the emergency management centre who can vividly see the problem at hand but offer no solution beyond current understanding. Captain Haynes' inspiration occurred to him specifically when he stopped going over the problem of no hydraulics and his apparent lack of options, and focused instead on the ultimate end result – saving the lives of his passengers.

Today we live in a chaotic world with many emotionally charged issues confronting us. And our emotions play an important part in focusing us on these issues and calling us to action, but if we rely on them for solutions, we will inevitably end up repeating old patterns. To overturn our societal tables and take humanity to a whole new level of power and expression, we will really have to examine deeply what we want for ourselves and our planet, and hold the answers above what we think and feel about the possibility and means of achieving these sacred aspirations.

I'm truly honoured to be part of such an inspired project. I hope my contribution will make a difference to ‘Cause: You're Beautiful', because looked at in the right way life can be truly magical. For every woman, man and child.