As leaders, as people, the most important thing is to understand and support each other. The paradise of our lives truly begins here on Earth, and I believe we can create it.

Heaven begins on Earth
Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth?
Belinda Carlisle – Heaven Is a Place on Earth (excerpt)
Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth
They say in Heaven, love comes first
We’ll make Heaven a place on Earth
Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth
Yesterday I was at a business club (the club) where the main topic was coaching and its importance in business. We discussed how as leaders we can also be coaches and why this is a key role. We also talked about the importance of sharing the same values, setting common goals and the role of empathy. After all, we are human beings, not machines – although we should do this according to consistent rules.
This event and meeting made it even more clear that the problems, dilemmas, doubts and challenges of running a business remain essentially the same, whether we are ten or a hundred people working together. The key is to treat each other as human beings, with understanding, patience but consistency.
After that, on my way home, I listened to Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” , a song that has been haunting me since childhood (it’s not a big deal that I found it on YouTube, since I listen to it 3x a day, but it was more powerful this time).
This song has taken on a deeper, personal meaning as an adult. It’s not the childhood religion lessons and the contradictions they contain that come to mind (I was practically in religion class for debating and when I could no longer handle 10 year old intellectual level tense statements of fact, I pulled out good old Darwin, which always closed the debate) – I’m not proud of it, but as a little girl I felt the teachings were a statement of fact and I couldn’t see behind it. But what I had already realised at the age of 10 was that:
…heaven is something we can create ourselves, here on Earth, in the “here and now”. Because who would want to wait 70-80 years, in a good case, to rise?
And it’s true… For my childhood self, going to church and doing church was not a favourite pastime. I have often felt like I had to give in when I heard that salvation awaits us in heaven, and we should (?) feel guilty until then. At that time I could not make sense of the information and feelings I was receiving. Rebellion was more important than understanding the spirit of the teachings.
But as I grew up, gained experience and made valuable human connections, I began to see the world differently.
I was able to interpret religions holistically, I read about Jesus, I read about Buddha… I saw that everything happens naturally, whether you believe in it or not.
Did you know, for example, that Voltaire first suggested that the universe was created by a huge explosion? And Goethe was the first to suggest that spiral nebulae contain large numbers of stars. We now call these galaxies. It’s funny how often new scientific ideas come from experimental artistic ideas.
But back to what got me on the plane today – before we get back in the DeLorean and fly back and forth again for 25 years. 😊
I take the message of the song “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” to mean that we can create heaven here on Earth.
We don’t have to be subordinate, we don’t have to play roles.
Instead, we should be nice, accept that others will always be different, and that’s okay. After all, there is only one of each. Through the philosophy of living life and respecting the lives of others, perhaps we can experience heaven here on Earth before we leave this world.
Man is by nature a rational being.
We want to know what came before us, what will come after us, what will happen to us. How we relate to each other in the here and now, how we pay attention to the world around us and our micro-environment, whether we care about each other’s joy or sorrow, is entirely up to us.
Creation is something we do ourselves.
Real values and openness to others can transform our daily lives in a very significant way.
And of course! The human factor, the human relationships, have a big impact on the success of our business, but also on the success of our lives.
We can create heaven here on Earth – it has long been a compass for me, both personally and in business.
This realisation guides me when I think about the values I stand for and how I influence the world around me.
Finding meaning in life, connecting empathetically with others, setting common and personal goals – all of these fundamentally influence how we live our present and shape our future.
That’s why I am proclaiming the message that we can bring the kingdom of heaven here on Earth, in our daily lives. By being kind, embracing differences and valuing every moment of life, we can truly create our own paradise here and now. This outlook on life can not only bring personal happiness, but can also promote business success, because we are building a community where everyone is valued.
Because we are all valuable, and we are not here (at least I believe that) to suffer, to give up, to give in, but yes… to live.
As happily as possible.
And when I talk about happiness, I never think about money. It is that:
You are free to choose who you spend time with, when, where, how you spend time, where you work, what you do, what you wear, how you talk, how you feel…
You have a choice!
And you don’t need a greater treasure than that. If they all love you on top of that and you can love them back, well, that’s the cherry on top of the cake. Then you’ve arrived. 😊
Thank you for your attention Aletta Nagy-Kozma
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