Deborah Hill Cone: Let's chart our own course

As a nation, the idea of success terrifies us. The other day I thought I would save time by listening to my self-hypnotism CD in the car while I was driving to pick up my daughter from Snowplanet. I've been moving from the marital home with two children and a fat delinquent Dalmatian - trust me, you need to savour moments of serenity wherever you can find them.

The tape started with some spa-type music and then the soothing voice said, "Welcome to this mind programming CD to help you eliminate stress. Do not listen to this while driving or operating heavy machinery."

I thought I had better be responsible so I switched it off and put on Metallica instead. But I sometimes wonder whether we're not all driving this country while in a bit of a trance. Instead of being told by Paul McKenna we can do anything we want, we seem to just be half asleep.

Take John Key's hairy idea of turning the country into a financial hub. Having travelled to Switzerland quite a bit, I think this sounds grand. Maybe soon you will be able to walk along the street and go "chocolate shop, bank, watch shop, chocolate shop, bank" rather than "$2 shop, real estate agent, dodgy finance company ..."

But it is amazing how negative most people, even in the business community, are about the idea. Jane Diplock, the head of the Securities Commission, sounded dozy at the prospect of more work when she said our regulations are not good enough.

And I think there is a deeper reluctance to the build-it-and-they-will-come concept than simply changing our laws. Remember that famous quote usually attributed to Nelson Mandela, but actually written by new-agey author Marianne Williamson.

"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"

As a nation, the idea of success terrifies us. Who are we to think we could really be centre stage in the world? I hate writing things about us "as a society" - it's such a flaccid generalisation.

But sometimes in our smallness New Zealand seems like a cult. Ideas can take hold very quickly and powerfully here: good and bad. As we found during our brief flirtation with economic reforms in the 1990s, we can make changes more easily than bigger economies. But we are surprisingly scared of taking the leap and capitalising on the competitive advantage of being dinky.

We are a country quivering with fear. And this will be a problem if we're going to try and be even a "little swinging dick" in the financial world. New Zealanders are chippy - as in having a chip on their shoulder - which manifests itself as not being frightfully good at servicing clients.

The kind of big fish John Key wants to attract down here expect to be serviced and to have us understand their culture.

It also seems we overprice and overvalue our services, an over-reaction to our insecurity. The idea that we could be good enough to foot it in the international world of commerce is not about being grabby and greedy. As Marianne Williamson said, the power is not just in some. It is in everyone.

"As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others." I might have been daydreaming about this a couple of days later when I was driving down Stanley St and smashed into the back of the car in front of me.

Maybe I should have tried the hypnotism tape after all.

dhc@deborahhillcone.com