My lightbulb moment
They say all good things start with a clarifying conversation. A few years ago, the news about climate on TV and my basic understanding of the perils of climate change alarmed me in two ways:
- That we were really facing an extraordinary challenge threatening the well-being if not the survival of our human species.
- That the people with the power to effect corrective actions were not doing anything sufficiently proactive to make a dent in the problem.
I went into a state of resignation and was not aware of my resignation until I had a sequence of conversations with my friend (and founder of the Healthy Climate Alliance), Peter Fiekowsky.
In one of these conversations, I found myself complaining bitterly about the ineptitude and immoral behavior of our politicians who were doing nothing about climate change. This was not my normal mode of conversation and my complaint took even me by surprise. Peter looked at me quizzically and said “But aren’t we all on the same side?”
His statement stung me. I knew what he meant. I was part of the problem – specifically my resignation around the issue was the problem. Resignation in the present means a resignation about the future. If you start there, you end up with a future that was predictable (and not desirable.) If I wanted to change the future, I would have to give up my resignation and operate with the faith that hard work and the willingness to stay proactive and rational would create a new future.
As Peter and I continued our conversations, a new future emerged – a future that had nothing to do with correcting politicians. The new future was one that could not be argued with by reasonably compassionate people. The new future was to “Have a Healthy Climate for Our Grandchildren by 2050.”
I learned a valuable lesson in this insight. If you want to lead people to a different world, you have to create a new game – a new game that makes the old one seem obsolete. My new game is to “Have a Healthy Climate for Our Grandchildren by 2050”. I invite you to join me in this game.
Organizations, projects, and companies I work with & support
Healthy Climate Alliance and Center for Climate Restoration
About me
Find me at LinkedIn. I am a strategic advisor for the Healthy Climate Alliance.
In my past and current life, I have been an engineer, project manager, business owner, marketing expert and now an expert in how to enable visionaries to build large and engaged audiences for their organizations or their business.
I contribute my time and energy towards ensuring that our climate restoration organization stays on track strategically and philosophically towards achieving the vision rather than getting stuck in the weeds of details that tend to paralyze many well-meaning and good hearted organizations.
