In this episode, I share my vision for a better world—a vision that is focused on each of us as individuals and how we show up. I believe the way we can create a thriving future begins with us as individuals, and the way we think, what we believe, how we see the world, what we value and how we interact with ourselves, others and nature. Working on ourselves is, not only, the only thing we are really in control of, it’s also the deepest leverage point for change and create a ripple effect to move us into a new paradigm and way of being as humanity where we live in a way that serves all life. This episode comes in three parts:
The first looks at how what we believe, value and how we view the world creates the outcomes we see and why the deepest leverage point for transforming the world is in how we think.
The challenges we face globally—climate change, inequality, war, mental health crisis, biodiversity loss—are the consequences of systems that have been created by people and the way they act. How people act is driven by societal and cultural norms and their values, beliefs and worldviews - this is our inner world. This ‘inner world’ has created the systems we live in and therefore the outcomes and consequences we are seeing in the world. By bringing our awareness to the mindsets causing these global issues, and choosing to act differently - we can address the root causes and work at the deepest leverage point for real, meaningful change.
How I see the world’s problems, the worldviews and beliefs that drive the consequences we are seeing, what the roots of those are and why change happens with You Next I explore why we need to start with ourselves and why change happens from the inside out and how we can do that
Having spent a lot of time working in social and environmental jobs, I’ve come to the realisation that the real change starts from within. The only thing we can control in our life is ourselves, and how we interact with ourselves, others and what’s happening in the wider world. By working on how we relate to ourselves, others and circumstances, and becoming more aware, aligned, and authentic, we can contribute in a deeply meaningful way to change. I explore a number of different ways in which we can do the work on ourselves to become the change we want to see - from understanding what’s important to us, having self-compassion, being authentic, being mindful, having a spiritual outlook, unlearning collective beliefs, learning emotional resilience, coaching and systems thinking and seeing ourselves as interconnected with all.
How do we become the change? My thoughts of the different ways we as individuals could become the change Lastly, I share my vision for a world where we and nature thrive, that is all centred around what we can each do as an individual and how that could create meaningful systemic change
I share what I think this would look like in practice - how people would be interacting with themselves, with others and with the natural world. I explore how we could be if we showed up in our authenticity, rooted in love, presence and connection. I imagine a world where people interact in non-judgemental, empathic and loving way, where people contribute to systems that regenerate themselves, and share how we could all be part of creating this upward spiral of energy to create a beautiful future beyond what we could even imagine.
Throughout this episode, I share how to go on this journey in a manageable way, meeting yourself where you are and taking small, meaningful steps towards the change you want to make. We are all on our own unique journey and we all have something different and unique to offer the world, it’s about finding out whats yours to do and finding inner peace whilst you do that! I share that I’m on this journey too and I’m showing up in a messy, imperfect and authentic way because I think that’s what’s really needed in the world. If we can show up as our true selves, if we can work on our relationships to ourselves, others and nature, we can create a thriving future.
If you don’t have 54 minutes to listen (who knew I could talk at myself for that long!), the diagrams above explain part of my thinking, as well as this short summary of the episode:
The global crises we are seeing are the consequences of how systems work. Humans create systems, systems are driven by our behaviour, our behaviour is a result of our thoughts and beliefs - 95% of these are unconscious - if we make them conscious, we can choose different beliefs, thoughts.
If we realise we have the ability to make a conscious choice about what thoughts, beliefs we have in every single moment because we can be aware and present.
If we start with the only place we can control - ourselves - and we build a life of self compassion, alignment, authenticity and mindfulness, we can then extend that to others and the systems we work in.
We then create a new system, a new paradigm from the inside out and we create a world and future that serves all life, that can be regenerative - for ourselves, for others, for nature.
We’re not just meeting the system where it’s at, we’re not just working on symptom treatment and making things less bad, we are going to the roots of the issues and turning things inside out.
We’re going to the heart of the issues inside each of us and creating a wholly different way of being rooted in love, authenticity, presence and connection that would create a better future for all beings.
And a quote I share in the episode:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive”
Howard Thurman
You are 1 tiny and important piece of a 8 billion piece human puzzle, find what’s yours to do. It’s not your job to save or fix the world or be all things to all people or experts in everything.
It is your job to find what makes you come alive, what aligns with your values and what you’re good at and go do that.
Because when you live from this place you will find happiness, meaning, energy and motivation to grow and learn and that will ripple out onto the world.
We get out in the world what we put in.
If people’s minds created the systems - what they think, what they believe, how they behave, whether they are led by fear or love, whether they see themselves as interconnected MATTERS because that is what creates the reality of the world.
If we come back to our true nature, if we show up in authenticity and love and we can be more present, then we will create a thriving world and I’m excited for that to unfold and I think it could be something amazing beyond what I could even imagine.
Want to join me in creating a thriving future?
I am keen to speak to people who are curious about going on this journey or who have already started. If you are working to make the world a better place and would be willing to speak to me to help me better understand your experience and the type of support you would find helpful, please email me or set up time for a exploratory call. As a thank you, I will offer a 45 minute free coaching session.
If you want to collaborate, co-create or want to explore ways we could share this message with your community or if you want to share feedback to build on this vision, I would love to hear from you. My email is hello@heatherlynch.co.uk.
Hear more about becoming the change
I am starting up a separate mailing list outside of substack to share more actionable insights, practical tools and techniques, offers of courses, workshops, in person events about all the topics I’ve talked about in the podcast, so if you would like to hear more from me about all the topics I cover in this episode and others, sign up to the mailing list below.
I will posting here on substack for the podcast - I have a few more episodes coming up in the first series and will then take a break. I will then use substack for occasional longer form personal reflections.
As always, thank you for listening and reading x
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