The EnvisionaryThere’s a good reason why we need to innovate today. Not just a few of us, but all of us. First we need to get past the blah blah blahs.
The reason why we need to innovate becomes clear when we consider the climate crisis, but maybe not for the reasons we may think at first.
Most of us know that recently the COP26 promoted a lot of talk as these climate events tend to do, but whether that manifests into action remains to be seen of course.
There’s something more interesting though about the growing amount of protestors, rather than the contingent of officials that we long have associated with waffling many words into thin air.
We know the government officials speak with hot air, we know that elites only promise aid when it leads to more profits for them somehow (handouts are not in their business blood). In that sense, they too also speak with a lot of noise, albeit usually far better at action (just not action that benefits the environment).
The Growing Activism Is Creating Awareness, But Is It Enough?
So, what makes this one different? In terms of action, it’s too early to tell (and too late in truth). In terms of awareness then you do wonder how many times the notion of our planet burning up needs to be repeated until they finally see through their comfort lenses.
Yet, the growing frustration amongst activists is both understandable and also a bit blah blah blah too.
Whilst in the very definition of being an activist there comes noise, a desire to raise awareness and be heard, a lot of that noise also becomes hot air, as it isn’t really taken too seriously. It should be, but it isn’t.
The answer from the green-thinking activists is to simply make more noise, but then we just hear the establishment retort back with more false promises. More noise isn’t the answer.
It’s not just the government that sounds all blah blah blah, it’s the activists themselves too playing the same record over and over.
Whilst their plight is admirable (and possibly a bit naively presented) there comes a point where you wonder what does work.
I mean, protests over our decaying climate have been going on for decades (or should I say, decaydes).
It didn’t just start with Greta Thunberg. She is very committed and brings a lot of energy to the fore but, at no fault of her own, is seen by some who aren’t wrapped up in social media as a bit of a social media poster-child, a propaganda tool.
It also leads many who follow social media to effectively think that she is the answer, that she is almost the climate entertainment to watch. It becomes about ‘what is Greta doing?’ rather than ‘what can I do?’. The answer to ‘what can I do?’ is usually to ‘join Greta and protest’ rather than it lead to any other action.
Blame the media for fueling this absolving of responsibility, as to the media, she is a dream. Sure, this plays into the psyche of other young people who are subconsciously seeking a lot of attention too, and who genuinely do want to have a purposeful life and a sustainable planet for their future.
If nothing else, the message that these social media activism movements create is one of a belief that change is possible, and that is a great thing in itself, but the reality is it falls way short of actually making change happen, simply because people don’t really know what else to do other than protest. That’s the answer they’ve been fed.
Our Future HAS To Be In Our Hands
Yes, the government and elites have most people’s hands tied, but that doesn’t mean that our future is in their hands. If we want our future, and more to the point, our kids’ and grandkids’ future, to be as comfortable as ours has been on the whole (and yes they have been compared to our ancestors) then we have to experience something we might not want.
That is discomfort ourselves.
That doesn’t mean being uncomfortable by ‘fighting’ at a protest march, as surrounded by many other people that is actually quite a comfort blanket, which is the appeal.
So what do I mean by getting uncomfortable?
When most of us can’t see the future world ahead of us as if it were here right now then it becomes hard to truly wake up and smell the ash, so to speak. It’s only when people experience a traumatic event that they become shaken (or awoken) to the reality of our changing climate.
It becomes too easy to deny otherwise. There are still enough people in the mindset that money is power and success in life, and they will do anything to get it, and they have.
The tide may be changing. People are becoming more aware of the consequences of their actions, but many still can’t see what they will have for breakfast, never mind what the world might look like in 30 years. Some may say they won’t be around in 70 years so it doesn’t matter. Others will deny there even is a climate crisis and blame it on media scaremongering.
Whilst it is up to you to research and make your own mind up, rather than mindlessly just take what you hear as fact (and you really should think for yourself), one thing becomes clear.
In two decades of constant talk about the potential effects of climate change, we have only progressed in one thing. A warmer climate.
Whether this was to happen anyway is debatable. Our climate will naturally get warmer as the sun burns brighter, but there’s also enough evidence out there to suggest that the rate at which it is getting hotter is in direct correlation to the amount of human activity driving it.
Believe it or deny it all you will. Either way, there is something we can all benefit from anyway, even if it is uncomfortable to start with.
The Wake Up Call: Why We Need To Innovate
Talk is cheap, sometimes. We do enough of it (I know I do). Whichever side of the climate talk building we are on, whether the insider government or the outsider activist, there’s far too much blah blah blah coming from BOTH directions.
That might even shock or offend those on the activism side. Yes, your heart is in the right place, but your mind isn’t. It’s not creating anywhere near as many solutions as it is creating energy.
It can end up becoming wasted energy too if the officials don’t budge on a habit of a lifetime.
This is where we need the pragmatism of the elite businessmen, but with the ideals of the activists.
When we all become innovators with the same human motivation then what we see is human development. When we just talk about what we should, or they should do, and absolve ourselves of any responsibility to go any further than just talking or raising awareness then what we end up seeing is human stagnation.
Then in another 10 years, we find we are talking again, just a bit more frantically.
So, we need to exercise our minds into action. Even if there was no climate crisis as a few still suggest the benefits of doing so would be worth it anyway.
When we innovate it gives us something to focus on, it can bring purpose to our life. It also raises our own bar. If we settle in comfort for what we have then we only end up stagnating, but if we shoot for the stars we might hit the moon (although looking after our own planet would be a much better target hint hint).
It just might set us on the right track to realise that we are capable of devising and finding a way to bring forward the kind of innovations and initiatives that will help our planet and aid us in human development.
When you show someone the problem AND the solution they will be engaged to act, when you only show them the problem they may just get lost.
There’s a good enough reason as to why we all need to innovate. We create change, not just talk change.
Of course, this is easier to do when we learn how to activate our minds to create, which is where Richly Wills can help you with the ‘get out the box’ training program.
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