Collective Leap into the Future?
Part III in The Series: The Risk of Sticking with the Status Quo
In Part I of this series, I described how some specific cognitive biases often keep us stuck in status quo realities (even when they’re pretty crappy) and offered tips to help people dare to embark on change.
In Part II, I invited you to consider if these same biases are causing you to see expense where you might be better served to see investment.
Finally, here in Part III, I want you to offer the idea that when you cultivate the courage to innovate new possibilities in your personal life you may also be building a crucial capacity to contribute to the collective.
That is, a lot of what I coach and write about is designed to help individuals experience as much peace and joy as possible - and I believe that each human being radiates their state of consciousness into our world through their thoughts, emotions, words, and actions.
In the last couple of posts, I aimed to support people so that they can make more conscious and liberating choices in their own lives.
But here’s an extra piece of food for thought: I think it’s fair to say that we are collectively living at a significant and unprecedented existential precipice.
Many scientists have told us loud and clear that we need to radically shift our status quo (carbon outputs, resource extraction, food systems, divided and profoundly unequal human relations, etc…) and that if we aren’t able to achieve adequate levels of transformation in about a decade, we’re almost certain to jeopardize our ecosystems beyond capacity for recovery. The projection is that, at that point, the planet will be saddled with a human-caused ‘runaway climate change effect’ and we’ll expedite what some call, ‘the sixth extinction.’
What I’m trying to say is that if this biased tendency to stick to the status quo plays out at a macro level, then the outlook for future generations and many forms of life is truly grim.
So, just like I’ve made the case that we as individuals can consciously build our tolerance to let go of the status quo and embrace new possibilities, I’d argue that we need to do the same thing collectively right now - and that the stakes are a sustainable and livable future.
I think we’re currently invited to collectively dream BIG (I’m talking so audaciously and boldly it may almost seem beyond rational comprehension!), innovate, work together, and take unprecedented levels of action to nurture adaptive and preventative change quickly.
Frankly, I’m not counting on our economic and political leaders of the day to lead us where we arguably desperately need to go at this historic moment.
Rather, if there is hope to be held, I’m putting my faith in individual citizens, in small groups, in growing movements (operating by different paradigms than we ever have) acting in brave, imaginative ways and collaboratively scaling so that we can steer humanity and the planet’s destiny in life-affirming directions.
Doesn’t it seem cool that you interrupting unconscious tendencies that habitually keep you clinging to the familiar on a personal scale may contribute to collective courage and capacity for change?!
(Or is it just me with my nerdy coach-worldview who finds this stuff fascinating?!)
You know, so maybe right now you’re working up the courage to leave a chronically unhappy marriage, make more money, seek a fresh career path, move to a new country or explore your sexuality in unprecedented ways.
Such explorations are meaningful and impactful. You taking brave steps that align with your yearnings and the greatest clarity you can discern matters.
Especially if you’re in a season of your life where you feel deep in the fire or the familiar has collapsed - or you feel that you’re hanging by a thread as so much is about to collapse: oh gosh, it can be so emotionally intense when you’re right IN IT and your conscious navigation very much matters. (Hug!)
But I wonder if it may be that we may soon view these personal practices as a mere ‘warm up’ as we deepen society-level conversations about fundamental collective pivots ahead:
How can we commit to whole new ways of using and consuming energy?
What change is needed when it comes to travelling and reducing carbon consumption?
How can we relate differently to our natural world & transform destructive food systems?
How could we overhaul entire paradigms (economic frameworks, political systems, stories and worldviews) in order to create a livable future for as many beings as possible?
How might we rethink borders in an era of climate migration / climate justice?
So, this post is short, sweet and to the point.
Your ability to work with your mind so that you aren’t so quick to reflexively protect the status quo and fear the unknown future may be a gift not only to you but to the world.
The more calm, creativity and faith you can generate in the face of perceived uncertainty, threat and fear, the more those energies are available to influence others and shape our world at a critical moment.
I would love to hear your thoughts, responses, and queries to this one in the comments below.
And I wonder: what gives you hope that we humans can support a healthy, livable future?
May we pull off a collective, life-affirming leap!
Nicola Holmes is a Life Coach who helps people turn their potent questions, dream and longings into inspired action. With warmth and wisdom, she’ll guide you to untangle constraints and cultivate courage to create a more aligned and joyful life. She has a BASc in Human Development, an MEd in Adult Learning and spent two decades working in the non-profit sector. Along with coaching for the past 14 years, she’s mama to two young spirited kids and dedicated to Buddhism. Having experienced long Covid and a move over the past two years, she brings deep empathy to others who are exploring how they’ve changed and who they’re becoming in turbulent times. Check out Nicola @nicolaholmescoach or join the email party for inspiration and resources to fuel the changes you want.