From Here to There

There’s a great phrase from success coach Marshall Goldsmith that I often use –

“What got you here won’t get you there.”

Through many transition points in my life, I have realised this. During those realisations, I have often taken a step back to re-evaluate what I am doing. On a number of occasions, this has led me to me blowing up my life as it was, and bringing it back together in a new form. I have also helped a lot of people to navigate similar transitions over the years.

Early last summer, I worked on a project in Switzerland called The Happy [Bern] Lab. It was an experiment to see what would happen if you funded a group of changemakers, unconditionally, to live and work in a community and just see what happened. I spent a week on retreat with them, sharing many of my learnings  from my Guernsey experiences so far, and in turn, learning from their experiment.

Being in an environment that was both nurturing and well-resourced was extremely challenging for me, demonstrating that I was struggling much more than necessary and I hadn’t got the balance right. It highlighted the fact that I was not practising some of the things I teach others to do. I realised that, deep down, I was exhausted and building life in a way that was completely unsustainable for me – mentally, physically, spiritually, creatively and financially. Something had not felt right for me, for over a year, and it was becoming harder and harder to ignore it. Not only had I run out of financial resources to sustain the work I was doing – but also, at some level, I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I had done, before.

When I came back, I spent a lot of time finishing commitments I had signed up to do, in order to then create the space to re-evaluate my life. The last piece of creative work I did was in October last year, and other than watch my first daughter, Emilie, come into the world, I haven’t been doing much – other than deep listening and observing.

It is a strange experience, going through this kind of metamorphosis. There were days when I was so exhausted, that I couldn’t even bring myself to get out of bed and go for coffee. I liken it to the shedding of a skin or a shell, as I let go of the part of me that doesn’t serve me any more. A lot of energy needs to go into the process and things can feel very tender and vulnerable for a time. In one view, it would be called a ‘depressive episode’ but in the circles in which I operate, it is more akin to spending time reconnecting with my soul and purpose. These days, I go into the feelings, rather than avoid or suppress them. It helps me to come out the other side much faster.

As Spring and Summer arrive, and the introspection reveals more, I feel my energy and motivation returning, with a clearer view of a way forward. I’m ready to write, create and make impact again. It feels really good and my vision for what needs to be done is very clear.

Over the winter, I realised that the only way I can continue is to allow people I have helped over the years to help me. This week, I am launching my Patreon campaign – offering my online community the opportunity to support me financially in the work I do.

The blog, the podcast, the events, the mentoring, the coffee – all take time and resources that I just don’t have, any more. I can no longer afford to keep giving without receiving. As difficult as it is to ask for and receive support for the work I do, I feel that it is time to be vulnerable and seek reciprocity, to sustainably invest in the work I do.

Although what I have done so far has made a huge impact on others’ lives and on society, it has had a negative impact on my ability to sustain my life and health. To continue, I need it all to make financial sense. I vowed to no longer continue our work unless I have the resources to do it all, in a sustainable way.

I have chosen to use a modern form of patronage as my primary funding source – this way, I can maintain the greatest integrity in creativity and impact. The way I work, to transform government and community, requires a level of independence and freedom to say what needs to be said, without fear of commercial or political consequence. Therefore, I need a model that is unconditionally supported by the community I have already supported, unconditionally. I believe, to my core, that this is the best way to operate, creating a virtuous circle.

This week is the first step on that journey. No doubt, it’s going to take some time and falling over to make it work – but we will succeed. I have some overall objectives for the remainder of the year, that I need your support to achieve, please:

1. To resume writing, weekly, sharing my learnings from the journey.
2. To resume recording monthly podcasts, to share learnings from change-makers who are already making a difference in the world.
3. To release a book that shares everything I know about making impact with coffee. This project has already been started, thanks to some initial funding and testing that took place in Switzerland last year. Since 2013, my mission  has been to positively impact a billion people – just by having coffee. I am now ready to scale what I have learnt from the thousands of coffees I’ve had with people, so far.
4. To build a community focussed on helping the world to find their Ikigai (reason for being). The blog post I wrote in 2014 has created a worldwide meme, seen by tens of millions, which is transforming many lives. This needs to be developed into a curriculum and community that everyone can access and learn from.
5. To make The Dandelion Foundation financially sustainable, and to launch it in a 2nd location, to learn how to effectively disseminate our theory of community transformation around the world.

This is a programme I feel very capable of delivering with the right support.

Here are the 5 ways that you can support me in achieving those objectives today:

1. Financially support me directly, by funding my Patreon campaign.
2. Financially support the work we do at The Dandelion Foundation.
3. Read, test and provide feedback on my 50 Coffees prototype, to help scale my work in creating impact by having coffee.
4. Connect me with people who would be interested in supporting my work.
5. Share this post on your social media channels.

Thanks so much for your support.

Marc

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