Co-Creators

A Statement of Intent

One person changing their life might not make much difference.

But a million people. Now that’s a different story.

Are you seriously tempted to go all-in on your dream? Does now feel like the right time to finally make it happen? What would you regret later if you didn't do this now?

I've been thinking a lot over the past week . About a new global story.

Think the best way to bring many short stories… and see what emerges from them. Rather than a top down narrative – communism, neoliberalism – which at best have their limitations – maybe it’s time to create a story from the ground up. This is an experiment obviously… a bold, playful experiment. Is there any other way to live? If you’d like to be part of it, welcome aboard. My story: at 50… I want to model something for my daughter. In 20 years I want to be able to look her in the eye and say I gave it my best shot. What will your story be? How would you like to be remembered? Everybody’s difference is different.

Your dream may be to build your own eco-home.

You want have a vision for truly world-changing business or charity.

You might want to do something in your local community.

You might simply want to change your own personal lifestyle and habits.

You may want to drive for change in your own industry.

You may want to switch careers to one that’s more obviously aligned with your values.

Maybe if million people changed all at the same time, it would be enough to jolt the planet in a new direction. All of these changes count. They are all steps in the right direction. I don’t know what our new global story should be.

But I know something needs to change – and pronto. If we don’t all start pulling in the same direction, I can’t see how we’re gong to meet the challenges ahead. For me as a coach and psychologist, You don’t need to be a coach or psychologist to know what holds most people back: it’s fear. That’s why I think a crucial component of this is personal development… your own mental fitness, emotional intelligence, psychological flexibility can make all of the difference. My areas of expertise are storytelling, psychology and coaching. I want to bring those together to make as much difference in the world as I possibly can.

This is about using the skills you’ve learned and applying them in a fresh way. It’s about getting clear on your values and purpose – and being brave enough to act in ways that are aligned to them. This is obviously not easy. If it was, we’d all be doing it.

However, it is possible. In my own life, I’ve taken brave leaps that have turned out to be the best things I’ve ever done. Now, as a coach, I challenge and support others to do the same. 10% of all income from NGS goes to charities: mostly to charities providing water and education… climate change… for people living on way less than we are. In my book, all boats need to rise if we are to stand any chance of making the changes we need to make.

I know the global situation is complicated, but I’m beyond that now. It’s all about acting with clarity of vision and purity of purpose.

Over the past few months, I’ve started to Save the Children explore a new narrative on child poverty in the UK. And I’ve worked with Marine Conversation Society to find better ways to tell the stories of our seas and oceans. In my coaching work, I’ve helped agencies turn their brand promises into real behaviours. I’ve helped a bunch of people figure out how to authentically show up in the world and live into more of their potential.

Bring all that together and 10X it and you end up where I am now. This is nothing yet. Just words on a website. But if you feel aligned, and I’ve inspired, by what I’ve saying here, get in touch. I plan to start …

Living this way gives you fresh energy. At 50, I’ve never felt more revitalized and inspired. I firmly believe that the next 10 or 20 years (as long as I’m fortunate to have) of my work are going to be the most satisfying and impactful of my career. This is very early days for NGS.

I’m just starting to collect stories. I’ll probably do a podcast – The Difference Makers.

I think this biggest area for growth is in our understanding of our own psychology. Bring together the best of modern neuroscience and ancient wisdom and can entirely change how to see the world. This has been my lifelong interest – and through reading, practices likes meditation, working with great therapists and coaches over the years – I’ve totally transformed my experience of the world.

The most room for growth is in our own minds. There’s a consciousness raising piece here that I think probably has to happen for humans to meet what’s coming down the track. With things like the mainstream adoption of mindfulness and much much open conversations about our mental health, I think we’re moving in the right direction, but there’s a long way to go.

Your own personal psychology literally determines how you see the world. When you’re in a lower, closed down mood, you think less is possible. When you’re inspired and have insight into your own limiting beliefs, you believe more is possible – for yourself, your family and the world. When you feeling, you think your feelings are being caused by what’s going on out there, in the world. But they’re not and never could be. You’re feeling your thinking. But individual psychology is no longer enough. We obviously need to be working at the level of systems and communities.

I don’t really know where to start with all this, so I’m starting somewhere. Here. I think the basic point is: you know in the 80s, when people started saying nice guys always finish last and greed it good – that is the exact opposite of what we need now. Nice guys – and by nice guys I don’t mean pushovers obviously – I mean people and leaders who are decent people – fair-minded, emotionally intelligent, collaborative over purely selfish (there’s evolutionary proof that at the level of groups – collaboration beats self interest every single time)

And to go back to the greed point. Why on earth did anyone ever think greed was good? Greed makes us smaller as humans, it makes us misers and hoarders – a selfish little clod of ailments in the words of George Bernard Shaw… the very opposite of heroes – it makes pillage the planet and not care about anyone else. I mean, wtf were we thinking? (I speak as a left wing child of the 80s, obviously) What’s stopping you make the change: Fear… And that’s directly tied to your own level of personal development – your own psychology.

Everyone starts in a different place… but we can all move up the scale. I’m just trying to bring together my interests and skills to make a small change in the right direction. Want to help as many people as possible do the same. The time to make the change is now. Let’s do this.

NGS:PRO is my coaching programme for serious change makers. If you have a vision or an irrestible urge to do something more worthwhile in your career or life, let’s talk. I spend a couple of hours with all of my potential coaching clients really getting under the skin of were they’re at and what they’d like the next chapter to be about.

Then if we both decide we’d make good thinking partners, we can talk. My coaching programmes are 6 months and 12 months. Within that, you can have as many 1-2-1 coaching conversations as you need… and email support on an ad hoc basis. To guarantee my 100% commitment with every person I work with, I only work with six 1-2-1 clients at any one time. Your investment reflects the fact that this is a life-changing opportunity.