“We are way beyond innovation. What we have to do now is reimagine everything.”
This week is about planting hope. Or, how I would put it — about creating optimism.
Because how do we carve ourselves a way out of the messy world we’re currently in? Quite simply, we imagine a new one!
However, this task is not to be taken lightly. “Imagine if…” might seem like a scene taken from a children’s movie but the art of imagining — and especially reimagining — can be pretty darn difficult.
But as Rob Hopkins put it so beautifully in this interview on The Decade Podcast, we can’t just rely on innovation anymore, we have to find the courage to rethink everything. New and advanced technology can only take us so far. To get us out of our climate crisis, we need to completely rethink our life here on Earth.
The exciting part about this is that not only is a reimagination of the world necessary, but it also creates opportunities for a future so much better than anything we’ve ever seen. In other words — perhaps climate change serves as a beautiful opportunity to think again, creating possibilities for even better societies and lives?
I think so. It’s time for the story of “What if…”
“Climate change is a failure of the imagination.”
It might seem daunting to rethink everything. How does one do so? Well, it starts with questioning everything, which is somthing all of us can do. It means staying curious and being willing to change our views and beliefs. It means slowing down and allowing for that space where new thoughts and ideas can come to life and then find the courage to explore those “what ifs” closer.
Step by step, thought by thought, we get to cultivate the mindset of something “other.” Not just incremental improvements of what we already know to exist, but something other completely, the blueprint of a whole new kind of world.
“What gives me hope is that we’ve barely even tried yet.”
Retruthing Exercise:
Did you know that your muscle for questioning and thinking outside the box can be practiced and strengthened? I have an exercise that I call “retruthing”. Retruthing helps you make small changes to the script of your own life and in doing so, realize the power we hold in making big changes in the world.
When you start to become part of the change by activating that change in your daily life, you soon recognize that our potentials as a species are — truly — endless. One simple shift in mindset can trigger a whole domino of positive change and the sooner you get to experience that for yourself, the better!
So find some time this week for reflection. Let your mind wander and see where you’ll end up. What would your climate optimistic future look like? And what small steps can you take now to edge that future closer?
You find a step-by-step guide for the retruthing exercise here. (Scroll down to the bottom of the post)
For more thoughts on questioning everything, head to last week’s issue about The art of being wrong.