Episode 164

Your story of change – Vision Tribe Summit 2025

Carlos, Laurence, and Lana present the second session in their Vision Tribe Summit from February 2025.

This discussion will help you

  • Shift from traditional marketing approaches that target everyone to creating deeper impact with those who truly resonate with your values
  • Discover why vulnerability in sharing your journey can be your greatest asset in building genuine community connections
  • Understand how stories serve as "light for others to follow," providing guidance through shared experiences of challenges and transformation
  • See how the principle "People like us do things like this" creates powerful cultural bonds that transcend traditional marketing approaches
  • Gain practical frameworks for using stories not just to sell products but to mobilize action, inspire change, and create safe spaces for deeper work
  • Learn the value of crafting "future stories" that invite co-creation and collaboration, even before your vision has fully materialised

Links

Transcript
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Welcome to, uh, round two of the Vision Summit.

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Um, yesterday we were talking about redefining success, and what that

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meant in terms of going from one version of success, which is about

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status and achievement, and, and kind of these external measures

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to something more felt, uh, and

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more sustainable from our point of view and requires a bit

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of interest, perspection and working from the inside out.

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Uh, today we're gonna start talking about storage.

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Stories, which is the second part, ironically, of, of our

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vision, uh, 2020 program.

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Uh, and using stories, uh, in various ways, um, I would say to first create

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meaning, um, meaning for ourselves.

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Um, and secondly, to create connection.

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Um, and to understand not only the people we wanna serve, serve, but our role in

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whatever else, what they want to achieve.

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And so we're gonna talk a, a bit about that.

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Talk about how we, um, help people craft stories.

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share our, some of our own stories.

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but before we start off with that, I thought I'd like to share

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a little video that Lawrence alluded to on LinkedIn today.

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Uh, it's a bit of a video with Seth Godin talking about, um, this

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idea of stories and how stories can mobilize people into action.

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Uh, in this video, this is an

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of him talking about how you use stories in political movements, but

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he also talks about how we can use stories in all walks of life, uh,

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and how we've adopted this approach in, in terms of business and change making.

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If you can earn the trust and attention of just a small percentage of the

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people, not only will they eagerly show up, they will bring their friends.

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Marshall Gans is a professor at Harvard.

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Marshall has a three step process.

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and it works for everybody, not just politicians.

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Story of self.

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Which means testify.

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Why are you here?

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Story of us.

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Meaning why is my story, your story?

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That's the hardest part.

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And then story of now, why should you care today, not tomorrow.

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So your job wants to change something who doesn't have more money, right?

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Is to figure out story of self, story of us, story of now.

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Earn permission to talk to people, earn permission to email people who

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want to hear from me on a regular basis, to educate them in a way

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that they can convert their friends.

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That costs zero.

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And if you can do that and do that and do that, you'll win in a landslide

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if your story resonates, right?

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The job that each of us have, if we want to heal our culture,

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is not to do it, necessarily in an annual march, but to do it.

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Over lunch.

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One person at a time, three people at a time, five people at a time.

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And the biggest marketing lesson I'll share with you tonight is seven words.

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People like us do things like this.

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And that is what the definition of culture is, right?

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So Chelsea and her partner are here.

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They make the most beautiful stationary in America.

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It's not for everybody, it's for almost nobody.

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But the people it's for are people who know that when they send out a thank

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you note on this letterhead or a a wedding invitation, it will go to people

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who say, oh, you're people like me.

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'cause people like us buy stuff like this.

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And the same thing's true when you're selling real estate.

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And the same thing's true when we're trying to run for something.

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yeah, I shared about that post, uh, that

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video because

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yeah, it really struck a chord with me when I first heard that that

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line, because it's so simple, but so profound and in its simplicity.

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I think the thing that resonates with me when he talks about that is

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just this idea when he just said, uh, this business that this lady's

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creating, it's almost for no one.

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And that is like totally goes against what most people think of when they think of

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a new idea is like, this could be for.

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Everyone, I wanna change the world.

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I wanna make impact with a big eye.

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I want wanna, yeah, I wanna spread this to everyone when actually

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a, that's probably ego talking.

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It's not realistic.

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And also, so it probably isn't for everyone, whatever we're trying to

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do, even us with the Happy Startup course, trying to, trying to, trying

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to spread more positive impact.

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And so understanding that actually there's a subculture of people that you

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can attract, attract a small niche that's authentic to you and your story and maybe

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eventually you can reach more people, but not losing sight of the people who

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are actually like you, who are out there trying to do similar things to you.

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So just that instant connection of starting with that tiny little group

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of people who, um, are feeling the.

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Things, feelings that you are feeling about, a struggle

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that they might be facing?

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Every time I watch this video, I really feel a lot of validation.

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Um, because like what you said, Lawrence, you know, like contemporary, uh, marketing

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and entrepreneurship would say, Hey,

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you know, you

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need

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to cast a very wide net

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and then see who would, uh, who would buy from you, who would,

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you know, who would follow you?

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And social media has been the same, right?

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Of like, Hey, get this many followers.

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Um, yet for me, uh, I remember a few years, years ago, I, I

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really wanted to think of, of life as a deepening rather than

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a casting of a very wide net.

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And, um, this video really speaks to, to me at least, um, that aspect of,

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yeah, how can I deepen the impact?

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How can I deepen the work that I'm doing with people who I like

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doing it with and who also resonate with it and going against the

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of what we've, we were.

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And what, uh, we know from, you know, business school or entrepreneurship

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and things like that, it can be very challenging, right?

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So there's a

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lot of resistance of, ooh, am I doing it right or not?

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So for me, when, when I watch that video, it's such a big

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relief

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in the validation that, hey, you know, doing it like this, how we're reaching

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out and connecting and nurturing relationships with those whose stories

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speak to us and those who resonate with

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our values, our vision, our work, um, is an important part of deepening.

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Seeing those connections.

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I think what I've come to learn and understand about this approach, this

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story of self, story of us, story of now, this idea of kind of pride

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building, which Seth Godin is, uh, is a big advocate of people like us.

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This, this kind of sense of connection.

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Um, it, it makes a lot of sense when I think about this

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idea of effortless impact.

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This idea of how can I create transformation by being me.

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This whole idea of story of self.

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What is the journey that I've been on?

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What are the

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transformations that I've experienced?

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How have I accomplished that?

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What is it that I have lived that I can pass on as learnings

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is core to this idea of story yourself, story of us,

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uh, and the challenge I think a lot of people face because so many of us, you

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know, particularly if you've been doing your work for a while and, and you are

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a soul driven entrepreneur rather than just a profit driven one.

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There are things that you wish you want to share, but you are scared.

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You don't want.

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Because there's a sense of shame, imposter syndrome, as opposed to

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leaning into your story so much more and uncovering the gold in there

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that could be of benefit to others.

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and also not being so focused on, like Lawrence was saying, on the scale and

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uh, and on the breadth, but more like Lana was saying, on the depth and on the

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actual impact, the actual visible in front of your eyes, which is something I, I'm

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much more keen on, uh, experiencing, um, doing, thinking, having that in mind when

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you're thinking about your business pure rather than nail it and scale it and.

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You know, get as many people to, to do the thing, the six point plan as you can.

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Well the thing that comes up for me is something we come up against a lot

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is just not valuing stories enough.

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I think, you know, focusing on the thing, focusing on the

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product or the business, the

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idea, you know,

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this is something I wanna bring to the world.

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uh, the fascinating thing is we're always interested in other people's stories,

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but I think most people think that no one's gonna be interested in my, my

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story, um, against something we come up against with people who's trying to help

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them surface that story, but also to.

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See the value in sharing it because, um, it can be v it can

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be a vulnerable place, can't it?

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When we're like thinking, well, no one cares about this.

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Why would they care about this?

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But i'd love you to tell, you know, love you to tell me your story.

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You know, you should tell more people about that.

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So yeah, it's, I think this is where the power of the community comes in, you know,

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having people around you who, um, we can see the benefit of, of sharing stories and

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finding those connection points as well.

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And like you said, even if I'm not someone who's gonna be part

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of your, your audience, I can be a supporter and connect with that

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story and then share that story more.

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More than I can if you just wanna sell something.

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You know, people share stories.

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And again, lots of great examples of that in, is it stories that stick a book?

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Um, I can't remember something like that anyway, but yes, this idea

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that we remember stories we don't remember, um, products necessarily.

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So understanding that stories spread way quicker than any other

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other form of, uh, communication.

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and this also connects me with rumi's words of the wound is

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where the light enters you

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and how powerful it is when we can share.

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Share with people how we're navigating our lives, you know, our, our path.

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Um, and in, in parallel, I remember, an elder of mine shared, um, the, the hermit

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can a very, uh, lonely place because what you're actually trying to do is you're

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holding the light for others to follow.

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And I see that, you know, for storytellers, for bridge builders, for

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change makers, that is basically why sharing our stories are very important.

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' cause it tells people.

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Hey, this is the path that we've gone through.

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Um, this is how we've navigated it.

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It might be for you, it might not be for you.

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Um, but at least you know there's a guidance that they can follow.

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And most of the time this is like, you know what Ru you said, you

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know, it's coming from the wounds, it's coming from the struggle, it's

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coming from, uh, the life challenges.

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It's coming from those unpredictable moments that takes

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us out of our comfort zone.

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And then what, right?

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So, uh, like what, or Carlos already mentioned, these are the

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moments where we know that we.

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We cannot just do it on our, on our own.

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So having a community, having others around us, um, looking for

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inspiration, looking for people who we can be in community of practice

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with, these are all parts of how

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we can amplify the work.

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I think there's a couple of elements here in, in this idea

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of using stories within our work.

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Um, one is, uh, a kind of very personal, um.

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Felt sense, meaning making level, which is, um, one aspect

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of what we do on Vision 2020.

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And then there's also a practical element, I would say, in terms of

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how we can use stories to sell.

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Uh, not just sell, to make money, but to sell an idea, to sell motivation,

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to sell momentum in terms of trying to mobilize people into action.

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and I, I really well, when we talk about the inside out approach to our

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work, I think it's really important.

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For us to have a framework to, to be able to tell a story of

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why we're doing what we're doing.

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This whole other, you know, why were we building the Happy Startup School.

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Uh, you know,

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it isn't just about money, but there, there can be a mess of

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thoughts and feelings in there.

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And for me, storytelling is a skill as well, that while it's a natural

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mode of communication that we've developed over millennia, you

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know, you know a good storyteller

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and you know, someone who just bombards you in for with information.

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And this is where I struggled in the past with storytelling.

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'cause I used to think storytelling.

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There was a lot of stuff.

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Was made up, but it was edited.

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I think this is the aspect of this, this is really important

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is how you think about stories.

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Not purely as a a dump, this is it.

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Every single element is like how you edit it as a way to create some

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kind of change in someone else.

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Whether that's an emotional change change or that's a motivational change in

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terms of they get mobilized into action.

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Action, which is I think what Seth Godin was trying to allude to.

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And so that, that's the practical element that I feel of storytelling as

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well as this we, what we found within a small group of people when we're

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coaching them, when we're able to share.

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Share some vulnerable stories, how that really creates a sense

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of connection, a kind of real, safe, supportive, uh, environment so that we can

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do some of the more challenging things and we can start sharing some of these other

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stories with more people that initially can feel too vulnerable and too, um, risky

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at the beginning.

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And also telling,

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telling stories of the future that are maybe.

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Make believe, you know, or make believe in terms of they haven't happened

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yet, but they are believable in terms of we want them to happen or we, we

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want

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people to come on that journey with us.

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And I think that's something that people often struggle with is set

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painting a picture of the future and, and telling stories to do that.

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And that's one of the

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things that I believe helped us.

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Grow our community in the early days was telling those stories of what we were

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creating, even if it hadn't happened yet.

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Well, it hadn't happened yet.

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It was all make-believe in some ways, but it was exciting enough for us to

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share it and also exciting for us, for us to eventually commit to it.

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But there's an element of, I hope this happens, but it

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may not, but who's with me?

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You know?

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And that's the thing about why now, who's with me?

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Who needs this?

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Who wants to come on this journey?

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And,

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and

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cocreate it together as well?

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Not, not do it alone.

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I, I like

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the, field of possibilities that we open, when we're in this space of storytelling

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and also tuning into the future.

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Feature, uh, while you were talking Lawrence, it reminded me of the time

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before I met Carlos and I knew there was, um, forgot exactly, see, I forgot

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exactly who sent it to me, but, the person mentioned about the, the canvas that

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you've created and the happy festival, you know, the Mm. So I was just like, oh,

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these are, these are amazing individuals.

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And then, a couple of months, I think a couple of months after I, um, met

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you, Carlos, with the community.

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Uh, builders group in Facebook, and then a couple of months after we've worked

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together, and then another couple of months after, um, the

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three of us, uh, collab started collaborating for Vision 2020.

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And this is the power

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of the

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story,

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right?

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If I think about my own personal journey with

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how I got connected with the two of you, it is because of that story, the

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stories that you've shared mm-hmm.

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And

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how it re resonated with me and.

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How it gave me the impression of, hey, these are, these are, uh,

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uh, interesting individuals that I would like to get to know more,

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that I would like to be inspired,

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inspired by, that I would like to be connected with.

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And this is the possibilities that open up because there's so much

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resonance and there's so much, um, care

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that is involved in the connection, that it's also easy then to collaborate.

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And I think, think this is one part of entrepreneurship that is not, you

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know, it's not often seen because we're all, you know, we're often

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thinking about customers, customers,

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customers, but collaborators, you know, getting into.

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Collaborations is actually a, a very good way of amplifying impact.

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Yeah.

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And, and for me, this is, this is how I, uh, I got to say, Hey, you

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know, I would love to work with the two of you because I knew your story.

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I read, you know, I was following your stories.

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You were stalking us.

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Stalking you.

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Yes.

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Um, I, I think this is, is part of our story.

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I would say the Happy Startup School, particularly at the Bending beginning

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as Lawrence said, is like he did a lot

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of writing, a lot of sharing just the perspectives and thoughts and ideas

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and possibilities and wishes for.

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How we could work and how we could do business and how we

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could connect as, as people.

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So it was less of here's my six step plan, this is like nearly my six wishes.

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Like this is what, what would it, what would it be like if

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we could do stuff like this?

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and then there's this other

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aspect around storytelling, that I think it's, you can't,

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they say, you know, good stories are told by good storytellers.

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And I think good stories are told by people who step up.

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Into the unknown because if nothing ever changes in your life, you never

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have a new story to tell.

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But unless you try something different, do something that's

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outside of your comfort zone.

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Follow that dream, follow that

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question, play with this idea,

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and potentially fail and potentially find a struggle and potentially

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hit an object, uh, an obstacle and see how you can get over it.

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Without that, there's not many stories that you can tell.

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And so it's finding ways to f to to.

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I say accept that call to adventure.

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That doesn't put you into panic mode, but maybe puts you into

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a more purpose, purposeful mode of like, okay, I wonder what if.

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Well, also it's about, like you said, just the practice.

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Like you get better at writing by writing, you get better at telling stories.

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By telling stories, I think is something I wasn't, I was never a writer, but

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I've learned to really enjoy it just through the practice of it and the, the

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clarity it helps me find by trying to verbalize or articulate what I'm thinking.

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Um, I think the other aspect to it is stories don't have.

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To be told just through words like you talked about, the tools we've created,

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like the story of change, we may talk about, I forget chance, but the, the

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canvas, the manifesto we created, like turning these stories into things.

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Thinking, firing, as we say is a powerful way to, to get your story to spread

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maybe quicker than you would do in a blog post or a, an ebook or an article.

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So creating tools, creating assets, graphics, videos, you know, media that

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help to spread your story stories is another way to, to bring it to life.

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So this is just a, a way to illustrate I think how, uh, you can make sense of

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your story and to, um, like I was saying at the beginning for rather than it to.

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Be kind of some splurge of just information because stories,

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stories aren't just information.

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Stories are are about transformation and they're about showing a pathway

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through a situation or a challenge.

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Um, and what we've done is we try to give people who join our

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program, uh, a structure just to help make sense of the stories.

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And there's, there's various ways you can think about this structure.

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There is a way, a structure, the structure to use it, to make sense of where, how

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you got to where you are now, to give

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a sense of an understanding of why am I doing.

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The work that I'm doing, there's also a structure for you to

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motivate you into the future.

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It's like, where am I now and where do I want to be and what is it

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that I need to commit to in order

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to make this happen?

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And what's motivating me to actually make a change?

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And then there's a structure that you can use for your potential

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customers so that you can understand where you fit into their lives.

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And so where are they now?

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Where do they want to be?

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And what is it that they, what are the obstacles that are getting in the way?

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What do they need to commit to?

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And how can you be in service in that transformation?

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What is it about your story and what you've learned that can

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help them overcome obstacles on.

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Journey.

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So, uh, I'm not gonna go into too much detail in this because we, we could

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spend a day workshopping stories on how to use this canvas, but it just

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gives you a kind of a visual clue as to how you, you can break down what

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can feel like a con, you know, a messy soup of thoughts, feelings, and facts

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into what feels like an articulation that other people can understand

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and can share and do something with.

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I would like to also emphasize that, um, in doing the story of change

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canvas, especially the looking back, it, Allows us to honor uh, history.

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It allows us to honor our experiences.

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And it might not be, you know, we might think, oh, it's not the big

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thing, but actually it is.

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So when, whenever we celebrate our, success?

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Whenever we celebrate the strengths that we have, um, and acknowledge them, we're

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actually rewiring our brains as well.

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Because our brains are so wired to see things that, you know, the

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messed up part, it's quick for us to see the things that we're wrong.

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And it's very difficult for, for us to think of the things that are strong.

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And, and for me in doing this, sorry, I've changed canvas, it really.

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Helps me to, to look and see, oh, wait a minute, these are areas of growth.

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These are areas where I shifted my perspectives.

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These are areas where I recalibrated, and because I'm doing that, I'm actively

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rewiring how my brain is looking and picking up, up on this cue so that

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the next time that I'm in a situation, it's easier for me to harness them.

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So it's not just about reflecting, but it's actually

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embodying it to the point that our, you know, nervous system remembers.

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I think the other aspect to this, we found.

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Working with people who maybe are feeling a bit stuck or in a

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bit of a struggle at the moment, wanting to be somewhere different.

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But you know,

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not being

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able to move

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forward is just giving ourselves credit for some of the changes

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we may have made in the past.

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So this feeling of, you've probably done this before, you've been

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through transitions or change before

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in your own journey, and this can be a powerful tool,

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I think, to, to help people realize that they have navigated change successfully

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in the past, difficult, they've done difficult things, and actually to feel,

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uh, resilient enough to then move forward.

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Yeah, I think most people I know, and I'm pretty guilty of this

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too.

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Is we just look at what we haven't done rather than the things we have done

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looking at that, um, that big gap rather than the gain of where we've been.

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So again, a powerful tool to, to feel more resourced really, as

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well as to then do the same for our customers too, or collaborators

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understanding their own journey.

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I, I, you know, I, I actually find this useful when it comes to selling, selling,

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not to convince people, but selling in a sense of actually what Todd Ta Hargrave

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says of getting to the truth and using it as a, as a conversational framework

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of like, where are you now, now what are you, what is the current situation?

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Whether you are bored with the way you are working or you're burnt out by always

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being on a treadmill, you, there's a lacking a sense of meaning or impact.

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The money is great, but for some reason it's just something is missing.

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And then that's what's driving this change.

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Now.

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It's like this, this pivot point, like, actually, do I want to continue on this

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path or do I want to try something new?

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And for a lot of the people we work with, there's this real per um,

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realization that time is finite.

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You know, there's only so much time left.

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I, and I really wanna do something about it, but something gets in their way.

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And this line, understanding what is it that gets in your way?

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And you know, again, in this conversation it'd be like, actually, uh, I'm

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quite comfortable where I'm now, it's, it's uncomfortably comfortable.

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The money's good.

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But yeah, I don't wanna risk anything.

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And there's this real kind of mindset shift that's required.

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And if that mindset shift, if the curiosity, the drive for change

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doesn't overcome the obstacle, then in a sense in this sales conversation

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you say, well, this, we're not ready to work with each other now.

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Maybe this is time for you to wait, or I can tell you a bit more what's possible.

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And then you can start understanding what is it that you believe you need help with.

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And they can start, you know, start listing all these things and you

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can start helping them understand, all right, what is it that's,

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that's really needed right now?

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And what is it that you need to commit to?

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And ultimately what you can help with as someone who wants to create

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transformation, particularly beneficial transformation, is help them understand

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where do you actually want to be?

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What is that picture of possibility?

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Because if that isn't clear as well, you're trying to convince someone to do

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something they don't wanna do and then they're not gonna be motivated to do.

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And so using, being able to use stories, uh, not only in terms of trying to create

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meaning for ourselves, but also in terms of trying to, uh, help other people

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understand how to motivate their way to work or to, to, to do the actions, to,

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to make the changes they wanna make.

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Lana Lawrence, is there anything else you wanted to add?

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Well, I'm just celebrating the comment from Anthony of eager to start

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writing down my story, so go for it.

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And, uh,

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yeah, no, yeah.

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I'm curious if you're.

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Sharing it in LinkedIn Tigers.

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Exactly, yeah.

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As we say,

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just

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start

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working out loud.

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You know, don't, don't hide away with these stories.

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Start to share them early before you're ready.

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Cool.

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Okay.

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Before we close off, um, any stories you wanna share before we talk

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about what's gonna happen next?

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Well, I'm just reminded of, uh, when, whenever we do this.

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Um, story of change, the ahas that we get in, in our, uh, vision 2020 program.

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And one of the things that really stood out for me is around the, you

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know, understanding the sistance and how deep the resistance can be.

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And, um, you know, we've had multiple, uh, multiple in the,

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in, in, at least in the cohorts, you know, in, in my body group

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where actually it's not about the experiences, but their resistance.

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To sharing their story, to, Putting it out there.

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That was very fascinating to navigate and also to give space for.

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So for me, there's, there's a very powerful, uh way to look at it is

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whenever you do something like this, an exercise like this, the resistance

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is where the work needs to be.

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So whenever you like

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mm-hmm.

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Oh, you know, I don't want to, I don't want to work on this part.

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It's showing you already.

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That's the work that's needed to be at best.

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Yeah, for me there's something there about more layers.

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You talk about unraveling the layers a lot,

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unpeeling the onion, you know that feeling of

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sometimes when we are on our own, I think we can scratch the

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surface and be play it too safe.

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But I think there's often real

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value and

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connection,

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as you've said, through sharing these deeper stories of what's important

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to us and even our own past as well.

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Um, and there's so many examples I can think of probably teammate to

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share now of people who've come on the program and like I said, thought

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their story's not important and

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then I.

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Over time by

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sharing it safely with others, that that encouragement then brings out this

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goldmine of ideas and, um, possibilities.

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So yeah, not underestimating the

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power

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of your own story to not just help you but also connect you to others, you know?

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And that's the

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key

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thing.

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Like you said, we wouldn't have met you.

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I still these days meet people who said they saw something we

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put out years ago and that A helped them and b led them to us.

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So yeah, it's, it's a superpower.

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For, for connection.

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I think

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I was reminded by someone in our community called Matt Matheson about this.

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Two Greek words to define time.

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One is, uh, Kronos and the other is Kairos Us.

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And as I, as I understand it, Kronos, is this kind of perspective of

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time is this sequential series of events, this kind of ticking off of

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seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, years.

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That gives this sense of, uh, I would say scarcity around time.

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And then this other idea of kairos, which is our experience.

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Experience in the moment lived.

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I felt sense of living just like being and really enjoying what's happening

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or experiencing life to its fullest.

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And I feel with stories and storytelling and discovering what is it, the story

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you want to tell and how do you author the story of the rest of your life?

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So it becomes an experience to be had rather than basically

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waiting till the end of days.

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That is such a profound shift, I think, and I think that's what I've seen.

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The qualitative aspect of doing this work in terms of the people who come

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on the program, I think at the moment,

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Beth Derry sharing her very vulnerable story around self-harm and now how

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she's harnessed that as the work she wants to do now to help others who

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experienced this, not only a young women, but also their parents, and how

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that's added another quality to her work and her life, that when you play

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it safe you won't necessarily see.

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And so

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this is, I think this is work not just about the money.

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This isn't just about creating a business that we can scale.

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This is about how can I shift how I work that makes me feel more

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energized to turn up every day.

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we are trying to take a very balanced and nuanced view on this

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idea of how to build a business.

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We could easily can scare.

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People into just focusing on the money, giving you a very simple

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step-by-step approach to that and just focus on marketing and selling.

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We want to talk about building a business as a process of self-discovery,

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a spiritual journey, a journey of transformation, a personal level,

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and we are very clear and understand that you also need to pay the

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bills, but we want you to be able to pay the bills and make money that

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isn't just about selling your time.

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That doesn't.

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Just burn you out because you are working every hour of the day.

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How can you use your story, use your knowledge, use your experience, and turn

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those things into products, and also to deliver the value that you want to create

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for others in different ways to create a portfolio business, to make happy money.

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And we're gonna talk a bit more about that tomorrow.

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And this is essentially how we've designed our business.

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So we're gonna be share about how, what we've done, how it works for us, and

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how, how you can take that perspective.

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And hopefully for those of you who, who use your knowledge and wisdom

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to create transformation, how you can do that at a distance at scale

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that doesn't feel like a, a slog.

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So hopefully see you there.

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thank you very much.

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Likewise joining us live and um, yeah, catch you later.

About the Podcast

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The Happy Entrepreneur