What motivates people to make positive change?
From Drop-out to aspiring young man
Last Thursday I was at the Toogoolawa School graduation and witnessed 10 amazing young men graduate. In the process, I got to hear of their stories of personal transformation and personal growth.
Toogoolawa School is a not-for-profit school for youth at risk that was started by my uncle John Fitzgerald, along with psychologists Ron and Suwanti Farmer in 1991. The school takes in boys aged 8 to 15 that no other school wants, welcoming 1,700 boys through the doors since opening and 120 boys enrolled each year.
The school teaches these boys first and foremost how to be good human beings, centred around five core human values: love, peace, truth, right conduct and non-violence.
The school is an important part of my life; I chair the school board and donate 50 per cent of Bulletproof Investing royalties to the school.
Graduations are always very moving and this year we witnessed a 15-year-old boy make a speech in front of 100 people. What was even more impressive was that this young man arrived at the school angry, frustrated, disengaged, incapable of making eye contact with someone, let along speaking in public. Yet here he was, transformed into a confident young man speaking in front of 100 people and at the same time graduating grade 10 about to start a coveted cadetship as a park ranger.
The key to the school’s success is that each class consists of one teacher and two youth workers. The teachers are there to drive academic learning, while the youth workers drive character building and build connection with the kids as individuals. A lot of the youth workers are male and have come from troubled backgrounds themselves, finding a way to turn things around.
They are effectively their ‘character and human values’ mentors, helping the kids see what they are capable of and holding them accountable to striving to be the best version of themselves each day.
Positive change often starts with a mentor and someone to hold us accountable.
From 120kg to running across the globe
On Saturday, a good friend of mine set off on a mission to run around the world.
Literally.
His name is Tim Franklin and on Saturday he begun his journey to run 26,232 kilometres in 433 days. He will cover 5 continents and 22 countries and is aiming to be the fastest man to ever run that distance. For perspective, he will run 63 kilometres a day for more than a year.
A few years ago, Tim was in crisis mode. He weighed in at 120kg and was in a mental hole, using drugs, alcohol and food as coping mechanisms.
Then one day he decided enough was enough. He walked out his front door and got moving, battling through a 2.2km run that took him half an hour.
Since then, he has been setting goal after goal aimed at getting outside, physically moving, and out of his comfort zone. Running gives him joy and he happens to be good at it, so in the past few years he has been on a journey to discover what his full potential is.
Tim moves through life with purpose and direction, energised by this big hairy audacious goal of his to run around the world and find out what his limit of capability is.
At the start line to his run around the world, I asked Tim how he was managing his emotions and not getting overwhelmed by such a huge goal.
His response – “I’ve broken the massive goal into a whole bunch of smaller goals along the way. For now, I’m focussed on the first 5 kilometres.”
You can achieve anything you put your mind to. Yes, YOU.
Two different stories that speak to creating positive change in our lives.
You are no different. I’d like to leave you with three things to make a positive change in your life (if you haven’t already started):
- Find mentors who will keep you accountable.
Like the boys and youth workers at Toogoolawa, when Tim decided to run around the world, one of the first phone calls he made was to Tom Denniss, a fellow athlete who had successfully run around the world.
Tim’s been in constant contact with Dennis since starting on his mission to run around the world, reporting in from time to time on his progress.
We don’t know what we don’t know, that’s the value of someone who has already walked (or ran) the path we’re setting out on.
- Set a big, hairy, audacious goal, and then break that big goal into smaller goals
The bigger the goal, the more motivation you will have to make the positive change.
Is your goal big enough?
If it is, you should be jumping out of bed most days excited to get one step closer to your goal.
If the goal’s big enough, but you’re still not motivated, then it’s probably overwhelming you. The key to not letting a big goal overwhelm you is to break it down to smaller goals that give you incremental progress toward your big goal.
That could be a monthly, weekly or even daily milestone that you set for yourself.
- Start
I’ve never understood people who set New Year’s resolutions.
It’s December now, why waste the next 30 days counting down and procrastinating towards a positive change in your life. Get going!
The hardest part is getting started, don’t overthink it!
Tim’s focussed on the first 5km of his 26,232km run..!
In the spirit of Christmas, I am going to give away a one-on-one goal setting session with me.
Click HERE to answer a few questions about you and I will select the five lucky readers and help them set and achieve those goals.
P.s. My book is a great Christmas gift, particularly for Secret Santa. It’s also now available on Audible!
