Finding Higher Purpose in Life: Do What Matters
I decided to do My Own Thing™ in 2017. Public Speaking is helping me get there.
Today I want to look back at the first six months of my life in 2017.
Opportunity has been in the air for some time, but only in the last few months my stars have aligned. I decided to follow the winds of change and see where they will take me.
Public speaking: The importance of communities
I wanted to become a public speaker for quite some time. Not to become a politician, or to get a promotion. But to become a better communicator, inspire, and teach others (oh, and talk at conferences 😉).
As a software developer I do most of my learning online and coding away at my laptop, and I discovered various online courses for public speaking. Yet, I decided that to become a good speaker I had to practice a lot in public and with a structured approach.
I have joined my local Toastmasters club, and I‘m glad I did. In less than two months my speaking style went from “nervously speak fast and forget the all-important eye-contact” to “pace yourself, speak with confidence and deliver a structured and engaging speech”.
I also discovered a great organisation called RSA, which aims to enrich society through ideas and action. In particular, RSA has a strong focus on sustainability, a subject that is very close to my heart (more on this below).
Being part of a community of inspiring and like-minded individuals has empowered me to:
- Learn new skills and grow much faster than I would have
- Make meaningful connections with potential partners, clients and mentors
- Expose myself to new and interesting realities outside my area of expertise
Beyond programming and the 40-hour week job
After doing mobile app development for the last 5 years, I felt that my client work was becoming more and more repetitive, even as I took on new projects.
Side projects have kept my passion alive all along, and I launched a few apps on the App Store and done some interesting open-source work.
I wanted to do less contract work, and focus on more interesting and meaningful work, while growing personally and professionally.
The opportunity to do so appeared at the right time, and I knew what was going to be my next Big Thing™.
Climate Change
Sometime around the end of 2016, I became very interested (and concerned) about Climate Change and the overwhelming and abundant amount of science presenting a rather dire outlook for the future (against what some senior politicians may want us believe).
The numbers are staggering. Human made emissions top 35 Gt of CO2 per year, and we ought to reduce them by half each decade until 2050 to avoid catastrophic climate change.
I found it very unfair that the poorest communities in the world were so affected by our lifestyle and the impact it has on the environment. As a nature lover, I was equally disturbed by how our way of life is causing habitat loss and the consequent species extinction in wildlife.
My mind was full of questions, but I knew that just changing my lifestyle and habits would not save the world.
Slowly, I started to find some clarity and felt very compelled to do something tangible. Build a product. A mobile app. To help people reduce their carbon footprint. I recently spoke about it:
So here I am
- I’ve had the pleasure to pitch this app at the most recent RSA Engage event, and received fantastic feedback about it.
- My two months public speaking crash course is paying dividends (credit to Toastmasters and RSA).
- The more I tell people about my product, the more I’m getting familiar with the word “entrepreneur”. I think it sounds nice alongside the words “software developer” and “occasional blogger” 😀
- I have a strong sense of purpose and I feel that I should not waste my time and skills on things that are vain or don’t matter.
There is just so much that I don’t know about the road ahead. But I’m starting to connect the dots, and reach out to people that can help with my vision.
While I feel strongly about making the world a better place, I know that the weight of the world is not on me.
I do the best I can, but I try to not have expectations on the outcome of my actions.
Life is Short. Be your Best Self, and Do What Matters
In a world where short-sighted decisions are made in the name of money and power, fresh ideas and new leadership are most needed to face the great challenges of our generation.
Take chances. Get out of your comfort zone and try new things:
Eighty percent of success is showing up — Woody Allen
Time is precious, don’t waste it.
Join Me
As I write this, I’m putting the final touches to my app and preparing for launch in the coming weeks. You can join me on this journey:
- Register to the public beta.
- Follow the official Eco Buddy Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- Sign up for the Eco Buddy newsletter:
Read Next: Want to live more sustainably? Meet the EcoBuddy app
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