The Power of One
Have you ever stopped yourself from taking action because you thought to yourself “What difference can I make?” “What difference can any one person make?” “What difference will doing something once make if I can’t sustain it?” “Who am I to think that I can make a difference to this situation?” I know I have, LOTS!
During the first lockdown in 2020, when a trip to the supermarket became the consumer highlight of my week, I was shocked to really see the volume of plastic I was bringing home with each weekly shop. Whilst I had been aware of it previously, I was able to put it to one side on the basis that my busy lifestyle did not enable me to address it. There was no ignoring it anymore! At the time I had been studying photography for a while, loved it, and was looking for a way to turn this passion from a hobby into a viable business. With my life literally standing still I found myself reflecting and feeling drawn towards addressing my ‘unsustainable’ lifestyle, getting creative with my photography, and getting out of a more general lifestyle slump where I felt I was not living as fully, purposefully, or healthily as I wanted to be.
Being the type of person who overthinks things and likes to do lots of research (another word could be procrastination), I quickly got to work reading up on the risks to the planet and humanity. After hours and days of research into the decline of natural resources, pollution, loss of biodiversity, overpopulation, uncontrolled technology, global warming, and pandemics to name a few I emerged not only depressed but feeling like an absolute idiot to think that I could make any difference! If nations globally were failing to take enough action to prevent disastrous consequences, then what exactly did I think I could do to help the situation?
After the initial overwhelm and feeling of hopelessness reduced enough for me to have rational thought again, I reconciled myself with the fact that I could either continue to contribute to the problem at the same level that I was, or I could do ‘something’ to reduce it. It might not help enough on a global scale, but it would still be a positive change and would help to some extent. And whilst there were so many changes that I wanted to make all at once, again creating overwhelm and inaction, I started with one thing, with a view to doing another ‘one’ thing and so on. Below are examples of a few single and simple changes I made, which were easy to implement, and which you may wish to try:
- Focus on one room in the house (I started with the bathroom)
- Swap plastic toothbrushes for bamboo brushes.
- Replace plastic sponges with natural sponges.
- Swap usual toilet roll brand for eco-friendly, plastic free option.
- Use dissolvable mouthwash tablets.
- Buy one single 5ltr container of eco-friendly handwash and use a refillable bottle.
I chose to see the changes that I wanted to make as a journey on which I am still on the first leg and which will continue to be a work in progress, one change at a time.
I also began saving lots of the non-recyclable plastic packaging that I was bringing home from the supermarket with a view to creating photographic imagery with it. I have always loved abstract images and had an inkling that I might be able to get creative with this sort of material and my camera. Just hadn’t figured out how yet!
Having identified a path I now wanted to take, i.e. mini environmental crusade, and creating/selling photographic images which would include using non-recyclable materials, operating a business with environmental and social care strongly within its ethos, I got to work with my camera and plastic and had some fun experimenting. I was pleasantly surprised with what could be achieved and am excited now about developing this further.
However, towards the end of 2020 I hit another period of overwhelm when the fear of putting myself ‘out there’ crept in and self-doubt took over. This time around my creativity and business pursuits. Having turned my back on a 25 year accountancy career to become a creative and entrepreneur I suppose I should have expected it! Old voices were back in my head telling me I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t creative, I didn’t know enough, I couldn’t do this, I didn’t deserve it. I got stuck procrastinating, with my fear of not being perfect, criticism, judgement etc taking over to the point where I felt paralysed.
My mindset was holding me back, but I did not know quite how to sort it out. I just knew I would have to deal with it before I could move forward. I felt that I needed to completely overhaul myself and my lifestyle to become a person who could take a dream and have the courage, the personal skills, and the competence to do turn it into a reality. I was filled with too much self-doubt to be that person, so I had to make some changes. However, I did not know where to start! I stumbled across the Female Entrepreneur Association, on social media, founded by Carrie Green. That one step of joining the membership group, enabled me to move forward, get out of my own way and start taking steps towards achieving my goals. The resources helped me develop a better mindset for creativity and business, create a lifestyle that started to feel like an upgrade to my previous one and more authentic, get clear on my business mission and start to acquire the skills to make it happen.
Over the last few months, using the membership resources, listening to motivational audio books constantly, making necessary changes, I learned strategies to quieten the voices and start being proactive and intentional in the pursuit of my dreams and am here now, excitedly launching a new business which would never have seen the light of day without these resources. The whole process of creating and launching a new business and going through the development needed to get there has also helped me identify the person I am and want to become (yes, still hadn’t figured this out as a grown up), how I want to live my life and show up for the people in it on a personal and professional level. A key factor to moving forward was taking action, breaking things down into manageable single steps to reduce overwhelm and focusing on the benefits and positive outcomes that would arise, rather than the difficulties to overcome.
One thing which became important to me was to create a positive start to each day which would energise and motivate me through the day and ultimately make me more productive. I started with one thing and added single things over time to improve how I start and move through each day and be more intentional in how I live (no more drifting/sleepwalking for me). Everyone is different but here are a few basic actions that could work for you:
- Get more sleep (I realised that I had been sleep deprived for most of my life)
- Go for a short brisk morning walk (having struggled to motivate myself to go running regularly, I tried but could not find a good enough excuse not to go for a short daily walk)
- Feed your mind motivation (Audio books, podcasts, TED talks)
- Set daily goals (No more endless ‘To Do’ lists. A 1-3 MUST do, achievable daily goal list)
To see a long-term benefit the critical thing here is to make any changes sustainable, otherwise we give up and this reinforces old beliefs like “I just don’t have any will power” (sound familiar?).
What one positive action can you take in your life today to live more fully? One single positive change, even if it is only to make you personally feel better, can impact how your day goes, how you interact with and impact others and before you know it you have created a wave of positivity that will extend beyond you. That is quite a powerful force.
The number one came up a lot for me in the last 12 months, from questioning the value of my contribution as one individual, to breaking down tasks to the next one step to take, to setting one achievable goal, taking one day at a time and I would come across quotes around the importance of one. Alongside this, when I think of environmental issues there is one photographic image of a single turtle tangled in a plastic drinks holder that always comes to the fore. Together with the mythical world turtle, supporting or containing the world and the turtle’s symbolism of longevity, endurance, persistence and the continuation of life, the Universe seemed to lead me towards ‘One Turtle Studio’ as my new business name, and so here we are.
So going back to the question of “what difference can I make?” Turns out that as one person taking one action you and I might be able to make quite a lot of difference; to our own lives, those of our families and friends, and to the wider communities that we serve. Are you ready to use that power?
