“You should come with me to COP28 in Dubai”, was the simple invitation. “Your voice is needed there. No one there talks like you.”
And boom, just like that, the invitation I had been waiting for showed up. The only question was: what do I do with it?
It was “only” and exactly one year ago when I dared start saying a few simple words. An “impossible goal” that I had come up with – to be part of the team that wins the Nobel Peace Prize for solving climate change.
I had no idea what would happen, or what to do about it. The essential piece to any impossible goal is you literally can’t plan for it. But I would start saying it in front of people. Again, and again. And it would get easier, and easier to say.
And my world started to change. First with small things, things I control, and then bigger things. And only a few weeks ago did I feel I had learned enough from my own impossible goal journey that I hosted a Zoom. And someone was in that room, who saw something in me.
“Chris, I see you’re looking for amplification. Let me be your amplifier.”
COP28 is the climate change conference put on by the UN (or Conference of Parties). Over 70,000 people will be there, from world leaders, diplomats, to innovators and activists.
It makes sense that the next phase for me is to “get into the room” with these people and see what happens.
At first I hesitated. My mind started throwing road blocks at me; how can I be a climate activist and also fly in a jet across the world? However, the real road block was a competing commitment I have to my wife. My wife has been dealing with really bad long Covid symptoms since last May. The “return to normal” has been paid for on the backs of the most medically vulnerable, my wife included. It’s been a tough pill.
When I told my wife of the offer, Robin immediately responded in tears and fear. AND Robin acknowledged that the reasons I was invited to go is exactly why I should go – that I am a unique voice and will bring something different and needed to that room. Our regularly scheduled couples therapy happened to be the next day and we were able to work through the fears and challenge. There were a lot of tears, mostly from me now. I spoke of how special this particular invitation was – I wasn’t being asked to do anything, or change myself, or jump through a hoop, or get passed a gatekeeper, but invited for who I am and how I already show up. Following our therapy call I bought the ticket to go.
I decided to let serendipity lead the way on this. I don’t know what will happen next.
The next day I started looking at what was going on during my time there, and I came across a list of speakers and noticed one of the speaking categories was “Positive Mindsets”. As soon as I saw that, my goal shifted from “get in the room” to “get ON THE STAGE.” It was now game on. I sent my first speaker proposal the very next day after that – to talk about the thing that got me there – impossible goals. I’m hungry for the story that the first climate conference I attended was the biggest there is, and I got on the stage. That’s the game I like to play. My “selfish desire” is to be on that stage.
I’m fighting the stories in my head that it’s “too late” to get on the stage. That everything is already planned. I’m going to focus on what it is that I have control over which is make as many proposals as I can.
And that’s it. That’s where I am. And that’s how fast everything can change.
What is a takeaway from the story I just shared that you can implement in your life today?
