Unique contribution canvas

Knowing that what is unfolding now is what scientists had for-told, and in some cases worse; knowing that we only have a window of few years to make major shifts… gives me major climate anxiety 😰 Not to mention the increase of armed conflict, economic inequality, and all kinds of discrimination.

The only thing keeping me sane is the knowledge that I am investing my life energy in the most impactful way I can. That I am continuously striving to embody more of the future that I wish to see. That many other are doing the same, striving to make their unique contribution to a better future. That we are many walking this path.

That systems change, powered by personal change, is the most meaningful strategy I can think of. That even if all fails, if we do not prevent ecosystem collapse and see this civilisation end, my efforts will have potentially contributed to avoiding the worst, and to creating some seeds of a better future, some stepping stones for the next civilsation. When despair knocks on my door, I remind myself that I am not alone in this, and recall this quote. A small group of thoughtful, committed citizens absolutely is capable of changing the world. We are many, and I’m glad to be walking, working and learning alongside you.

Artist unknown. Please let me know if you recognise the image.

My strong sense of purpose and of making my contribution, best I can, keeps me anchored both in reality and in what I know could be. Here is how I imagine this contribution, visually:

Me nurturing potential and speaking the future into being 🤲🏻✨ I found this imagine a long time ago, and it just spoke to me. What do you imagine a representation of yourself doing your best Work like? What would be a metaphor of your calling? It can be scary to really share what makes you come alive, but it’s so freeing and we need you!

One of the questions I get asked most often though is: how can I find my purpose? Amidst this complexity and all the possible causes I could dedicate myself to, how can I find what is mine to contribute?

First of all, it’a a process, and not one that ever ends. Purpose evolves over time. Self-knowledge as well as an awareness of the ecosystem(s) you are part of is a constant practice, and will always reveal new things to you.

Over time, I developed and found a number of tools and concepts that can help hone in on that unique contribution. For a workshop at the University of Maastricht in November 2023, I consolidated those in a visual canvas. This is intended as a starting point - see below.

You can download yours here.

Here’s how to use it:

1) List any values that are important to you. Google a list of values in case you need some inspiration. Then narrow it down to 3. To do so, compare them, asking: if I have value X, would I be okay without value Y?

2) List your strengths. What are good at, naturally or because you trained yourself at it? What are your talents? For this, something that helped me was to ask 3 people who’ve worked with me in different roles what they would say my top three skills or strengths are. After collecting, narrow it down again.

3) List your passions. What do you just love doing? Don’t limit yourself to what we’ve been told is “work”, include anything from art, to specific sports or listening to others. Narrow it down to 3.

4) List the causes you most care about. Not what you think you should care about most, but the issues that just naturally have always touched or attracted you most. The environment? People? Inequality? You can be as specific as you wish, just any topic that is really close to your heart. Again, try to get it down to 3.

5) Connect to your vision for the future. One exercise to do this could be to have future you, say 50 years from now, write a letter to you now. What is it like? What’s the dream? How is your personal utopia taking shape?

6) Try to understand the cause that you are focusing on not just in its symptoms, but in its complexity. For this, use the iceberg model. Additionally, you could use the 5R model to find potential leverage points.

7) In general, make sure that you design an intervention or develop a contribution that is fitting to the kind of impact you wish to have. More on this in another blogpost.

8) And don’t forget to strive to embody the change you wish to see, to align your work and your life with your values. That is a key part of contributing to a paradigm shift.

I hope you enjoy this canvas!

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman