Changing The Stories We Tell Ourselves About What's Possible
Changing The Stories We Tell Ourselves About What's Possible is now live on the Hope. Act. Thrive podcast with our special guest, Megan Fraser
Why you’ll want to listen to this episode.
“It's not about sticking our fingers in our ears and trying to block out the bad news. It's about embracing a story that is much more likely to serve us. To unlock creativity, to unlock innovation, to unlock collaboration - than some other stories that we tell ourselves” says Megan Fraser, leadership coach for climate entrepreneurs and a founding member of Climate Change Coaches.
In this conversation we talk about how we can use coaching skills (even as non-coaches!) to help us process difficult emotions around climate anxiety, build agency, and keep us all 'on the pitch' long-term.
This episode is supported by Climate Change Coaches, which sparks possibility about climate change and equips people to lead and inspire action that changes systems. Charly Cox and Sarah Flynn, who are both part of the Climate Change Coaches team, have just released a new book: Climate Change Coaching: The Power of Connection to Create Climate Action. Their book explains why changing for our climate is so hard and why coaching offers a key to affecting behaviour.
Why we were thrilled to chat with Megan.
Megan Fraser is a leadership coach for climate entrepreneurs, a founding member of Climate Change Coaches, and mum to a little boy.
She believes that two of the most powerful words in any language are: 'what if?'. She believes that the stories we tell ourselves about what's possible -- in ourselves, in our communities, and across our planet -- have enormous impact, and should be chosen carefully rather than accepted unthinkingly.
She spends her days coaching climate entrepreneurs and founders, and training others on how to use coaching skills to build agency in the climate crisis. She lives in Edinburgh with her family.
Words from Megan you won’t want to miss.
“It's not about sticking our fingers in our ears and trying to block out the bad news. It's about embracing a story that is much more likely to serve us, to unlock creativity, to unlock innovation, to unlock collaboration than some other stories that we tell ourselves.”
“We think it's either hope or it's despair or it's either success or it's failure. And so I think a lot of the work we need to do, especially around climate change and big systemic issues, is that we need to make space for them both.”
“Many of us know that if we just focus on the doing and just forget all about the being, we're going to end up burning out. Coaching skills really help us to connect and to tap into the being.”
“We need that connection to create that systems change that will ultimately make the difference when it comes to climate change.”
“I have a lot of hope when I look back at times when people thought progress wasn't possible or societal transformation wasn't possible, and then it was.”
“The reality of systems change is that it's not linear. There are tipping points and intervention points, and we can't always see when those are happening. If you think about water, when it becomes ice, it's liquid right up until the time that suddenly it freezes. So we have no idea about the changes that we're having right now in our lives, and we're far more powerful than we give ourselves credit for.”
How can you listen?
Listen to this conversation on Apple, Google, or Spotify.
And if you just can’t get enough of us, do come hang out with us on on Instagram and Twitter. We share real tips for real parents, and help you to turn eco anxiety and gloom into fun and playful action. Plus you’ll regularly see us make fools of ourselves on Instagram reels.
