If everyone in the world had coaching or therapy then it’d all be ok.
I used to think that access would change everything.
I thought that if you gave everyone access to a therapist or coach then the world would change.
I believed that if individuals changed, then the world would change.
I still believe that, to an extent, because I believe something else too.
The world, our communities and our mental health are far more complex than individuals alone.
Groups, systems, power, money, environments, governments all play a huge part in mental health.
The systems we create and the people who hold power in those systems have an abnormal amount of impact on collective mental health.
If everyone in the world had coaching or therapy then I do believe the world would transform, yet not everyone will and the people who hold all the power, are the ones I believe who would benefit from these practices most and enact the most collective change as a result.
Here are some basic examples:
Everyone in a country could see a coach or a therapist and be enlightened, yet if the King is a tyrant and is oppressing the people nothing will change and people will be depressed.
Everyone in the company could see a coach or a therapist and be enlightened, yet it the office building they work in 5 days a week, 10 hours a day had no windows people would be unhappy.
Everyone in the town could see a coach or a therapist and be enlightened, yet if the council left rubbish on their streets people would be upset.
Everyone in the world could see a coach or a therapist and be enlightened, yet if the world was burning people would feel existential dread
These examples are clumsy. I’m making the point that mental health interventions are not as black and white as a product supporting an individual. The way our communities are served, the way our countries are run and the way our businesses are organised make overwhelming contributions to people’s health.
This is how I feel about mental health now.
We’ve got mental health support into the hands of millions in the West.
Yet I look out into the world and because people in power and systems of power haven’t changed a lot, our collective transformation has hit a ceiling.
I deeply believe that we are living within an evolution of human consciousness and I deeply believe that this evolution is what will move the world forward to a healthy and sustainable future.
Yet what I used to believe was that a grass roots movement of people working on their mental health alone would be enough to dramatically change the world.
I believed millions of meditators would get us there.
I believed millions of people in therapy would get us there.
I believed millions of people in ice baths every day would get us there.
I believe in my heart, they’ll get us closer. We’ll all get us closer.
What I believe now is that beyond this grass roots movement we need leaders and people in power to change the systems that serve our world.
If I could get anyone in the UK access to coaching and therapy it would be all of our MPs and Local Government officials.
It would be the leaders in the NHS, in Education.
I’d put a Sanctus Coach in the room with Jonathan Gullis.
I’d send Putin to group therapy with Trump and Andrew Tate.
Grass roots movements in mental health, consciousness and how we live and connect to the world around us.
Yes, a big tick.
Coaching for leaders, support for leaders to change old systems to lead with heart, compassion and kindness. More listening in board rooms, in Westminster. More empathy, more connection in rooms where decisions are made that impact millions of people.
Yes and that too, a big almighty tick.
Cheers,
James x
SUPPORT MY WRITING
Head to Patreon for...
regular CRAZY TALK
JACK THE LAD updates
Or, you can give me a one-off tip for my writing (here's the Tip Jar)
Thank you everyone for supporting my creative journey, the main newsletter will always be free :)
Thank you to the CRAZY PATRONS
- TIMBO
- KELLY
- GUTHRIE
:)
Writing
Who am I?
Writer, founder, husband, always tanned.
Wannabe poet, imposter, taboo buster.
Thinker, philosopher, not a drinker
Joker, chancer, bad dancer.
shoulder chipped Stokie
champagne hippie
Asks questions,
the big ones
best ones.
Always
asking
Who
am
I?