As a person who can inspire you and may change your opinion when you discuss with her, Greta decided to rejoin again The Unleash Project this year. After a huge success of her training last year, she will be back for a session on "Letting go - Befriending your inner critic" at the Personal Development weekend in Zurich. We are grateful that she took the time to talk with us and give a powerful message to the future participants.
Please tell us about your experience for the Unleash project last year?
It was overall a very positive experience! I enjoyed leading a workshop on personal wellbeing in Bern, but above all, I loved seeing my colleagues in action and learning from their ideas and experience. It felt like The Unleash Project was built in such a way that everyone was able to give and receive knowledge and expertise – everyone was a learner.
Why did you decide to "come back" to The Unleash Project this year?
I am curious to see what this second edition of The Unleash Project will bring to the world based on the first year and I absolutely want to be part of this. I am very grateful to have been invited to facilitate another workshop, this time in Zurich, and I look forward to engaging with all other facilitators and participants!
We understood that the topic of this year is "Letting go - Befriending your inner critic". Please tell us a little bit about this training.
Have you ever experienced a voice at the back of your awareness that tells you that you are not qualified enough for that job, that you do not deserve the love of your partner, that you are not beautiful enough, smart enough, courageous enough…? Sometimes you can control these thoughts; but other times they seem to overwhelm you and dictated your reactions. That voice is the voice of your inner critic; we all have one – it is part of the human experience. This training will invite participants to reflect deeply on their self-limiting beliefs and habitual thoughts to maintain a healthy relationship with their inner critic, an essential element to wellbeing.
What are you looking forward to this training?
This training can be very powerful and intense, so I am looking forward to creating a safe space with all participants to allow for transformative and healing experiences to take place.
You are Co-founder of ImpactAimers. You may guide the young entrepreneurs through an exploration of their passion and talents to develop essential competences. In this aspect, what do you think about the role of The Unleash Project and its impact on the world?
The Unleash project is particularly important because it helps people to understand the interconnectedness of their work in relation to themselves and others, their community and society, and the wider world. There is no separation, only connectedness. So we must learn to improve our relationship with ourselves if we wish to bring about positive change in the world. This simple concept is by no means easy to grasp so I am grateful that The Unleash Project creates a space for people to experiment and learn together.
Do you plan to join The Unleash Project in next year?
If you’ll invite me back, absolutely!
Besides various engagements, you were Youth Coach. Indeed, making a change, helping transformative people are what we really need to make a better world. If you can send a message to the young people in our society now, what do you would like to say to them?
My message to the young people in our society now is not to wait to take the first steps as changemakers. You don’t have to follow traditional paths until you are fifty and then start “giving back” to the world. The world needs your passion and your courage, your energy and your talent, your motivation and your creativity… and it needs you now. Having said so, don’t rush – take your time to understand yourself better, to discover your purpose, and to choose a path that will allow you to honour your values. We live in a time of urgency, but we must confront chaos with calmness of being.
Remember — don't wait to take the first steps as changemakers! Sign-up for the first weekend of The Unleash Project (22 - 23 September in Zurich) now!
Greta is the co-founder and Chief Empathy Officer (CEO) of Ākāśa Innovation, a not-for-profit social enterprise in London that prepares, inspires and empowers a new generation of changemakers to co-create a world for all life to flourish in. Greta is also the co-founder of ImpactAimers, an initiative that empowers young changemakers through immersive residential experiences; and of Recipes for Wellbeing, an initiative that aims to create and spread a culture of wellbeing in the field of changemaking. Additionally, she is the European Regional Coordinator of ChangemakerXchange, a programme by Ashoka, and the Project Manager of the 2017-2018 Social Innovation to Tackle Fuel Poverty programme, a partnership between Ashoka and the Schneider Electric Foundation. Greta holds a BA (Hons) in International Relations and is a qualified coach and facilitator in radical collaboration, and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
The interview was made by Quynh-Giang Nguyen who is part of our wonderful volunteer host team.