I was asked a few weeks ago to prepare a presentation for a wonderful group of people known as the Zinc Founders, as part of their Venture Builder training programme. If those phrases go over your head slightly – let me explain! The Zinc Venture Builder is an annual programme where a group of diverse yet like-minded individuals are gathered, after a careful application process, to use their creativity and knowledge to address one of Zinc’s key ‘Missions’ – globally pressing topics that we need the best and brightest among us to turn their minds to. And one of these missions is none other than ‘Mental Health’ – so no surprise I was so keen to assist by joining the mission as a Fellow. Flic and I thought long and hard about the presentation, and I ended up delivering a 50 minute talk and Q&A on the topic of ‘Content with heart: achieving impact and integrity.’ These topics have really defined my entire career, and I was able to talk about all sorts of things – my telly career, our wonderful Happynesshub, and of course Bow-Wowza (Archie Archibald’s name was mentioned no less than 15 times!). The feedback from the Founders was wonderful to hear, and I was able to bring some of my favourite quotes into the discussion, which I have shared here to capture a little of what was spoken about in the presentation:
‘Every action has an impact: choose wisely the impact you want to have.’ – Mindy Hall
‘Leading with integrity and empathy requires vision and a connection to your deepest self.’ – Karla McLean
‘As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself. Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.’ – Nelson Mandela
Besides such a lovely opportunity to share my passions with new people, the talk was a privilege because I was among inspiring and driven individuals, each with vision and a great sense of purpose. We talk about purpose a lot at the Happynesshub, and for good reason; a sense of purpose is indispensable in cultivating a meaningful life, and psychologists recognise that purpose is distinct from happiness, yet intricately linked to it. The Zinc Founders are on the programme because they have a real commitment to improving mental health for this generation and the next, and it was so uplifting for my first in-person speech since the pandemic to be in an environment such as this.
What’s giving you purpose at the moment? Why not reflect on this a little over the weekend and beyond? It’s a question worth returning to occasionally, since our sense of purpose changes and reorients itself as we ourselves do. I’m going to be thinking about this as we approach the holiday season – it can only be a good thing to get a head start on mental preparation for the New Year before the hectic times of Christmas! And speaking of which, keep an eye on your emails for a little Happynesshub Advent news…nothing big, but hopefully something to put a smile on your face in the coming days.