You know what they say, “A point in every direction is the same as no point at all.” As a self evaluating person, I have identified establishing a clear-cut blueprint (no pun intended) as an area of improvement for THHG. Fortunately, July 2nd will be our 6-month mark, so it is a good time to establish further goals. And, I have some data and direction about the possibilities of THHG! Who doesn’t love good data, am I right?
So, here are my thoughts:
- I want to cultivate kindness, win-win thinking, and empowerment in a world that struggles with an excess of hardships, I-win-you-lose thinking, and pressure to conform to some ridiculous standard.
- I consider ridiculous standards, gender bias, and the brutal challenges of life as “glass ceilings” in peoples lives. Whether it is pressure to conform to the looks of the “popular” group in hopes of acceptance, being told engineering or STEM or going to college isn’t an option for you, or struggling with depression, or the loss of a loved one, or a hard home life. Somewhere along the line everyone fights their own battle, and sometimes that “baggage” weighs you down and seemingly puts a ceiling over your head.
- Many people are blessed with supportive family and great friends. People to go to in hard times, people to celebrate with, people to help figure out the road to victory (straight through said ceiling). But many people don’t have those people. And it is a real shame.
- This disconnect between some people and a strong support system is not empowering and does not encourage people to stand up and shatter their glass ceiling. It isn’t easy, and sometimes it’s damn near impossible, to overcome life’s challenges. This is where “silos” form. Silos as in cliques or boundaries (ex. thinking I can’t be an astronaut because I am not smart, or I am not skinny enough to be called beautiful, etc.). Consider a middle schooler being bullied and told that he/she is fat, dumb, and ugly. That kid is going to think that is true, and react like it is true. Maybe she ends up starving herself because she now thinks she’s fat. Maybe a 12-year-old impressionable boy is told the same thing. He then feels too stupid to achieve his long time goal of being an Air Force pilot. What people say affects how people feel- and what people feel affects how people think- and what people think drives their actions. It is a double edge sword. There is an opportunity to make this reality a game changer for people world wide: if we can influence how people treat one another, it will change how people feel. If we can influence how people feel, it will influence what people think. And if we can influence how people think…. well holy hard hats we can influence what people do.
So… I hope that wasn’t so dry it didn’t make you reach for the eye drops because here comes the BLUEPRINT!
Building materials: THHG, all 15 (and counting) hardhats, a mission to help people JUST STAND UP, a tool box of resources (books, people, connections) and the power of positivity.
Laying the Foundation: Continue to grow a following on social media and in real life by ramping up my activity in the community, wearing hard hats to continue building connections and publicity, continue blogging and vlogging (ideally on a more regular basis), and by turning 99% of problems into opportunities (i.e. making a delay in the airport a networking frenzy).
Construction crew assemble!: You know the book, “If You Give a Moose a Muffin?” Well I think that snowball effect is one of the greatest opportunities to turn a problem into an opportunity. Therefore, I am doing 90 random acts of kindness by Jan 2, 2018. Why 90 you say? 6 months*15 hardhats= 90. Kindness fuels kindness. I am going for a chain reaction of acts of kindness. I hope to spotlight other people living the “hard hat life” either continuing the kindness reaction, or shattering their own glass ceiling.
Framing: THHG is hoping to do workshops and speak at school assemblies to directly reach adolescent kids while still impressionable. But it doesn’t stop there- the target market is… parents. Parents, specifically dads, that I have talked to want more than anything for their kids to have open opportunities. Kids usually do not want to listen to their parents. So they need someone else. Someone to show them it is okay not to look like the people in magazines, someone to show them you only need two things to get anywhere: persistence and a plan, and someone to show them how to turn a failure into fuel. Numerous dads I have talked to resonate with this idea so much, it has become clear we need more of these kinds of people in the world.
Hanging the dry wall: I will continue to do workshops and speak at schools, but aim for influencing more people than I can personally meet. For that I will again turn to the power of social media as well as taking every feasible opportunity to empower others via the news, speaking at some big event, or trying to get on Ellen or Oprah or the like.
Securing the certificate of occupancy: Ideally I will have influenced what and how people say and act to others in such a way that the THHG mission can live on. Even if I need to allocate my time to things other than full time hard-hatting.
Yikes. I feel like I should order myself some road cones and a fluorescent safety vest. That is a big project, with a lot of ground to cover. But I have persistence and a plan! Step zero is asking for your help: if you see value in the THHG mission, share social media pages, my site, or my message with everyone and anyone you want to. I love questions, so if you have one, CONTACT ME! When you shatter your own glass ceiling, reach out because I would love to spotlight people who are living the hard hat life!