Choosing Change: How Bold Mindsets Will Save the World

Anne Therese Gennari

Founder, The Climate Optimist

New York, New York

Anne Therese Gennari is an entrepreneur, speaker, and environmental activist. She’s the founder of The Climate Optimist, Role Models Management, online community The Collective, and “Hey Change Podcast,” a show where she interviews activists and thought leaders to inspire positive change. As an educator and consultant, she helps shift the narrative around climate change so that we can act from courage and excitement, not fear.

“WHAT IT REALLY COMES DOWN TO IS FINDING THE COURAGE TO CHOOSE CHANGE.”

CHOOSING CHANGE:

HOW BOLD MINDSETS WILL CHANGE THE WORLD

BY ANNE THERESE GENNARI

What future could we find ourselves in if we kept room in our hearts for the unimaginable? When it comes to climate change, the only hope we truly have is to be found in that courage.

When I was in my early 20s, I read a quote on my Instagram feed that changed my life. The quote said, “Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” Ever since reading that, my life began to change in the most unbelievable ways because I realized that I have no idea what the future looks like. When you think about it: what does it mean to imagine the unimaginable? How do we envision something we’ve never seen or experienced? More importantly, how much are we holding ourselves back because we forget those unimaginable futures exist?

If we were to go back 100 years and tell someone that in the future, everyone is going to have this thing in their pocket that allowed them to see their family in real time in just a few seconds, they would’ve thought we were crazy, right? That is what makes me so excited. I get this question a lot: What does it mean to be a climate optimist? What do I base my optimism on? There’s a lot to unpack there, but the thing that makes me optimistic more than anything else is the ability to choose change and come back to this realization that we don’t know what the future looks like. Then I use that excitement and curiosity to fuel my commitment to do whatever we can right now to pull that future closer. What future is possible if we only dare to dream and believe?

If we’re busy talking about what the world looks like now, how will we find the time to envision a new one? And if we can’t envision a new world or believe that things can get better, how will we ever find the courage to choose change? Because what it really comes down to is finding the courage to choose change.

As Greta Thunberg famously says, “Change is coming whether we like it or not.” But what if change isn’t a bad thing? What if change is the best thing that could ever happen to us? We just have to see it, to actively work for what we want to happen instead of trying to avoid what we don’t want. Maybe it all comes down to choosing change before change chooses us. We tend to worry because we don’t know what the future looks like. We fear change because we don’t know what that change will bring. But we also know that everything we’ve ever built, invented, or created has come from an ability to look beyond what we know to be true now.

When we talk about climate change, we’re usually asked to panic. We hear that we have to act now, or we’ll be failing future generations. We’re told that it’s our duty and responsibility to do the right thing. Yes, it is. But it’s also our opportunity to step into the roles of heroes and do the things that have never been done before. We have to come together and collaborate across borders. We have to let go of old habits and beliefs. Now is not a time to be right or wrong. No matter how many retweets or likes you get for your opinion, now is the time to ask questions, expand our horizons, and continue to find the courage to choose change. The renowned American architect William McDonough famously said, “The Stone Age did not end because humans ran out of stone. It ended because it was time for a rethink about how we live.” We’re there right now at the bridge of a new era. You get to help write the script of what’s next to come.

As a climate optimist, I often get asked: Why even bother? Isn’t it too late? My answer is because we don’t have a choice, and we have nothing to lose, only to win. We don’t know what kind of future we will find ourselves in if we keep some room in our hearts for the unimaginable. We can do this. We have all the thoughts, ideas, and creativity in the world to rethink society as we know it. All we have to do now is tap into those resources and choose change. I think that we will look back at these times and say, “We will forever be grateful for those who had the courage to question everything.”