I'm giving a talk tomorrow for the first 30 donors to Cycle 4, the non-profit I am launching.
This is the start of a long and beautiful adventure.
For those of you that don't know, Cycle 4 is Cycle 4 is a communitarian networking website that connects western professionals with people in the developing world, and facilitates the flow of funds between the two. You can download more information at www.cycle4.org (we are 100% non profit, we get 100% of your donation in to the hands of those who need it, and no one is paid for their work on Cycle 4).
Our first relationships are off the ground - 27 western professionals have reached out and are improving the lives of 27 people in India, Africa and London. The projects include the funding of IT diplomas, sanitation projects, study scholarships and start up funds.
it's exciting to be causing this stuff.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. That's where I'm at.
It feels lucky to have that feeling at 30. Over the weekend I was counting how many of my friends are married now with children on the way, or moving out of town or similar. And I realized for the first time that I had no melancholy around the whole thing. I was happy to be on my own, working on my project in London town, taking the first small steps on this journey of a thousand miles. Now I'm on this path, I feel so settled, so intentional, so sure... Peaceful.
After we go through change and growth, it's tough to communicate to people. I feel the best I ever have right now, but people all around me think I am losing it! Grabbing a coffee or a meal with a friend here and there doesn't really suffice in terms of real communication. So I look at tomorrow as a great chance to have people relate to me as what I am up to in the world, as opposed to how they know me from our youth or otherwise. It's a wonderful opportunity and I'm looking forward to it.
It's interesting we have 27 relationships set up. In 1976 a gentleman in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, launched a project that leant $42 to 27 families. That project became The Grameen Bank, and last year the bank leant $2.2bn to over 1m families. Oh, and Professor Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize.
I feel like I'm at the start of a similar journey. Every now and again in life, we become present to boundless, infinite potential - possibility in it's truest form. This is how I feel right now.
Without wanting to sound egotistical, which is difficult in a blog which is all about how I am being and what I am doing, I feel the seeds of my legacy have been planted.
27 people helped... A billion or so to go.
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