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GROWnings
Look Back to Go Forward!
Jess:
“The only time you should ever look back is to see how far you’ve come!”
Too true, reflection, especially self-reflection is very important in all of our lives. Sometimes we can all feel like we’re stuck or not progressing the way we want to, and then it’s time look back, make a few tweaks and changes and go forward with all your might! Look back but keep it brief, focus on your goals and don’t lose sight of them whether it relates to your children, your parenting, your home, your work or anything else in fact. Striving for our goals gives us focus, reaching them gives us gratification, exceeding them gives us success!
People work in all sorts of ways, but one thing is true, if we don’t take stock and get a fresh perspective, we won’t be able to assess where we are, who we are, what could be done better and what we really need. Dig deep, explore and don’t be afraid to take a new direction! We live here on this mad planet, a planet from which we can gain no real perspective (how big are we in the whole universe? How much do our actions matter?) and we have a finite amount of time, so let’s do our best, leave a legacy worth working for.
This is our story of the past six months of GROWbox - innovation, change, relationships, learning, exploring, tweaking, sweating, laughing! Moments of joy as a child receiving the GROWbox learns something new about how to look after our planet matched with hours of hard work and frustration to make things better - it’s easy to get lost in the bigger-better-more loop!
Bethia: GROWbox is entering its sixth month in November as a concept. We started out with a let’s-give-it-six-months plan and now that we are here, it is time to review things and see what we have learnt:
1. Movement and energy need fuel:
There must be a driving force in projects like this. A cause or an idea that you believe in and have done for a long time so that it’s not just a whim or a momentary fancy. For the GROWbox project, what drives us is the belief that action must be taken to protect the natural world. We want our kids to become adults in a world where the trajectory is moving towards protecting the natural environment, living in harmony with it and understanding the intrinsic value of it. At the moment in our society, there are steps in that direction but we are still mainly focused on using it for our benefit at its expense. I recommend David Attenborough’s A Life On Our Planet which is his witness statement and a really powerful summary of his life’s work and his conclusions on where we are now.
2. Two way conversation is much better:
It’s much easier nowadays to get a response and feedback from people who are engaging in your marketing, product or social media presence. It’s easy to click ‘like’ or write a comment etc. But in other ways it’s a lot harder because we are competing with a tidal wave of attention seeking material coming at people all day and everyday! Engagement is key - you have to know that your efforts are hitting the right spot and that your product is both usable and useful.
We have had some really useful feedback and some of it really obvious when it came to us but we hadn’t seen that perspective. One recent change is the layout of the GROWbox - it was overwhelming and difficult to know where to start but now each theme has a separate section and is secured together so that it’s harder for a child to open it and spread it all over the floor!
3. Don’t fear ‘the dip’:
I read a book called ‘The Dip’ by Seth Godin about learning when the dip comes (which it inevitably will), whether to quit or to push through it. Quitting is a dirty word for a lot of us but it’s actually very wise - if something isn’t working out then why not put your time and effort into something that will? It’s not failure, it’s logical! Alternately, if the dip comes on a project that has a future then don’t quit - put your head down and battle through. The clever thing is to know which is which!
There is a lot about the GROWbox that has worked - a subscription box in a global pandemic works. Eco-education and engaging children in environmental appreciation and care is popular and important at the moment. But there are things that haven’t worked - because we have four themes, it’s not a simple, easy concept to understand what the GROWbox is. We have made loads of mistakes as we have learnt new things - Facebook Lives, for example, had a lot of technical issues and were uncomfortable to do!
So, at the end of the five months, we have learnt a lot! We want to say thank you to all our supporters. Thank you SO very much to anyone who has bought a GROWbox and put so much faith in it that you would part with your precious money! Thank you to everyone who has engaged with us on social media - this matters to us because it is a voice coming back and community being made. Thank you to those who have given their time, skills and effort to support this project! Thank you to our friends and family who have encouraged us and pointed out the things that are going well and kept kindly quiet (until asked) about the things that aren’t!
Most of all, a BIG THANK YOU to the next generation who are the reason why we are compelled to do this - we want better for you and for the world you will inherit from us.
Our new look November GROWbox! Available now with discount code NOV20.
Jess: What do you need to reflect on, and what changes will you make for the better?! Let’s work together, support each other and make this world an even more beautiful place!
We have a few big changes and treats up our sleeve - we’ll share more with you shortly, so stay tuned all you planet protectors - Your Christmas may well be saved after all! If you want to stay ahead of the curve, join our mailing list (we only send the important stuff!).
We are the creators of GROWbox, for budding planet-friendly kids. GROWbox is an educational resource and subscription box providing personalised learning resources engaging children in planet and people. The activities focus on getting in touch with nature and encouraging a desire to protect it, promoting better mental and physical wellbeing, allowing space for creativity and connectivity.
Find out more on our Website, Facebook group,and Instagram Feed.