2024 started with Build The Colony, a place for nurturing camaraderie through shared interest and effort". This is a reduction from the four strategic horizons of 2023, as I suspected camaraderie of a specific type was the missing element for improved well-being. By extension, improved well being would lead to increased productivity so I could make the things I wanted to make.
To build The Colony, I saw the main task as attracting colonists, which entailed creating compelling reasons for people to want to join. This is an organizational challenge which I'm somewhat familiar with. Also, I needed to become comfortable with taking the mantle of leadership, despite my reluctance.
I saw the organizational challenge as
- Finding opportunities to explain the governance model for the Colony
- Explaining the benefits of being part of the Colony
The next 14 days of the GHDR kickoff were spent creating ideas for The Colony, the seeds of promotional material. I realized that the Colony itself might be too big, so it was downscaled to a concept called The Outpost which was less of a town and more like a provisioning store one might find on the way to an adventure.
Insights
- The idea of being Primarily Prosocially Motivated, which seemed to be to be a rare archetype. Without prosocial factors, my innate motivation to do anything is essentially zero. I seem to have a deep need to create/do things with others who are genuinely engaged and above all want to include others.
- Recognizing the uncertainty was a strong demotivators. Reducing uncertainty was a major mitigation for resistance to doing, but is not a replacement for motivation.
- Promoting the trope All the Animals are Friends as a more delightful and whimsical way to package The Colony, as it is about emotional benefit and safety. The Colony, by comparison, is more idealistic and rational.
- Recognized that prolonged lack of connectedness from work and social interaction had drained my battery to zero, leading to very bad mental health spiraling. Visiting family in California helped reconnect under new rules of understanding: people are not as wired to seek intimate high-energy high-bandwith communication or seek adventure in this way, and it's not my fault. It is possible to engage with them on their own terms and retain my own standards.