A Warning about Inner World Development
There’s a ‘catch’ to all this Inner World Development stuff. I think it’s important that I warn you before we go any further. While I personally believe the cost is worth what the Inner World offers, I realize that not everyone is so willing or able to pay up. And to be totally fair, it is the cost that often stops people from moving forward with total abandon towards this gold mine that exists inside of us.
My husband used to work at a literal gold mine in the Yukon. When other guys hear about this they practically drool over the idea and instantly give my husband some kind of 'hero' status. Everybody loves the idea of the work but very few people seem to want to pay the cost to be the guy who actually mines gold.
I’ve been to the Yukon. I’ve lived with these ‘Gold Miners’. They work 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week for 6-9 months in a remote camp that you can only fly into. They live in total isolation, work in extreme weather, have crappy internet and push their physical, emotional and spiritual limits to complete the job. There is a cost to pay to live that life and be that guy. This price is more natural to pay when you already don’t fit in the normal options of say a 9-5 work life.
When you actively develop your inner world, your outer world will change. Our Inner Worlds are so intricately connected that, like the Rube Goldberg Machines, there is no action in the inner world without a myriad of reactions in the outer world. While this is wonderful news in many ways, it’s also a clear warning that you cannot engage in this work and not see massive shifts in the reality around you. So if this is new work for you, it might feel like going from a 9-5 job where everything is ‘normal’ to suddenly working in an atypical job like gold mining and feeling shocked by the difference in reality, isolation or conditions.
Inner World Development is totally worth it to those who already feel like they're somewhat isolated, in a different reality or existing in irregular conditions than those around us. In a sense, those who don’t fit in are already paying the cost, so why not get the cool benefits of ‘gold mining’ while we’re at it?
As a life-long outsider, I say it’s totally worth it. But perhaps like real gold mining, it’s not for everybody. Consider yourself warned.
Luckily this doesn’t have to be for everyone at the same time. We only need 3.5% of people to be the Game Changers that will usher in the greatest jump in our personal and cultural evolution to date.
So how can a very small group of people have such a large impact on what’s about to happen next? I’ll show you through three simple images and then will reveal to you the twist in your story; a twist that will require you to decide what happens next.
The Curve:
 |
This is Roger’s Innovation Adoption Curve. It’s a visual representation of how new ideas and technological innovation catches on and is adapted by the public. Tech companies might use the Adoption Curve to understand how to introduce upcoming technology, and to gauge how long until it is/isn't accepted by the majority. Every major concept or idea that is introduced into the public, according to the research here, goes through this adoption curve with innovators and thought leaders adapting first, followed by early adopters who tend to be direct influences on the early majority. This echoes the idea that for a major shift in culture, you don’t need everyone’s buy-in right away; you need a small group of people from different locations on the curve to gently move the majority forward.
The 3.5 %
 |
Erica Chenoweth, professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study of Harvard University, organized an international team of scholars in identifying all the major violent and nonviolent governmental change efforts of the twentieth century. They were looking to identify what minority ideologies created change to the majority and how that was accomplished.
They discovered that minority ideologies needed 3.5% of the population to actively hold the ideas in an organized and non-violent way. Chenoweth and Stephens research focused primarily on nonviolent political campaigns, however, the idea of minority persuasion through active movement toward the social ideal with only 3.5% (sometimes less!) of any subculture is incredible insight for what’s possible. And if the principle holds true in larger populations, can it also hold true in smaller ones such as communities? Organizations? Whole subcultures of society?
The possibility of 3.5% shifting the majority through intelligent engagement, organized effort and intentional development of an ideal echoes Roger’s Innovation Adoption Curve in saying that this group collectively has the power to shift a culture into a new reality.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
 |
The World Economic Forum has long been planning and prepping the world for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. While this topic is much too complex to cover adequately here, I want to simply point out that I’m not alone in my understanding of the key role Inner World Development plays for our future. A key element of the “4th Industrial Revolution” is connecting technology with our inner world capabilities. The leaders of the leading financial, government and technology industries know that our inner worlds are the next frontier for major advancements. Many of the world’s most powerful influences understand that the inner world is an untapped resource and they know better than the average person what we’re really capable of when it is accessed properly.
The Final Twist in Your Story
This ‘(r)Evolution’ of Inner World Development is happening whether we believe in it or not; it’s happening whether we choose to participate or not. Inner World Development is happening all over the world and has been pioneered by diverse groups everywhere from the counseling room, to the church, to academics, science, artists, healers and health providers (the list goes on). These are people who are healing from their trauma, learning how to be healthier parents, or leaving the comfort of their community to find their real purpose... all the way to leaders who have dedicated their lives to research, communication, or helping others on this path. I simply want to strengthen and support these Game Changers. I am bringing together all the outsiders who are approaching this path from diverse angles and creating a place for them to be supported, educated, encouraged and connected on their Inner World journey. You are one of them.
Fork in the Road
Our Inner Worlds hold immense power. That power can be intentionally accessed, developed, and utilized with awareness by you to bring about truly incredible feats. For starters, it can easily be used to bring about the healing, performance and profit in the outer world we all want. Or, it can and will be leveraged by outside influences for their own gain, power and outer world profits (this is already happening, by the way).
We are currently going through a major shift. We will only move forward; there’s no going back to the old normal. A Revolution of some sort is indeed coming our way. There is an option to be a part of the (R)evolution that comes from taking responsibility for our personal evolution. And there is an option to simply accept the Revolution that will be offered to us. There’s nothing you really need to do for this Revolution except continue to fit in and go with the flow; they will tell you what to do and how to do it when the time comes. I don’t know where either Revolution will lead, but I’ve chosen the one I want to be a part of and I invite anyone who resonates to join me.
“If you don’t like the world you’re living in, create a new one"
Perhaps, we don’t have to create a new physical world. Perhaps, we just need to discover the inner world that has patiently been waiting for us to recognize it’s possibilities. Perhaps the radical change we desperately want already exists and is waiting for a group of individuals thirsty enough to bring it to the outerworld.
See you in a Group,
Jesska Layne Herfst, MAPC