Elevate: A Reminder of How Far a Vision Can Get You

Many of us don’t think like creative strategists, or work anywhere near that field, so where can we turn to in order to find inspiration to act? After recently witnessing Matteo Manfron’s attempt on the Genoa – Mont Blanc record, we have a few comparisons to make between the sporting world and the socioeconomic one. As a quick explanation, the Genoa – Mont Blanc is exactly what it hints to. Imagine punching in these 2 locations on your GPS, following the first 300km by bicycle, and then, once you have arrived at the foot of Europe’s highest mountain, hiking to the top without taking a break. Crazy, huh?

Anyway, where were we?
We believe in equal responsibility for sustainable change between the businesses of today and the consumers. Businesses have a duty to act as they have more power than the individual and a wider reach. Consumers have a responsibility to choose selectively and demand more transparency from businesses. Looking at the mountain of a task ahead of us in overwhelment doesn’t set us up for success. Understanding that it’s the vision, partnered with small, daily action is what will help us greatly. After stumbling into Matteo by chance in a cycling shop in northern Italy, Lila and Robert couldn’t help but feel this was a documentary they just had to produce. It was clear from the offset that Matteo’s warmth and friendliness made him a great main character, but also the reason why so many people were drawn to this challenge and to help him as much as possible. After the initial calls and pre-production, it was obvious to them that with a clear vision comes a supportive, like-minded group of people. This is their first take-away. Not the burgers & fries kind, but the reflective “dude that’s soooo deep” kind. When we become clear on what we want and share that with the world, we humans are wonderful at helping each other achieve it.

A strong vision creates a strong collective.

When this vision is one of a collectively better planet, then we realise that we are starting to think of ways in which to make it happen. In the business world, we see plenty of greenwashing going on or superficial marketing campaigns around sustainability, but rarely do businesses own up to where they are right now, and share a vision of where they want to be. It’s okay not to be there. Yet. Together, one day, we will be. In owning up and being honest about this, we can all find ways to collectively get there. Matteo, for his challenge, made it clear from the beginning that he didn’t have the know-how nor logistic ability to get himself to the top of Mont Blanc alone. A matter of months later, he did.

The second take-away (remember, the deep thinking, not the fried kind) that creative people from Impact. studio came to observe in Matteo was something they read about in the book “The Slight Edge”, by Jeff Olson. Jeff shows that with small, daily efforts over a long period of time, we attain the biggest results. “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, long term health arrives through daily choices, business success or wealth arrives through persistence and daily execution. There are many examples, but you get the point. Anytime you see what looks like a breakthrough, it is always the end result of a long series of little actions, done consistently over time. From an individual standpoint, your internal vision fuels these daily actions, much in the same way it can inspire a group around you.

The journey starts with a single step – not with thinking about taking a step.

Matteo started training early on for this challenge. His daily commitment to this goal brought incremental results every week. Fitness creeps on you and doesn’t make itself apparent until you try a challenge that historically would have been way out of your limit. Many people have done the “Couch to 5k” training plans or even taken on marathons, so why is it that when it comes to the climate, individually we seem to be stumped or just unable to take action? Actively using less plastic monthly. A true commitment to only buying from brands that are doing good or are locally sourced. Eating less meat on a weekly basis. These aren’t hard to do, and slowly but surely, if done on a wider scale, the effect of these good actions will compound with the snowball effect. Not just for your physical or mental health, but for the planet. The same goes for businesses. Add a sustainable line, work with a different supplier, choose to make a tiny bit less profit and invest it into doing something good for the planet. Make the small effort daily, and keep making the small effort.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the state of the climate right now, but we can all learn something from observing Matteo’s attempt on the record. We all have an individual and collective responsibility to change, therefore:

A strong vision creates a strong collective.
The journey starts with a single step – not with thinking about taking a step.

At Impact., they bring humanness into everything they do. They love all things sustainable, and to connect with others who care about the planet. They strive to create more meaningful, lasting relationships with purpose-driven companies so they can grow their audience and expand their reach.

The documentary of Matteo’s attempt, ‘Elevate’, can be found HERE