Keynote: Inner Development Goals – The Change in Mindsets Needed for Sustainable Development

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are something that all meeting professionals understand, but Jan Artem Henriksson gave us a fresh take on these, by showcasing the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) in his session. Jan highlighted that the SDGs are a sense-making tool for us to develop our businesses and events more mindfully, but he identified that we require mindset changes to be able to reach those goals. The IDGs are a product of that intervention and should be used to support us all, as we strive for net-zero emissions as soon as we can. IDGs are comprised of five considerations to adapt our mindsets and focus on, as follows.

1. BEING. This is about using your inner compass, making and sticking to commitments, having integrity and self-awareness, and being open to learning. A key question to consider here, is “what values are most important to us?”.

2. THINKING. This area is focused on critical thinking, how we gain perspective, sense-making and long-term visioning. Aligned with long-term visioning, Jan asked us to imagine how we would like the world to be when the youngest person in our life reaches the age of the oldest person in our life, and this is really quite a powerful consideration to make.

3. RELATING. The ways in which we show appreciation, feel connected to groups of people despite our differences, have humility, and are able to show empathy. All personal development stems from experiencing pain and reflecting on that pain to move forward.

4. COLLABORATING. This is about how we communicate, inclusivity, trusting others, and mobilising your actions.

5. ACTING. Our ability to have courage, take an opportunity to be creative, show optimism and persevere through difficult situations.

How will you implement this into your life moving forward?

Setting a weekly IDG focus, or work one of these elements into your projects. To be able to achieve increased sustainability, we must also equally consider our inner development alongside it for a more holistic and long-term solution to some of our greatest world issues.