Fernando

Fernando is a young, energetic, ideological Brazilian technical entrepreneur. He works part-time earning an income as a virtual reality programmer. The remainder of his time is devoted to the start-up of a social tech venture that seeks to ‘wake up the world’ by ‘using immersive technology in a positive way’.

Read Fernando's Story Below

Fernando's starting point for working with intention

Fernando was strongly motivated to make a difference in the world. Whilst he had a strong belief he could make things happen his mega intention was so big he and he lacked the experience to know where to start.

step 1: Initiate intention

Fernando had an unshakeable intention that he could ‘wake up the world’ by using immersive technology in a positive way’. He had not got a clue how, but 100% believed he would make it happen. Although the scale of the intention was massive and overwhelming, his deep desire coupled with belief proved to be a very good starting point.

There were so many possible avenues to follow and opportunities that Fernando did not know where to start.

step 2: Distil, test and refine

Meeting Fernando at a friend’s house for the first time I (Juliet) was struck by his passion, drive and belief. I offered to help. I chose to use tool one of Intention Matters Chapter 7. Tool one is called ‘Pick the low-hanging fruit’. The low hanging fruit are opportunities that are within grasp, ripe and ready to pick. By picking the low hanging fruit you break out of procrastination and start to create forward momentum to manifest your goals, desires and dreams.

Fernando was clear about his mega intention but needed a smaller more manageable nested and core intentions. By holding this in mind he was able to identify two core intentions that shaped his life that he believed would shape the lives of others also, namely to:

Tap into a higher level of consciousness.

Live a more values and purpose based existence

By embodying these core intentions he believed that this would motivate others to do so, and create momentum towards his mega-intention.

I asked Fernando to consider possible opportunities already available to him. Then I asked him ‘which are the low hanging fruit’? Fernando identified some speaking opportunities, workshops that could be run, and collaborative projects that would allow him to publically ‘walk the talk’. He also remembered an invitation to bid for some funding to develop innovative uses for virtual reality (VR). He remembered that a psychologist had asked him to create VR environments to help people face and overcome fears. These opportunities were all in grasp, linked to both his mega and core intentions

Fernando was like a kid in a sweet shop. He wanted to pick all the ripe fruit now and consume it immediately. I asked him to pick just one to get started, suggesting that this might help him avoid procrastination and overwhelm by making a start. He decided to work on securing the funding first.

Step 3: Embody and embed

step 4: Take Action and grab opportunities

For Fernando steps 3 and 4 happened simultaneously. Shortly after our meeting Fernando submitted an exciting and engaging proposal which secured him some funding in return for creating some VR environments for the psychologists project mentioned above. He also approached some of the people who had asked him to be a speaker, and two months later created quite some impact at an ‘Innovation Incubator’ event.

I met again with Fernando six months later. The funding that the psychologist's project provided financed his day to day living expenses and gave him the space to start planning some workshops and other ideas that would help him towards his mega intention. I suggested that it might be worth trying to identify some nested intentions that underpinned his mega and core intentions. This option was not appealing to Fernando who preferred to ‘be in the moment’, simply letting things arise. He admitted that his life and work was ‘chaotic’ but at this moment in time he felt that this chaos was the source of his inspiration and fuelled his creativity.

Fernando's OUTCOME OF INTENTION

Fernando's starting point for working with intention was a ‘hairy audacious plan’ to ‘wake up the world’ by using immersive VR technology. Fernando’s application of the IDEA framework was not a typical one.

Step 1 was easy – he already had the DSD + belief necessary.
Step 2: Distilling and refining his intention was much harder as Fernando was not someone who likes to be contained or restricted in his thoughts and actions. By ‘picking the low hanging fruit’ he managed to move from thinking to doing.
Steps 3 and 4 quickly followed, enabling him to continue his momentum.

Fernando’s profile in the world of VR is rising, and he is seen as an innovator in his field. His mega intention will be a lifetimes work – but his work is already positively impacting on the lives of many. Fernando’s application of the IDEA framework might not be for everyone, but it worked for him.