Hello Reader,

We here in the U.S. are just coming off of a long weekend of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. The messaging on all platforms has been intense, loud and slightly overwhelming. I mostly stayed off of social media and hid in the mountains of Western North Carolina until the madness subsides.

Only, in my experience, the madness won't really subside until early February (I'll release the next season of Ecosystems for Change on February 7) until then it's all about Christmas parties and end-of-year events, buying gifts for everyone and their mother, so on and so on. While I find a lot of joy in the holiday season, I can't stomach the messaging that is already lurking around every corner. New year, new you! Become your best self! Make 2023 YOUR year!

As we covered in season 3, as eternal optimists and changemakers we are perceptive to all the goal setting and well... changemaking. But the hedonic treadmill of always striving for the next thing without ever arriving has thrown me off and spit me out so many times that I've been craving a new way of thinking about growth and meaningful development without running risk of crash and burn.

I've really enjoyed Tara McMullin's book What Works: A comprehensive framework to change the way we approach goal settin​g. Instead of goals, I've formed commitments. I think about the future in terms of my values and how I want to show up for myself, my family, my work and my community.

Instead of rushing to the mall last weekend, I drafted project briefs for the efforts I'm going to tackle in quarterly sprints (I talked about productivity in my summer skill session).

Because if I've learned one thing as a passion-driven ecosystem builder, it's that this work takes a long time and that we need to watch our boundaries carefully if we want to be able to do this work long-term.

The two guests I've had on the show recently are the textbook example of long-term commitment:

​Julie Heath went from startup employee to non-profit co-working space manager to now VP of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems for the State of Indiana. She's done this work through so many positions and spills the beans what she's learned along the way.

​Rick Turoczy has worked as a startup supporter and enthusiast for over 15 years in beautiful Portland, Oregon. We talked about the highs and lows of this work, why he doesn't consider himself an ecosystem builder, and what happens to your social capital when you think about succession.

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I come across a lot of resources that I think every ecosystem builder should get their hands on. While I share them far and wide on many channels (mostly LinkedIn & Instagram), I love curating a list of the best insights, opportunities and resources for you:

• Our friends at Forward Cities are hiring a Program Director.
• Yunus Social Business is hiring a social media manager in their Berlin office.
• The Ada Jobs Foundation is hiring an accelerator manager in Ada, Oklahoma.
• November 29 - December 2, join the Leading in Learning Forum to learn about a practical systems approach to accelerate growth at an ecosystem level.
• Take a look at what storytelling for your entrepreneurial ecosystem can look like in the Entrepreneurship Indiana Yearbook!

In episode 7 of season 4, Julie Heath shares her treasure trove of favorite resources for fellow ecosystem builders:

• Hidden Brain: Relationships 2.0: How To Keep Conflict From Spiraling
• ​The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley, Victor Hwang and Greg Horowitt
• ​The Rainforest Blueprint​
• ​The Power of Giving Away Power: How the Best Leaders Learn to Let Go, Matthew Barzun
• ​Social Physics: How Social Networks Can Make Us Smarter, Alex Pentland

I'll be back in your inbox in two weeks for the last Impact Curator of the year - make sure to put a little gold star on this email to avoid it slipping into your spam!

In camaraderie,

Anika