R4R started with the goal of saving one life from suicide, as many times as possible.
On Wednesday night, we heard from Heidi Prowse (CEO of MIEACT), that two people had told her that R4R helped saved their lives.
Knowing this humbles me beyond words but makes me proud of how our community has continued to rally around the importance of resilience.
It also inspires me to do more.
So whilst we’ll maintain that goal of saving one life from suicide, as many times as possible, what else can we aim for? Are there other ways we can try achieve this goal that we’re not already doing?
As much as I hate to reference the New Zealand All Blacks, they are arguably the most successful team in the history of sports, so there’s some lessons to be learnt. A mantra they have is:
“when you’re on top of your game, change your game”
So I guess the question could be; how can we change the way we’re doing things, even if only a tiny amount, to achieve our goal better?
We didn't achieve the "as many times as possible" bit. And to achieve the MISSION of "saving one life from suicide, as many times as possible" I think we need to set runner and subscriber goals.
We should set a goal for 200+ runners per Wednesday, 75+ on a Friday, and 500 rag subscribers by the end of the year.
As someone with anxiety issues, I think loose attendance goals for people who want them could be helpful too. Not in some kind of military drill Sargent type shit. But I know that there have been a lot of times where I have been anxious about heading to R4R, not because of anything to do with R4R, just because of the way I am, then I'll get talked into it by someone, reluctantly come along and by the end I'm thinking, "why the fuck was I ever considering not doing that, that was great!".
It could tie in with a buddy/sponsor sort of system. Someone new or particularly anxious could be linked up with someone who's been coming for a while, run/walk with them for the first few times, introduce them to the people they usually run with/talk to. Just something to make it a little easier on people to keep showing up. Because whilst you never ever leave R4R feeling worse than you arrived, for some, at times, that initial decision to get outta the car and wander over to 100+ people who you don't know can be super daunting.
We didn't achieve the "as many times as possible" bit. And to achieve the MISSION of "saving one life from suicide, as many times as possible" I think we need to set runner and subscriber goals.
We should set a goal for 200+ runners per Wednesday, 75+ on a Friday, and 500 rag subscribers by the end of the year.
As someone with anxiety issues, I think loose attendance goals for people who want them could be helpful too. Not in some kind of military drill Sargent type shit. But I know that there have been a lot of times where I have been anxious about heading to R4R, not because of anything to do with R4R, just because of the way I am, then I'll get talked into it by someone, reluctantly come along and by the end I'm thinking, "why the fuck was I ever considering not doing that, that was great!".
It could tie in with a buddy/sponsor sort of system. Someone new or particularly anxious could be linked up with someone who's been coming for a while, run/walk with them for the first few times, introduce them to the people they usually run with/talk to. Just something to make it a little easier on people to keep showing up. Because whilst you never ever leave R4R feeling worse than you arrived, for some, at times, that initial decision to get outta the car and wander over to 100+ people who you don't know can be super daunting.
Have a "Bring a friend to R4R" event?
PS: I think Breeny is announcing the new goal soon... it's awesome.
Bring a friend and introduce them to your friends.