Introducing the Upbeat Collective. do.be.do. ♫

The Upbeat Collective. do.be.do. ♫

A movement for positive social change where ordinary people can do extraordinary things.  

#upbeatNZ #bethechange #dobedo 

My name is Andrew Tui and I am an everyday Kiwi guy with a few ideas up my sleeve!  I decided to create The Upbeat Collective to inspire and motivate people to take action and to make a real difference in our communities. Many of us want to ‘give back’ and live in a harmonious environment, but we either don’t know what to do, feel powerless, fall prey to negative media messages, or simply become apathetic.   

So lets begin the Upbeat revolution! To clarify, race, gender, religion, age or ability is not a defining criterion. The Upbeat Collective It is built around a desire to live a satisfying life through engaging in meaningful activity. With a world facing increasing pressure, there has become a need to remember that our future wellbeing can improve if we seek to strengthen and empower ourselves and the communities around us; this can take place in many shape and forms depending on what your interests and passions may be. 

By being part of the Upbeat Collective you are indicating that you wish to make a real difference in the lives of those around you. I often hear that people are sometimes turned off by ideas or initiatives that are perceived as too airy-fairy or goody-goody. The aim of this project is to ‘keep it real’ and to demonstrate that giving-back in a meaningful way can be a powerful and very cool thing. 

I’m putting it out there – this is not a group focused on clichés or saccharine sentiments. It is focused on real actions that speak louder than any words. 

The Upbeat Project

My intention is to form a group (collective) of like-minded people to join up to share ideas and take action. Whilst we can take individual action, our ability to make a bigger impact can be enhanced through collective activity. Also, groups are an effective way to meet people, be energized, be inspired, gain the motivation to take action, and of course to have fun! 

Basic group principles: 

Who: Anyone and everyone is welcome to join the group. No expert knowledge is required. 

Where: The primary focus is to form an Auckland-based group with potential to grow. 

When: The group could meet fortnightly or once a month.  It is not compulsory to attend and people can weave in and out whenever they want.  People can also participate contribute by simply participating in events, or contributing/following our social media sites including the Facebook page.

What: The group will be focused on the central theme of contributing to positive social change and enhancing the happiness and wellbeing of others. The group will learn about, discuss or take action in relation to happiness and wellbeing. 

Community projects and activities could include: 

• Performing random acts of kindness for individuals and groups in the community (eg. gifting baking to passers-by, street cleanups)
• Undertaking organized voluntary work on behalf of charities and not-for-profit organisations
• 'Surprising and delighting' deserving recipients
• Organising community events or concerts
• Organising food/clothing/household item collections
• Promoting wellbeing (or other expertise) out in the community

I believe the group's success will come about through the collaborative efforts of everyone involved, so do not hesitate to share your ideas.


Ways to get involved...

• 'Like' and follow us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/upbeatnz
• Follow us on Twitter:  Upbeat Collective
• Meet like-minded people by attending our launch in April and ongoing events thereafter (details to come soon!)
• Find out about upcoming events on our group page on Meetup.com:  http://www.meetup.com/The-Upbeat-Collective/
• Carry out meaningful activities in your own time and know you've made a true difference in this world of ours.
• Simply smile.

Sources of inspiration 

There is growing evidence about how we can build our resilience and create happier lives. Positive Psychology is an emerging field that focuses on growing wellbeing and is a movement away from deficit models or ‘fixing problems’. Key proponents of positive psychology include Martin Seligman, Barbara Frederickson, Todd Kashdan, Tal Ben-Shahar and Mihali Csikszentmihalyi. In New Zealand we have the New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology, now coming into its sixth year of existence. http://www.positivepsychology.org.nz/ 

The Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, provide inspiration through their promotion of the Five Ways to Wellbeing. These five simple, evidence-based actions are Connect, Give, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Be Active. http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/1180-five-ways-to-wellbeing 

The Five Ways to Wellbeing are based on the UK Foresight Project's Five Ways to Wellbeing report on communicating the evidence for improving people's wellbeing, put together by the Centre for Wellbeing at the new Economics Foundation.   http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/published-projects/mental-capital-and-wellbeing

A successful example of someone who took wellbeing concepts to the masses is US-based Gretchen Rubin who wrote the highly acclaimed Happiness Project. She went on to develop an interactive website encouraging people to engage in wellbeing-focussed activities. http://gretchenrubin.com/ 

I have also drawn upon the collective approach taken by the Action for Happiness movement www.actionforhappiness.org 

Local sources of inspiration include Jimi Hunt, who created the Live More Awesome charity http://www.livemoreawesome.com/, The RAK Foundation who encourage random acts of kindness throughout the year http://rak.co.nz/ and John Kirwan who actively campaigns for the awareness and support for depression sufferers www.depression.org.nz 

Naturally, these are but a few examples of those who have made fantastic contributions to the promotion of positive wellbeing. 

I finish with a quote from Jim Henson:

When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world.  My hope still is to leave the world a little bit better for my having been here.  It's a wonderful life and I love it.