What if, inside every one of us, are four 'superheroes'-or Elementals-that we can call on in difficult moments to help us find calm, hope, and happiness no matter how tough things get? What if we could tap into each Elemental's unique superpowers-courage, truth, creativity, and love-to break through all and any obstacles in our path? What if we could unlock these superpowers by waking up wisdom within us and, in doing so, become everyday leaders in our lives?
This is the start-point for an illustrated adventure by a world-renowned keynote speaker and leadership expert-who coaches and teaches senior leaders at many of the most successful companies in the world, like Nike, Google, Intel, and Unilever-designed to support young adults, as well as their parents, in dealing with real life and love problems in a world beset by record levels of anxiety, depression, addiction, and crisis.
Every problem-personal, relationships, social, global-can be solved by using one or more of the Elementals, and their specific superpowers of courage, truth, creativity, and love.
Rise, the Four Elementals was born from the author's efforts to help his kids deal with change, challenge, and crisis using the leadership tools and practices he shares with C-Suite executives. Initially a love letter to his son, Rise grew into a book for all young adults-and all those who have been young adults-who are struggling with mental health issues and relationship anxieties or worries about careers and climate change.
Rise contains bite-size nuggets of wisdom, brought to life by Canadian illustrator Tom Gravestock, into four distinct ways we can solve complex challenges and find our way to a life full of meaning, well-being, and belonging.
In Part 1, the author introduces the four Elementals: the Champion (superpowers of courage and strength), the Commander (superpowers of truth and intelligence), the Creator (superpowers of imagination and inventiveness), and the Connector (superpowers of love and compassion).
In Part 2, the reader learns how to use the four Elementals to thrive in life by breaking through problems using each Elemental's superpowers... while taking care to avoid each Elemental's weak spots, which can trap even the smartest of us in self-sabotaging habits. At the end of each Elemental's section are practical exercises to turn ideas into wisdom and inspiration into action.
In Part 3, the reader explores how to balance the four Elementals within to lead themselves to well-being, happiness, inner peace, great friendships, a supportive community, loving relationships, a meaningful career, and making a difference in our troubled world. It shows how we can triumph through trials and tragedies and always snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Rise, the Four Elementals finishes by inviting the reader to rise up and solve the ecological and social problems caused by their forebears. The author believes that our best hope as a species lies in today's teenagers stepping up as tomorrow's leaders, freeing humankind from outdated ideas that lock us in a death spiral, and so shifting the tides of history with their wisdom, insight, and vision.
The author, who studied Medical Science and Philosophy at Cambridge University, integrates insights from cutting-edge neuroscience with bold ideas from Western and Eastern philosophies.
The book's profound-yet practical and playful-wisdom draws on the work on personality archetypes by legendary psychologist Carl G. Jung, pioneering thinkers like Robert Moore and Joseph Campbell, and powerful approaches to the challenges of life found in paths such as Zen Buddhism, Stoicism, Moral Philosophy, Taoism, Post-Modernism, and Native American traditions.
