Courtesy www.designzzz.com

Courtesy www.designzzz.com

Last night I watched Kevin McLeod talk about his experiences filming Grand Designs over the past 15 years.

I’ve been a fan of Kevin’s for a while now. I love his blokey sense of humour  and the way he explores the desires, triumphs and disasters of home-owners with compassion and a healthy dash of realism.

He’s also a talented wordsmith and during last night’s performance he coined a phrase I hadn’t heard before. He said true Grand Designers have ‘lunatic self-belief’ because they believe so wholeheartedly in their dreams that they will move heaven and earth (often with their bare hands) to make it a reality.

Lunatic self-belief.

I guess that’s a phrase that could be applied to many of the men and women who have made their marks on the pages of history.

Men and women like Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Martin Luther King, Coco Chanel, Jane Austen and Marie Curie were all ordinary people who had the ‘lunatic self-belief’ that they could change their world.

These days we have modern-day ‘lunatics’ like Richard Branson who wants to change the world by running his entire airfleet using only fuel with a zero carbon footprint. Is he aiming high? Absolutely.

Is it possible?

Well, if anyone can make it happen, he can. Branson is willing to do the three things we must commit to in order to make our dreams a reality. He’s willing to invest in his vision, to look foolish and to try.

Some people think Branson is a little on the crazy side. But to many others he is an inspiration because he’s willing to follow his heart and make a difference.

We may not all be destined to change the world by standing up for freedom, inventing cures for cancer or writing a bestseller. But we can hold on to that ‘lunatic self-belief’ and maybe, by following our dreams, we can change the world just outside our front door and make it a better place.

If Branson can do it, why can’t we?

Anything is possible.