The 4M's

I was thinking about our 7 Cups journey and wanted to share the 4Ms with you all: mentors, maps, mission, and mountain havens. The 4Ms have helped me a lot in life and I believe they are key ingredients for recovery and personal growth.

Mentors - these are people that look out for you. Our mentors on 7 Cups definitely meet this criteria. Mentors can also be other listeners, teachers, coaches, older siblings, faith leaders or others that you look up to. Mentors have a deep belief in you. They dont give up. They provide you with hope when your hope tank is low. When you are going through a hard time, it goes a very long way to know that someone is invested in you and believes in you. Mentors have believed in me and it has made a big difference in my life.

Maps - a map is how we figure out where we are and where we are going. There are road maps and life maps. Life maps can come from philosophy, religion, science, economics or education. 4 years ago (!) we drafted the 7 Cups map here called 7 Cups for the Searching Soul. Our map can also found in our values and culture guide. There is a famous saying that the map is not the territory, which basically means that our way of understanding the world does not necessarily accurately map to the territory that is the world. The more accurate the map the better we can navigate life. If you are New Delhi and I give you a map of NYC, then it wont work too well. You need a map of New Delhi to get around New Delhi! Life maps help us understand where we are in life and how we can get from point A to point B; having many maps helps you better understand the world.

Mission - the happiest, most fulfilled, and purpose-driven people have a sense of mission. They feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves. This is important because it can help pull you forward, especially during challenging times. It can act as a north star or a big magnet that helps pull you forward. Many of you share the mission of 7 Cups. The 7 Cups mission gives me a sense of purpose and courage, especially during tough times.

Mountain Havens - we also need to find safe places to heal. These places can be online or offline. 7 Cups is an online haven. People can connect with others, relax, and begin to build trust. We all need community - people we can rely on to help us through the hard times; people that will share their fire and a cup of tea to warm our tired bones when weve been on a hard journey.

These 4Ms have helped me on my own life path. I hope they help you. We have the 4Ms here on 7 Cups so let us know if we can point you in the right direction if you have a missing M!