Background
CoJourn started in 2013 when we were struggling to focus, follow through on our goals, and maintain a connection with another human amidst all the busyness of life. We drew on our distinct personal and professional experiences and research-backed strategies to start formulating a solution. We agreed to meet once a week for a full year, applying the framework we created, setting attainable goals and—bit by bit—regaining control over our lives.
At the end of that first year, we were amazed at the success of our new venture. So we decided to do it for another year. And another. And we got our friends to partner up and try CoJourn as well. Over time, the program grew to include participants from across the globe, all working to achieve their goals with the support their trusted friends, family, and peers.
6 years later, we are following through on another goal: publishing a book about CoJourn in our own words and the people whose lives it’s changed. With surprising insights, compelling research, and helpful tips, this book is a practical guide full of wisdom, compassion, and real-life stories from participants all over the world. It will inspire you to transform the trajectory of your life and make it your own again.
www.cojourn.org
What Will I Learn?
CoJourn includes:
- The research supporting the need for a program like CoJourn.
- Anecdotes from participants who have used CoJourn to pursue a wide variety of goals. They will offer inspiration and ideas on different ways to make goals and connect with a partner.
- The experiences from over 50 participant interviews to help guide you from a different perspective.
- A step-by-step guide outlining how do the program with a partner.
- Practical strategies for making your goals a priority, and following through on them!
More About Who We Are
Molly Keehn, Ed.D. currently teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate level and facilitates diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings in the academic, non-profit, and corporate sectors. She is also a writing coach, wine tasting associate, accordion player, triathlete, and eternal optimist. Molly lives in western Massachusetts, with her pug puppy, Wilbur Noodles, and her cat, Xanadu.
Karl Henricksen has been a full-time professional musician, software engineer, videographer and, more recently, audio engineer. He performs as the lead singer and guitarist of the family band, DH and the Gentleman (along with Molly, on accordion). Karl is an aspiring inventor and rides a hell of a skateboard, plays soccer, surfs, and bikes. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with his girlfriend, Clarissa, and his three cats, Ravioli, Lasagna, and Yogna.
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Why CoJourn is Different
Fundamental to CoJourn is the idea of partnership: you’re not in it alone. Over the course of a year, you work with someone you know and trust—whether this is a family member, a friend, or a colleague—to set goals and ensure that you follow through. CoJourn is simple, and accessible. All you need is someone you can talk to every week, to check in, set your next goals, and listen.
CoJourn was founded on the idea of mutual support. We all feel alone, especially when engrossed in a stressful project or life event. The point of CoJourn is to open up your isolation wide enough to allow one other person to help you. Your CoJourn partner is your confidant, your cheerleader, and the one making sure you strive towards your goals—even if you don’t manage to quite reach them. Compassion, forgiveness, and support are all tenets of the program. While the idea behind CoJourn is to be driven toward accountability through peer support and motivation, the method is compassionate and understanding, rather than punitive.
With its compassionate, partner-oriented framework, CoJourn differs from many other goal-centered motivational programs. Additionally, CoJourn is structured to enhance your life, rather than adding a new set of practices to incorporate into a daily or weekly routine. CoJourn is entirely malleable: you make it fit your interests and intentions. By setting weekly goals, you can choose to challenge yourself to try something new, or complete a project you’ve been meaning to get around to (but somehow keeps getting put off until tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow).
Why Do CoJourn?
The key outcomes of CoJourn—closeness and follow-through— mirror what all of the recent research studies and books on happiness cite as two of the most important foundations for happiness and well-being:
- social bonds and connectivity
- cultivating an “atmosphere of growth”—a sense of purpose and movement toward your goals.
From our own personal experience, conversations with the hundreds of participants to date, and formal interviews with over fifty program participants, we can confidently say that CoJourn does increase connection and ensure a mechanism for weekly reflection on your values and visions for yourself. It transforms the individualistic form of “self-help” into what we have termed “Together-Help,” which we find to be much more effective (and a heck of a lot more fun).
Advanced Praise for the Book (more coming!)
“CoJourn is at once revolutionary and grounded in common sense and research. While technology and societal pressures may result in feelings of isolation, CoJourn provides a sensible process for authentic human connection. Keehn and Henricksen have created a clear, easy to follow, peer-support program that can help us become accountable to one other person and ultimately to ourselves.”
–Jacqueline Sheehan, PhD, NYT bestselling novelist
“CoJourn is a way to be kind to yourself and connected to others while working towards kicking ass on your goals. Molly and Karl are the perfect teachers—smart, humble, compassionate—to guide you through this inspired and realistic approach to life change.”
–Jessica Bacal, editor of Mistakes I Made at Work: 25 Influential Women Reflect on What They Got Out of Getting It Wrong.
“Keehn and Henricksen have created a simple, yet powerful program that leverages "together help" to simultaneously build human connection, and increase follow-through on important goals. CoJourn is full of relatable personal stories interspersed with sound science. I cannot think of anyone who would not benefit from their own CoJourn partnership.”
–Jessica S. Gifford, author of Actualize! A step-by-step guide to creating the life you want and Four Weeks to Wellness: Evidence-based exercises to cultivate health and happiness in your life.
“A humorous, genuine reflection on the struggles we all deal with. CoJourn taps into a new source of improving your life with support and clarity from this wonderful debut of two engaging voices.”
– Josh Silver, Co-Founder, RepresentUs
Reasons to Give
CoJourn is an international program with participants from all over the globe. We built CoJourn to be accessible, never requiring a penny to take part in this life-changing journey. Now, we want to take the program to the next level, making it accessible not just economically, but physically.
With CoJourn (the book), we can spread the word about this project, sharing the framework with people who can’t be reached by our website or word-of-mouth. The book is more comprehensive than the website, providing reflections from past CoJourn users, as well as all the foundational principles that contributed to CoJourn’s development. As a physical manifestation of CoJourn’s creation, implementation, and results, this book provides everything the website can and more. But to do it, we need your help.
The book is written, but the process of self-publishing has many costs. We are in the final stretch to get it out into the world but need funding to get to that final step. In order to support the launch of the book by September 22, we need help to fund these tasks:
- Book design and typesetting
- Printing and Distribution
- Marketing—getting it out there so that this book can be found!
We also want to have the book accessible via Audio - so if we reach our stretch goal, we will be able to make that a reality.
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Other Ways You Can Help
- Spread the word—recommend CoJourn to a friend!
- Come to the launch party! September 22nd, 6-8 pm at Glendale Ridge Vineyard in Southampton, MA
- Buy the book when it comes out!
- Try CoJourn yourself! (www.cojourn.org)
Please Share our Pre-sale Campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with your friends, family and network. You can use #CoJournBookLaunch and tag us so we can help amplify your efforts.
You can easily share our Pre-Sale Campaign Page via Indiegogo at the top of the page
Please share our book with 5 friends, family members, or co-workers who you think would enjoy it. Please do this as a text message or Direct Message on social media.
Wall of Fame
We did an initial small-scale email campaign last spring to pay for the developmental editing of the manuscript. Thank you to all who contributed to make that happen and get us to where we are now! We are so grateful for your support.
Eliza Wilmerding and Amanda Herman, Nini Hayes, Ruby Maddox, Ryan Lewis, Sally Keehn, Angelica Castro, John Miller, Safire DeJong, Abigail Gutstein, Emily Pritchard, Lore Detenber, Laura Greenslit, Jessie Cooley, Margie Vasquez, Kristi Perry, Bonnie and Cliff, Cindy Walsh, Yaldira Felix-Brown, Liz Adames, Alex Russell, Selena Goldberg, Yvonne Bogle, Oscar Collins, Kiara Vigil, Mary Miller, Kay Miller, Kris Rose, Wendy Ferris, Mary Fleming, Pat Romney, Mitchel Heard, Kari Djuve, Renee Greenfield...thank you!