This Sustainable Life

1: The villain. People think nature, government, or corporations. It's beliefs2: The solution. People think technology, market, innovation. It's changing beliefs. 3: Reduce, reuse, recycle. People act as if recycling helps. It only helps as part of reduce, which means not growth4: How solving feels. People think chore, deprivation, sacrifice. It's being a part of something greater, simplifying life, applying what Victor Frankl said. Community.5: How to lead. People think it's facts, figures, doom, gloom, blame. It's identifying what individual cares about and connecting that passion to action, starting where they are. If you want faster, it's as fast as possible, many will surprise.6: I thought people deeply wanted to try. People want leadership, to follow. They say only 10% necessary to change, then society flips.7: Morality and ethics. Everyone is doing what they consider best and right. May not know but ignorance isn't evil. What would you do as head of Exxon? Call someone evil who thinks they are doing best and you lose ability to influence. Empathize and you have a chance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I recorded our second conversation the day after the September 20, 2019 climate marches. Hunter is more than well-connected.I wanted to hear and bring you the perspective of someone who has been at this longer and knew more people. Wait until you hear her share all the people she knew there, as well as her perspective of seeing a different generation pick up what no one has for so long.From our last conversation you heard me struggle with what I thought I heard of her saying things can work out, so rest easy. The more I've listened to Hunter's message, the more I hear she's not saying things will effortlessly work out, which I feared at first, but that it will take work to make things work out.We resolve that issue. It's toward the end, so enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before we spoke, Seth implied he didn't do as much on his challenge as I expected so I expected a short conversation.I think it's important for listeners to hear that even people who win Nobel Prizes taking on global thermonuclear war have a hard time taking on new habits, even ones they want, like reducing their waste.I'm not claiming changing habits with environmental consequences are easy, though I believe nearly everyone will find doing so, when acting on internal values, rewarding. I think they'll be glad they did. But few will find starting trivial.So if you've identified a value you haven't acted on but want to---environmental or otherwise---I hope you forgive yourself if starting is hard. Or if keeping it up is hard. You're still in league with greats. Experience tells me you'll prefer trying to not trying, however hard it seems. Same with trying again if it doesn't stick. Sometimes you have to try the same thing again, others to learn, revise, and try in a new way.Seth and I ended up having a wonderful conversation about different ways of motivating people, so it was rich and full. I hope you'll enjoy this inside view of how people working on global problems and local, grassroots efforts do things.I thanked him in the recording, but I'll call out what I consider leadership---to allow himself to sound vulnerable to others, to share what others might call weakness or failure. He also preferred accountability, which effective leaders like. Accountability gets the job done.On a personal note, last time I cooked him my famous no-packaging vegetable stew, this time I shared some mulberries I foraged, which were more delicious. I don't think I can beat nature's raw ingredients.---Mountain Dew videos (warning: unpleasant to watch) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My notes I read from for this post:Yesterday I posted my interview on a site that strongly supports Donald Trump. I do not. Yet I described it as one of my favorite interviews. What gives?The conversation prompted thoughts on environment and politics. Read my post on the conversation and listen to the conversation for context. For more context, the guy who hosted, Rob, his profile says "Vote Red To Save America!" on Twitter, where he describes himself as "The Conservative Black Cowboy." In videos, he wears a Make America Great Again hat. Doing these things openly in New York City may only mean you're looking for a response, but I think it also means genuine, strong feelings.I read that he genuinely and authentically wanted to know about me, my history, and my actions -- not to attack or criticize but because he saw in me something he hadn't before but that he liked. His site criticized others as dupes for scientists looking to save their money among other what I would call attacks on climate activists, but he seemed to hold back from saying there were no environmental problems.I read that he was looking for a voice and story worth listening to. I may have misread him. As one person, he doesn't represent the right or Trump supporters in general, but I don't think I misread that a lot of people like him would welcomeHow unwelcome I felt in a blazer and collared shirt at the climate march. I suspect I impacted the environment less than most but felt unwelcome until I spoke with a friend. I don't remember the details and may have misread so can't say for sure. Even so, I consider people dressed for business the ones the crowd should have felt most comfortable since they influence so much that pollutes. Instead, it felt like there was a leftist political machine that seized on an issue to empower themselves and beat the others. That view treats others as if they want to pollute as primary goal. But no one wants to pollute as primary goal. Everyone on the left I've met pollutes more than I do. Should I conclude they pollute as a primary goal? No, they haven't figured out how to reduce their pollution yet so they keep polluting. In the meantime, they enrich themselves at the expense of others helpless to defend themselves. Just like people on the right.If I say people on the left don't care, they would say they do and something along the lines that you have to break some eggs to make an omelet and I just don't understand them. Were I to keep pushing, they'd get angry, say I don't understand them, and disengage. My ability to influence or lead them would drop through the floor.I wouldn't understand that they do care. They do want clean air, land, and water. If I understand that they care and find ways to help, they'll follow, which I do on my podcast in hundreds of conversations.Well, people on the left say people on the right don't care, but don't afford that they would say they do and something along the lines that you have to break some eggs to make an omelet. People on the right conclude those on the left just don't understand them. Those on the left keep pushing, getting everyone else angry, to say I don't understand them, and disengage. Their ability to influence or lead drops through the floor.Centuries of systems and beliefs make it difficult to live sustainably, as do uncertainties and risks. Plus our population makes it impossible, as far as I can tell, for humans to live sustainably. We all want to act. The most anyone can do is as much as we can. I find the most effective way to help people do as much as they can is through listening, understanding, and supporting.Frankly, I suspect that when the right turns their ship around and embraces environmental action, which will happen faster the more the left stops treating it as a political weapon, they wouldn't surprise me if they achieved more.Posts:My post I refer to: See me on Magamedia.org for one of my favorite interviews, “A Different Look at Climate Change”Watch and listen to the Magamedia conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here are the notes I read from for this episode:Ways I was wrongI usually start my story about acting more sustainably with my personal challenge to buy no packaged food for a week. In my second TEDx talk I describe how that challenge emerged from stopping eating meat, then hydrogenated oil, corn syrup, and foods where fiber had been removed, which was my proxy for overly processed food.I talk about my love for the beauty of nature, which I describe when people ask me what I ask guests, "What I think about when I think about the environment."But I hadn't shared some longstanding thoughts that didn't fit the narrative.Not that I hid them, I had just grown out of them.I rewatched a movie called The Doctor, starring William Hurt, about a doctor who remained so aloof from his patients that, however brilliant, charming, and funny, his bedside manner made being his patient miserableThe movie recounts how his sickness leads to seeing the lack of caring and vulnerability in the hospital systemAs my tears streamed down my face watching the movie, I saw vulnerabilities I protected.Efficiency, just living in citiesI thought technology would arise that would solve our environmental problemsFor example, fusion seemed an obvious solution.Young enough widening or building more roads seemed a solution to traffic jams, at least while I sat in them.As I learned what city planners learned, I discovered that roads often create congestion, after a brief period of relieving traffic.Carbon sequestrationBirth rate reduction and China only exampleThat I wouldn't like unpackaged food or not flyingOne person couldn't make a differencePeople wouldn't like it Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode brings you a trainer who has reached top levels of leadership and teaching leadership break down how to learn.How to learn to learn. Let that sink in.To me this episode felt like a master class by a practitioner and educator.Note his precision in language. At first I found it pedantic, but then realized it's not annoying, it's liberating. When you speak English, you don't sometimes switch letters around in words. So why switch concepts in higher level communication?He lives by his values. Protecting our environment will require billions of people living by new values.Larry lives by his and is driven to help others follow. Whether you want to live as simply as Larry does is not the relevant question.Do you want to live by your values as he does by his? Because you can.Keep in mind, he's happy, accomplished, and it sounds like his family is as close and full of love as they come. They ahve little stuff but live in abundance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I posted a few Clips from my speaking at Google to my blog. They didn't video record the whole event, but I did get the audio, so today's episode is my talk there on how to start a podcast on the environment. For better or worse, it's over two hours and the audience wasn't miked so you can't hear everything, but attendees loved it.My first goal was for attendees: How to start a podcast---in particular, how to create your first episode. The difference between zero and one episodes is huge, so I designed my talk to minimize the barriers to that first step.Behind-the-scenes stories of Seth Godin, James Altucher, Nobel laureate Seth Sheldon, McKinsey’s Global Managing Director, and other guests intersperse. I share my podcast and overall environmental leadership strategy, explaining why I go for the guests I do.I share lots of anecdotes of podcast guest, including some early ones, for those of you who recently joined. I share my background on my life as it relates to environmental leadership.They booked me for over two hours, so I'm not sure how many of you will listen all the way through, but those who do will hear lots of nuggets and you'll hear me unguarded. The room was as full in the end as the beginning, so attendees found value.I've appeared on one attendee's podcast already and several others met with me since, so I think it helped.Attendees weren't miked so hard to hear them but I think you'll be able to reconstruct their questions from my answers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People talk about leadership causing ripple effects and hope that environmental action may lead to ripples.I see the potential for more. People like acting on their environmental values when they do. They just don't like being coerced or being made to feel shame or guilt. Few like going first.If most people like acting by their environmental values, someone going first may cause everyone else to crystallize into the new behavior. By crystallize, I mean that many people will change their behavior fast and across a wide scale.I can't guarantee society will change that way that fast, but I believe I see signs suggesting it will. I start today's episode with an example of podcast guest Navy SEAL officer Larry Yatch, his wife, and his sons without trying leading strangers to pick up other people's garbage from the beach. Since few people wake up and decide to pick up others' garbage, this behavior tells me people want to do it.I believe society only needs a few or even one well-known person to act to cause a major shift. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My perspective on personal action continues to evolve.In conversation with someone at an event this evening, I started realizing the meaning in asking what each of us can do and the meaninglessness of asking hypothetical questions, which make up a lot environmental talk.It this episode I talk about meaningful questions to ask instead of theoretical ones about things you can't do anything about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I started this podcast with the goal of creating a Mandela of the environment---a role I considered essential but saw no one remotely approaching it.Lately I've seen the opening for an easier but more effective role---a Muhammad Ali of the environment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.