Doing life sustainably requires reinvention

Written by: Marc Lehmann
September 1, 2008

In the theme of reinvention I thought it quite appropriate to look at how we ‘do life’. We all ‘do life’ and we seem to do it the same way day in and day out. At a rough guess, 98% of what we do in the near future is the same as the recent past. Is that a good thing or is reinvention the tool of change for a sustainable life?

The definition of addictive or habitual behaviour has to be doing something while your knowledge, ideals, and ethics tell you it’s not the right thing to be doing. Still we as humans tend to do this a lot and it’s because change is difficult, it’s not an easy path. You are destined for an unimproved future while you don’t involve yourself in reinvention.

It’s quite easy to do things when they are a habit. You don’t need new knowledge, you don’t need to think and even your physical body seems to have an automaton memory that has it just do that habit just as you did yesterday. It can be something as simple as leaving the water running while you brush your teeth. It could be putting those potato peels in the bin instead of in the compost. So how do you re-invent those habits and create a more sustainable set of behaviours and a sustainable focus?

Monitor yourself

I think the first thing to do is look at where reinvention occurs in society and look at the factors which cause it to work. Business is a good starting point. Well run businesses get continual performance feedback from their Sales and Financial systems. This feedback highlights strengths and weaknesses. So the data hints at what needs to be done. It answers questions like: How am I going? What am I doing wrong?

Instant reward for small actions

Recently my wife and I changed the way we reward the kids for doing chores. We started a fridge chart with little squares they fill in each time they do a chore. Simple enough and definitely not ground breaking. However the gold is in the detail. It works very well and I think the reason is that they can get instant results. They know at the end of the week that their performance converts directly into pocket money. A cause and effect relationship. Humans are notoriously bad at doing things if they don’t see or get a reward. You burn tonnes of CO2 into the air with a vehicle but you don’t see the impact. Maybe we need a CO2-o-meter on our dashboards! Knowing the reward is in the future is often not enough, we just aren’t all grasshoppers, some of us are the ants and want instant gratification.

So do yourself up a little eco-behaviour fridge chart. List down some KPI’s like composting, keeping the lights off, powering down devices. You can get a little technical if you’re keen and do this in KW hours and/or CO2 equivalents. Websites like Climate Friendly have the carbon calculators to help you work this out.

The difference you make might be reward enough for some. However, if you feel you need something material then make the reward some new plants for the house. Maybe an eco friendly device to replace an energy hungry one, push your eco-performance even further along. Being an environmental warrior makes you feel pretty good about yourself.

Look at the future time, money and environmental savings

Sometimes visualising the impact of your eco-behaviour is a good way to help push you to reinvent yourself. If you were to swap walking for driving the car for just 2 km a day the forward value of that over a year is about 250kg of CO2. Or in a more visual way imagine a big wheelie bin full of black carbon powder. It really does get you present to the total cumulative cost of the alternative. This example really is as simple and healthy as swapping the car for a walk on your daily trip to school with the kids. Or it might just be avoiding the drive to the train station or bus stop and instead walking there.

Letting others know what your dreams and goals are

If you don’t tell people what your goals and dreams are then you lose the chance to have three very important elements for success that can help you along - support, accountability and transformation.

Support - from your friends, family and work colleagues who you can encourage and even join you on your eco-crusade. It’s a lot easier when your friends are excited by what you are doing and you both start doing it. Just like going to the Gym with a friend, you are much more likely to do it.

Accountability - when you say you are going to do something publicly you are more likely to achieve that in the end because your word and your commitments make up a big piece of your credibility in the public eye.

Transformation - when you tell people what the new you does versus the old you they start seeing you as that new person. It’s a bit like saying I’m getting fit and I’m going to the gym. You probably will and then the reality is you are a transformed person because you did go to the gym instead of sitting at home watching TV. It is a new reality you are in and your friends are witnessing it.

Reinvention, it’s only natural

You can see reinvention in society everywhere, but no better is it used than in nature. Change is a requirement of survival in nature just as it is in our everyday lives. Nothing lasts for ever or has a quality of impermanence so change is inevitable.You can see the environmental swing occurring in society, it is the cumulative effect of lots of individuals making a difference.

So start reinventing yourself, go with it, swim down stream. Once you start, it get’s so much easier.

Marc Lehmann is one of the founders of Saasu.com and is committed advocate of sustainable business practices and lifestyles | http://www.thecalmspace.com/about#marc

Comments

2 Responses to “Doing life sustainably requires reinvention”

  1. Chris Owen (Pink Apple)No Gravatar on September 1st, 2008 2:53 pm

    Knowing the reward is in the future is often not enough, we just aren’t all grasshoppers, some of us are the ants and want instant gratification.
    Having said so much about Gen Y and their thirst for instant gratification, this sentence unfortunately rings far too true for this aging boomer! Ok I’ve been niggled!

  2. Marc LehmannNo Gravatar on September 3rd, 2008 12:07 am

    We may be on the cusp of an unemployment cycle that might just nudge Gen-Y out of the grasshopper lifestyle and require a more ant like preparedness. That said Chris I have a bit of Gen-Y in me I must confess :)

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