Climate Motivators

 In a recent blogpost, I encouraged folks who are unsure about what to do about climate change to start with themselves. I proposed the idea of a climate selfie to help keep in mind how and where you are in your external world. Like all selfies, the emphasis on your exterior world left out an even more important part of starting with yourself – your interior world.

An Inner Inventory

I know, I know – how can you decide what to do about climate change if you don’t deal with the exterior climate world? To make a difference, most of us not only have to focus on the external realities, we often need to learn more about how climate works. BUT - to manage the enormous swaths of possible climate actions we could take – I still propose beginning with yourself. You can take an inventory on what interior resources you bring to the table . . . more like an Xray than a selfie.

You can start that inner inventory by asking why you care about climate. Maybe why you’re even taking the time read this blog.

I care about taking climate action because______________________________________________________________

Head and Heart

Use my doodle, rough as it is, to notice how climate connects to your thoughts (Head) and to your feelings (Heart). You may naturally be drawn to one more than the other. If you care about climate using logic and the effectiveness of possible actions, you might want to keep using your Head to research options. Or climate has you following your Heart, you might want to explore how nature lifts your spirits or how you’re grieving some climate losses. Any biases to following your Head or your Heart are good information about your interior world.

     Going deeper, you can also notice what aspects of each stand out to you. You can notice how your heart responds with feelings. Anything from your love of an endangered spot of nature to the general unease of climate anxiety are hints of Heart feelings that can motivate your actions. Your thinking about climate actions (Head) can engage the part of you that likes to solve puzzles or research history. 

Action Motivators

All of these are just hints and arrows pointing toward what you bring from your interior world to the table of choosing climate actions. If you jot down some of the ideas from your Head and Heart, you can see more clearly an Xray of your individual style when it comes to facing climate change.

 To explore further, sign up for
a free printable checklist of
Head and Heart motivators that can
point toward climate change actions. 

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