How To: Self Sustainability Assessment
Sustainability starts with the only planet you have to call home = you.
Some organisations publish sustainability assessments which evaluate social, environmental, as well as financial factors. This is a starting point in acknowledging what were once called ‘externalities’ which have a significant impact on an organisation’s success. Daniel Christian Wahl, author of Designing Regenerative Cultures, refers to sustaining the underlying pattern of health, resilience, and adaptability that maintain this planet in a condition where life as a whole can flourish. When I was working with large corporations on sustainability in Japan, it broke my heart that the team I was working in was not sustainable at the individual level — managers were too busy to think and I felt guilty leaving the office at 8pm. How can people advise on sustainability if they do not practice it? Here I share my evolving method for conducting sustainability assessments for individuals. It combines elements from Tim Ferriss’s Past Year Review with reflections on the different environments of life and the four primary ways of knowing. Below the How-to is my own sustainability report.
Step 1: Highlights and lowlights of the environments of life
Consider the different environments of life — edit, delete or add environments to form your own list. Go through each environment of life and think of massive highlights and consistent highs, and massive lowlights or consistent lows. You can also score each environment out of 10.
Step 2: Identify the inputs or processes which preceded the outputs
Look at highlights and lowlights and reflect on whether they are inputs, processes, or outputs — the line is not always clear. For outputs, identify what the process and/or input was that led to it. For example, ‘Weekly publication of an article’ is an output of the process of me prioritising writing and the decision that I will publish before Monday. ‘Falling in love’ may be an output of exploring ways of meeting people or going on numerous dates, or weeding in the garden of love!
The emphasis here is on process and inputs since these are within our control whereas the outcomes are much less so. For example, going on five dates with an open-mind and open-heart is a success, even if they led nowhere.
Step 3: Rebalance different ways of knowing
Consider the different ways of knowing: cognition, intuitive, embodied, emotional. If there is an environment of life or output you want to improve on, check whether the ways of knowing you’ve been using in this area are balanced and how you might rebalance. For example, in meditation I’ve been using embodied and intuitive ways of knowing and I’d like to rebalance up the cognitive way of knowing with reading or formal instruction.
Step 4: Schedule
Look at your list of highs and lows.
- Choose one or two things that really made your year so special. In my assessment, I highlighted these in green. Schedule the time and necessary inputs or processes into your life, either as a regular habit, or as a pinnacle event. I’m planning a three month rowing trip across France. SCHEDULE IT INTO YOUR CALENDAR OR INTO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE. NOW. DO IT! Do the first action NOW — prioritise this important awesomeness before life drags your attention elsewhere.
- Choose one or two things that really dragged you down massively in 2020, or that consistently drained your energy. I highlighted these red. If it is an output, try to identify the processes or inputs that led there. In my case, consistent sleep deprivation really impacted my year and caused back injuries. I’ve bought a FitBit to better understand my sleep patterns, have scheduled regular appointments with the physiotherapist, and am researching monitors for a better work station at home.
Step 5: Prioritise one environment
Which environment of life is most important for you to improve NOW? Perhaps one area has been so abandoned so long that you can ignore it no more. Or maybe things feel pretty balanced and you want want to really leap forward in one area. Consider the inputs and processes that will help you advance in this area, trying to balance between the different ways of knowing.
(Optional) Step 6: Sustaining or advancing all environments
Consider ways to move forward or sustain in all the environments of life. Acknowledge that if any area is left unattended too long, it will negatively impact on other environments later. That’s ok and to be expected — we are whole human beings and though we may be able to have it all, we cannot have it all at once. Enormous progress can be made focusing on one priority, you will have to accept the consequences and eventually a rebalance will be needed to sustain yourself long term.
Here’s my personal sustainability assessment for 2020.
Environment 1: Spiritual 6/10
Environment 2: Relationships 10/10
By the end of 2018, I felt that the relationship environment of life had got so bad I had no choice but to address it — I prioritised it in both 2019 and 2020. Whereas 2019 was largely theoretical with lots of reading, some workshops, and some solo exercises, 2020 got practical! Dating opportunities in UK lockdown were higher than my island-life in Micronesia. One major milestone was practising communication. I asked “Can I play with your neck?” a mere three weeks after the thought entered my mind! Warning: Playing with neck is a gateway drug.
Environment 3: Network 6/10
Environment 4: Financial 6/10
Environment 5: Body — the only planet I have to call home 8/10
Environment 6: Nature 8/10
Addressing the ecological emergency has to be the priority for 2021 and beyond! No more time can be wasted, investments we make now in improving our ecological presence will reap disproportionate rewards in the future.
Environment 7: Physical 5/10
Spaces we live or work in, cars we drive, clothes we wear, things we use, the physical things which surround us.
Environment 8: Memetic 5/10
Information consumed, eg. books, podcasts, media
Environment 9: Playful Creativity 8/10
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