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"How to Keep Motivated"
By Wally Van
Sickle
I’ve learned a few
things during the last 17 years of doing conservation work with
regards to staying motivated and I would like to share them with
you. I believe it is very important we remain motivated as we go
into the next millennium.
1) Be an ecorealist – the core principles are that logic, not
sentiment, is the best tool for safeguarding nature (we cannot
do conservation by emotion). That accurate understanding of the
actual state of the environment will serve the earth better than
expressions of panic (rely on facts not fear). And that in order
to form a constructive alliance with nature men and women must
learn to think like nature (in thinking like nature realize,
nature has done some seriously nasty things to planet earth that
make our actions pale in comparison and life has always
continued).
2) Do not be afraid of change – change is one of nature’s rules,
she changes all the time, it is inevitable and you can always
find a way to use it to your advantage if you try hard enough –
do not spend tons of time and energy trying to keep things the
way they were.
3) Think of problems simply as new information, not bad or good-
they are simply lessons we need to learn in order to create a
better future for all of us.
4) Don’t be afraid to fail, it is very limiting; if you have
good ideas and good visions keep that in focus. There will be
stumbling blocks along the way but once again, they are just
lessons that will help you do better conservation work.
5) Be a positive leader – you are all leaders of volunteers. If
the leaders are pessimistic about the future of conservation so
will be the followers.
6) Take time for your self away from conservation. You are all
special people and deserve special time running, hiking,
fishing, whatever. I like to meditate a half hour every morning
and evening.
7) Believe in your ideas, dreams, and visions. If you don’t
believe nobody else is going to either.
8) Do not underestimate the power of the small, the ability of
an individual – you – to go out into the world and make a
difference. We often equate largeness with power, rather than
seeing largeness is in fact a limitation to change – think of
smallness as a virtue not a limitation. One of the IDEA WILD
philosophies is that we do not know the limits of the power of
the small perhaps there are none.”
