Disillusionment with politics is reason enough to want to take action
yourself on climate change and the environment, but actually doing it is
harder. Here is a model to help you plan and do.
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Are you frustrated by the lack of national action being taken to
tackle climate change and protect the environment? Have you made a New
Year resolution to start doing something yourself?
The good news is that there is plenty of advice out there on what individuals can do, like David Suzuki’s
top 10 things to do about climate change. But making the resolution to
do something, and even deciding on what to do, is the easy part. The
hard part is actually doing it, and that requires not just understanding
what needs to be done but going through the next step and organising
ourselves and sustaining our commitment.
Taking action to tackle climate change can seem too hard, but having a plan can make action achievable.
Picture: Shutterstock
It requires what psychologists call “adaptive” thinking and behaviour
that facilitates people being able to change in response to
circumstances and solve problems.
Ordinarily, when we deal with
changing our behaviour we tend to use very simple processes and
typically rely on specialists (therapists, coaches) to bring about
changes that are complex. Even when we make major decisions like job
changing, buying a car or a house, we often don’t account for all the
elements and consequences of the change, sometimes because it would be
overwhelming to think of all of the issues – just as we have
collectively done with climate change.
To assist people in adapting to change, we have been developing a model to help better understand effective, positive and adaptive change processes. We call it the Adaptive Change Model.
There are eight factors to the model, five of which are processes to
consciously follow, and three support factors that help you get where
you are going.
Process Factors
Create a mindset of Openness to Opportunities
– be truly open to the possibilities, all the possibilities. Look for
opportunities and seek out many possibilities before deciding on what to
commit to change.
Visualise possibilities and imagine yourself doing things. Perhaps even write out or draw your opportunities.
Plan. Once
we have imagined all options we need to make plans that address the
complexity and multilayered nature of what needs to be done, and then
operate very flexibly, responding to new opportunities and going through
more visualisation and planning to refine the action plan.
The next stage is Taking Action
and this needs to be strategic, focused, achievable, self-affirming and
self-rewarding – and if possible fun and easy, at least in the first
instance.
Pursue Closure by soundly defining a measurable achievement, followed by celebration of the achievement.
Managing negative emotions and seeking support from others can help sustain your inner drive.
Picture: Shutterstock
Support factors
Social Support – build networks of people to support every aspect of the five processes and two other support factors
(Management of) Negative Emotions – regulating and channelling negative emotions to focus on the five processes and the other support factors
Inner Drive
– providing the grit, gumption, motivation and drive to stay the course
and achieve the goals and maintain the five processes and the other
support factors
For
example, perhaps one evening you notice that there are suggestions on
the council’s rates notice on how to reduce your environmental
footprint, including installing solar panels on the roof, storing
run-off rainwater in upright tanks and setting up a compost bin. You
feel excited and motivated (Inner Drive) at the prospect of doing
something, but a little anxious (Management of Negative Emotions)
because you’ve never done these things before. But you know your partner
will support you and work with you on the options (Social Support).
You
imagine (visualise) what it would be like to have solar panels on the
roof or water tanks or a compost bin. You think about it often and
imagine what it will be like. You visit a friend who has gone
‘environmental’ and they talk to you about what they did and how it
would fit into your house and lifestyle. You realise this is going to
take some effort (Inner Drive) and feel disappointed (Management of
Negative Emotions) that it will change your beautifully landscaped
backyard. But your partner is still very encouraging (Social Support).
In
your plans you commit (Inner Drive) to an easier task to start planning
to manage garbage better by putting a compost bin in the backyard. You
visit staff at a local Environmental Centre (Social Support) who assist
with siting the compost bin, which means taking out some plants
(Management of Negative Emotions).
Decide what success is and celebrate it with those that helped you on the way. Picture: Getty Images
Your friend and partner (Social Support) return with you to the
Environmental Centre where you buy the compost bin and worms, which seem
expensive (Management of Negative Emotions) but you have committed to
this and you think it is worthwhile (Inner Drive).
You are
determined to celebrate your achievements, first when you install
everything and get it working – and that evening you celebrate with your
partner with a glass of wine (Social Support).
You realise that
you have committed to a new process that is going to be time-consuming
and maybe uncomfortable – you have to tramp outside in the cold of
winter or heat of summer (Management of Negative Emotions). However,
you’re glad that you’ve committed to this change (Inner Drive) and
you’ve decided to celebrate your first bucket of compost, when it’s
ready, with your partner and your friend.
Following
and managing these processes isn’t easy. Learning to be comfortable
with patiently and conscientiously applying new, more complex ways of
managing our attitudes, our values, our emotions, our ways of thinking
and doing things, requires effort, understanding and self-compassion to
become truly adaptive.
People should feel free to experiment with
the process and support factors as you work in your own way to meet the
challenge of responding to human induced climate change. Failures
should be embraced as a learning experience to build on, and when you
succeed you should celebrate, with fireworks, if preferred!
Our
politicians aren’t yet ready to decisively and collectively lead on
climate change, however, if enough individuals begin their own
courageous, quiet, personal adaptive change revolution, politicians will
follow.
*Associate Professor Terry Bowles has a background in practice and leadership in school, educational and developmental psychological and clinical psychological practice and research. Professor Bowles works at the University of Melbourne, training Educational and Developmental Psychologists and Research Higher Degree Coordinator.
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