Last month we spent time looking at having a purpose as a helpful way to build resilience. It’s important to remember that we are all unique with our own talents, skills and interests. To find what is meaningful to you tune into your values which is based on what is important in your life. If you can be someone that loves what they do and does what they love rather than following others’ expectations, your life will be richer and you’ll be more resilient in challenging times. Living by your values means you’ll be more authentic and will naturally project confidence due to your enthusiasm, even when you don’t feel it. Don’t think you have to be an expert. The word amateur comes from the latin word “amara” – which means – to love. Albert Einstein was an amateur physicist and look what he achieved. In terms of finding your niche its worth considering where you can maximise your opportunities by offering something different to what everyone else is offering. Once you know your purpose you then need to prepare or plan for it.
Humans infact have a hierarchy of needs according to Maslow and planning is required to fulfil these needs (see model below). These include essential physiological needs such as having air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing and reproducing, as well as safety needs such as a job and health, plus higher needs for love and feeling we belong, self-esteem, respect and finally self-actualization where we become the best we can be and fulfil our full potential. In terms of our full potential if we view this in a holistic way, we must surely include the need to connect with nature as being one of our essential needs to help build resilience.
When we look at nature, we see that it adopts various strategies to fulfil its basic needs. For example, tree bark doesn’t just do one job. It protects and provides mechanical protection, regulates temperature, prevents moisture loss, protects from solar radiation and changes its chemical composition to repel pests. Not bad for an old piece of wood.
Another example of maximising opportunities, is seen in the Fig Wasp, which will find a safe space to lay her eggs inside the unfertilized fruit of a fig. In return, she offers a pollination service. There are more than 750 species of fig and incredibly there is a different species of wasp for each type of fig. Over generations each wasp has developed a symbiotic relationship finding its niche in a crowded market. We too, can help provide opportunities for other people by supporting others to create livelihoods or pursue hobbies, by taking on employees, by being a collaborative partner or by helping children find their own place in life.
Having more than one way to meet each of our needs is a great strategy to learn from nature, in planning for a positive outcome and enables trees to survive in a changing climate. For example, to obtain their most basic of need for water, a beech tree employs multiple water optimization strategies. It can cause its branches to droop, to redirect rainwater to the ground closer to its roots and it has lignin in its trunk to prevent it from drying out. It also has shallow roots in the fertile forest floor to catch the rain before it can be poached by other plants. As discussed before trees have a network of fungi to transport water underground. A mature tree can take up to 200 litres of water per day. If there’s a drought, it can employ additional strategies to meet the needs, such as using its deep roots to bring water up from deep underground.
Other trees around the world have hundreds of ingenious water collection methods depending on their circumstances. The Baobab tree in dry regions of Africa store thousands of litres in huge trunks which can grow and shrink according to the season. Whilst the dragon’s blood tree catches mist in its leaves and shades its roots to prevent evaporation. In southern Africa, the Mopane has leaves shaped like butterflies that fold together to reduce the surface area and prevent water loss. Evolution shows us that the trees that are the most flexible in their individual environments, survive the best. Flexibility is a great attribute for us too and really helps us remain resilient.
Neuro linguistic programming or NLP uses a great model for projects using 3 personas – the dreamer, the planner and the critic. The first stage is where the dreamer creates the dream or mission and uses imagination to create a clear picture of this. The planner then sets the goals, with clear steps, to get the project from A to B. The critic can then review the plan regularly and reset goals as things progress. Breaking goals down into chunks or smaller tasks to be reached within a specific timeframe is helpful so that the goal doesn’t feel too overwhelming. Sometimes procrastination sets in and it’s often starting the task that’s difficult. Just saying to yourself to do half an hour helps get you started, then you’ll probably find you get more absorbed and do longer. Once you get going remember to celebrate your successes along the way.
Plants may not have psychological needs but humans certainly do. When planning to do something, we can sometimes hear that negative voice in our head, the internal voice, which tells us that we can’t do something or we’re not good enough to do it. This can lead to imposter syndrome and this can really limit us. Plants luckily do not have to deal with this, they just get on with surviving. So, we need to observe this voice but not let it stop us doing what we feel is the right thing to do. Instead think like a tree. Feed only what you want to grow. Ignore the unhelpful voice inside, don’t feed it, crowd out its light and restrict its growth, just like a plant or tree would do. Instead, use your positive, loving, accepting and appreciating voice to praise yourself. Heap metaphorical compost on your thoughts, water them and wait for ideas to bloom. Saying positive affirmations based in the present can really help to distract this negative thought pattern.
There is so much support and self- help available for our psychological needs. Having various options for this gives us flexibility and helps us to be more resilient. We can be supported by friends, professional counselling, or strategies such as mindfulness, massage and breathing exercises. Exercise such as yoga, cycling or walking in nature are very helpful too as are enjoyable hobbies such as gardening and other creative activities as they absorb and distract us from our worries. Even if you can’t afford a gym membership there are free and online options available to us all and swapping skills is good too.
To summarise, when planning, try to embed poly strategies to support your daily needs in life, so that every activity or element in your life fulfils several needs. This helps you to be more efficient and feel less stressed. For example, by tending a vegetable plot, it helps you get fit and de stress, it means you can produce your own healthy food and be sociable if providing a lovely meal for friends. This can also fulfil our need to be creative and if gardening on an allotment with others, our need to belong. This then frees us up to fulfil our other needs as per Maslow’s scale and helps us to realise our full potential.
With reference to The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben & Think Like A Tree by Sarah Spencer
By Katie James
Katie James runs Walking for Wellness groups in Bramley, Hampshire. The next walk is on Sunday 30th April. These are aimed at helping people build resilience by looking and learning from nature. If interested in coming along, please get in touch.