This Sustainable Life

Jon and I start by talking about his book, You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence. Some of the celebrities he's met and researched come up.

Then we started talking about this podcast and how I could apply his work to cultivate influence among my podcast guests, building community. You get to hear him coaching me on his expertise.

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"Unearned suffering is redemptive," said Martin Luther King.

In today's episode I share what I learned today recording with Blake Haxton, a guest whose episode will appear soon. He lost two legs to flesh-eating disease in 2009.

Tragedy? Yes. Reason to give up? On the contrary, according to him, his one unlucky event in life.

I contend that his outlook on life and message that we all face setbacks, we can still live to our potential can help us learn to live sustainably than any number of windmills and solar panels.

After all, which would you prefer, to live without fossil fuels and take others into account for all you do or to lose both your legs. If you prefer to live sustainably, then his life of fun and reward says you can attain as much fun and reward living sustainably.

• The Advantage of Adversity: Blake Haxton at TEDxOhioStateUniversity

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Last time Joe committed to organizing and participating in a beach clean-up as part of his campaign. In today's episode he shares the state of the region, including the extent of homelessness, drugs, and violence, which made acting so far impossible.

We revisit the commitment as well as personal thoughts on what's happening to America, at least in its major cities of New York City and Los Angeles.

Then Joe recommits and shares his new expectations of success.

• Joe's campaign page

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Jonathan and I continue practicing the Spodek Method. Since last recording, he practiced it with his wife. This time he shares how it went. I picked up on a nuance, that she picked a commitment disconnected from her intrinsic motivation and ended up not finding the task meaningful.

What we covered relates to leadership and relationships in general. The major theme we covered is uncovering people's intrinsic motivations. People often suppress them, sometimes consciously often unconsciously. They make us vulnerable.

We also talked about art. I find Jonathan's explanations and insights fascinating for revealing what artists do and how they represent more than what we see, to what we feel.

If you want to motivate yourself and others to act more sustainably, this episode reveals a lot. I can't think of anything more valuable for humanity this lifetime.

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Coming from a background in science but realizing that sharing numbers and data didn't influence, Joe had to unlearn a lifetime of mainstream science education. He recognized that the best known scientists, like Darwin and Einstein, were great writers. He followed in their footsteps to learn what works while maintaining scientific integrity, which he shares in this episode.

In a world of storytellers and would-be leaders who don't know science and scientists who don't know how to influence, I found talking to Joe relieving. The job ahead is hard, but he shares with us the basics and it's not just avoiding plastic, however important.

He's written books on effective communication. He's worked in government and more to see the communication devoid of science we have to face. He's worked with James Cameron, David Letterman, Harrison Ford, and more.

If you're unsure about how to communicate keeping emotion in mind, staying consistent with scientific results, listen.

• Joe's page, with links to all his works

His books:

• How to Go Viral and Reach Millions
• Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know
• Language Intelligence

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Since Eric's last time here, he formally declared he is running for office. Now he's reporting back months into his campaign.

Did Trump not being in office slow him down? Or did our environmental problems motivate him even more?

How about his commitment to avoid flying? Surely he gave it up to campaign, right? Or did he? Whichever way he went on that commitment, the decision must have been difficult, so we'll get to hear about his values.

We talked about half about running for office, the challenge of choosing, consulting with people from President Biden to his wife, raising funds, handling his job as a tenured professor, considering travel across a large state and to Washington DC, and more.

This podcast was one of Eric's first public statements of considering to run. Now he returns to share the experience, with an election looming.

• Eric's campaign page, including his policies and many videos

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Today's episode explores a subtle but potentially meaningful and large shift, considering focusing on sustainability teamwork more than sustainability leadership.

The main difference is that I think people feel taking a leadership role makes them vulnerable and means lots of work. Joining a team is fun. If enough people join it feels natural and odd not to.

You're hearing me develop an idea in real time.

Here are the notes I read from:

Switch to team?

• Leadership stick neck out
• Sports, business, military, music, drama, family, indigenous tribes, small communities
• Playing Beethoven: no one but everyone
• Everyone matters, bench player, fans, home court advantage
• Improv exercise
• Everyone can join team. Not to messes it up for everyone. Imagine fan blocking. Some can lead, many leadership roles: coach, outstanding player, biggest fan
• Internet search: nothing relevant
• Kicks in tribalism
• Competition two meanings: winning versus finding and reaching their potential
• Opponent is the old values and complacency
• Difference between parent and babysitter
• Chamber quartet with tuba or clown horn is SUV

Links I referred to:

• Teamwork will elevate us to victory
• Michael Carlino
• The Two Meanings of Competition

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Sorry for the slow pace of this episode, but just before recording I looked at the firehouse across the street from my apartment, the small plaque naming the firemen who died trying to help others, and the flowers people put there for them, which led me to lose it as I started recording.

I've never considered the changes to my life meaningful in comparison, despite my losses being greater than anyone I know who didn't die or was related to someone who died for the obvious reason that no material loss compares. Not even close.

But twenty years later, it occurs to me that not communicating about the loss and what I learned from it doesn't help either, because when faced with a huge material loss---I lost about ten million dollars and the future I'd sacrificed other dreams for---we can choose to give up or we can choose to find our values and live by them, if not the fleeting material stuff.

In this episode I share what I live for, what in part I learned from the firefighters who served that day, the servicemembers who enlisted for years to come, as well as from others who lost. We can prevent far greater losses than September 11, than the Holocaust, than the Atlantic slave trade in conserving and protecting our environment.

I choose to devote my life to the greatest cause of our time, in helping the most number of people from the greatest amount of suffering of any time.

If you'd like to help, we who choose to serve, could use your help. But we don't have to enter towering infernos. We eat vegetables instead of takeout, live closer to family instead of flying to and from them, have one child, and learn to lead others to enjoy the same. Contact me if you'd like to join.

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Michael begins by describing himself as a Protestant evangelical conservative PhD candidate at one of the largest and oldest Baptist seminaries, what that description means, and what experience and choices brought him there. These experiences were meaningful and his choices deliberate and considered.

We talk about scripture, family, faith, hope, the environment, modern culture, sin, gluttony, and more. In my experience people who work on the environment disengage or oppose conservative religious views. My experience in engaging with them keeps making me want to learn more about their views. Some I expect and know, others surprise me.

Michael also asks about my views and why I choose as I do around sustainability and stewardship. His question are basic ones I think people would like to know, but slightly different than I'm used to hearing. He then interprets them from a Christian perspective, which I can learn from.

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Reading front-page headlines about activist investors gaining some control of Exxon's Board of Directors reminded me of past guest Dar-Lon Chang, who worked at Exxon for sixteen years. I asked if he had inside information on it.

He told me he did, which he shared. He also shared his personal experience living in a community striving to live sustainably in Colorado. Living more sustainably is why he left Exxon. Now a real estate developer is undoing their work after apparently lying about his intent to honor the community's interests.

You'll feel outrage, though also, I hope, motivation, that he and his neighbors aren't just accepting gas lines being fed to houses in this community. They're fighting back.

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