Notes: This will be my last newsletter. It’s been a pleasure, and let me know if you want to stay in touch.

Also, I read the Kindle version of the book, so I don’t have page numbers, just electronic locations.

With the many negative effects of climate change becoming increasingly apparent, more and more people are experiencing eco-anxiety and climate grief. But we don’t hear about this very often. This is partly because our culture doesn’t talk much about grief at all. It’s also because climate grief is disenfranchised grief.

That’s why I found it refreshing to read Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis by Britt Wray. Wray not only talks openly about climate emotions but explains why it’s so important for all of us to be doing that.

I highly recommend reading the whole book, but to get you started, here are three of my takeaways from it.

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If you’re anything like me, you probably feel like you have too much to do and not enough time to do it. And no matter how efficient you get it doesn’t seem to help.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. You only need to look at how many books about time management are available to know this is a common struggle.

But Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, takes a different approach than most time management books, and I found it both refreshing and helpful. Here are three tips from the book, in case you’ll also find them helpful.

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Even though Earth Day was a few weeks ago now, I wanted to take the “Every day is Earth Day” approach and share some ideas about how you can “green” your business.

If you already have a lot of eco-friendly practices, that’s great! But if you don’t, making changes to become more environmentally focused is a good idea. Many employees appreciate knowing that their employer cares about the environment, and your customers will be glad to see that you’re living your values.

Of course, this is easier for some businesses than others, and it may not be economically feasible to go all-out on sustainable practices. Even small steps can help, though, and you can make it a goal to work toward other options down the road.

With that in mind, here are five ways you can green your business.

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As someone who majored in Computer Science and did well in math (at least until Calculus 4), I’ve always appreciated logic. Spock and Data were some of my favorite Star Trek characters, and I never really got into shows that were all about the drama.

So I was disappointed to realize that logic doesn’t play as much of a part in our lives as I’d thought, especially when it comes to making decisions or forming opinions.

This isn’t to say that logic doesn’t play any role, but here are three reasons why it’s low on the list of priorities.

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of choosing who to do business with. Whether it’s a supplier, manufacturer, or business partner, it’s important to have a good relationship and a shared vision. When you don’t, this can have very negative consequences for your business and, in some cases, for you personally.

With that in mind, here are seven tips for picking a good business partner.

1: Pay attention to personality

We all have people that we work well with, and other people who can drive us crazy. Knowing which is which is important for deciding who you want to work with regularly.

Bear in mind that the other person doesn’t have to be exactly like you – in fact, they probably shouldn’t be – but if they’re completely opposite, you might well get on each other’s nerves. For example, if you’re an overachiever who always gets things done ahead of time, working with someone who procrastinates all the time wouldn’t be a good fit.

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A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hear Bonnie St. John speak at a work conference. Like most things these days, her presentation was virtual, but it was still inspiring.

If you’re not familiar with St. John, she has impressive credentials. After needing to have her right leg amputated at the age of five, she went on to be the first African American to win medals in the Winter Olympics (1984 Winter Paralympics). She’s worked at the White House, has won numerous awards, has done a TED Talk, and much more.

These days, she does a lot of work in what she calls micro-resilience. We hear a lot about resilience, of course, but her take on it is that we need to look at very small things we can do to recover from challenges and mistakes. Based on her talk, here are three ways to help that recovery.

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Starting the year by talking about positive environmental news seems like a good tradition, so I’ve decided to continue it. As with last year, I’ve broken these into three sections – legislation and community, wildlife and plants, and technology.

Legislation and Community

1. Maine conservation success stories

Starting local, Maine saw many exciting conservation successes in 2021. These included:

• $40 million in funding for the Land for Maine’s Future
• More than $22 million raised to protect headwaters for Atlantic salmon
• Expanded acreage for the Downeast Community Forest and Rogue Bluff State Park

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This holiday time of year can be very good for business, but it can also be challenging. You’re likely to have lots more competition than usual, and your customers and prospects will be easily distracted by everything else going on in their lives.

Instead of fighting that tide, try to update your marketing strategies to align with the time of year and help keep your customers in the holiday spirit. Here are five tips to get you started.

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Amazingly enough, the new year is only a couple of months away. When that comes, you’ll see lots of information about New Year’s resolutions, making changes, and starting something new.

The turn of the year can be a good time to try new things, but if you want to do that, you first need to make space by letting go of something you’re currently doing.

It may not be particularly fun to sit down and examine your current activities to find problems, but it’s necessary to do sometimes. And if you do it now, it will leave you in a position to try those new things in January.

To help get you started, here are a few questions to consider.

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Note: This is based on my understanding of the book, and any inaccuracies are mine.

I recently read the anthology All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, a powerful and motivating look at climate change from 60 women climate activists.

The book is divided into eight sections:

1. Root: level setting about the current crisis
2. Advocate: looking at policies and hoped-for solutions
3. Reframe: changing how we talk and think about climate issues
4. Reshape: finding new ways to think about where we live
5. Persist: looking at how we can continue fighting for change
6. Feel: delving into climate grief and related emotions
7. Nourish: considering how our land and water can be used for climate solutions
8. Rise: a call to action

Each section had thought-provoking pieces, and it’s a lot to take in. I can’t write about all of it, so I encourage reading the book, but here were my five biggest takeaways.

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