187: Mark Metry, part 1: To grow, put yourself out there
Mark seeks transitions—what most people avoid, certainly around leadership and the environment—and loves them. He shares them with the world. Listening to his podcast and reading his results, they’re working.
Change can make for a great life, as much as most people prefer to do what they always have. You’ll hear him embracing challenges, learning, seeking understanding. He seeks action and people who act.
He’s just over 21, but I hear experience beyond those years, I think because of the challenges, and doing them publicly. Putting yourself out there forces accountability on you, which gets the job done. I recommend it.
On personal change, he recognizes that emotion, not the outside world, is usually the biggest hurdle. This view, applied to environmental leadership, points to working on the beliefs and emotions driving our environmental problems for solutions.
Too many of us look to others to act first or relying on technology—that is, not to where Mark looks. Our culture treats acting on your values as a chore. Listen to Mark to hear the joy, growth, meaning, purpose, and things I think we want in life more than plastic bags. Acting on your values is not a chore.
Yes, parts of change are hard. Very hard. You’ll hear the decisions he’s had to make, though you have to listen hard because he’s mostly overjoyed.
I’m glad he was as open on the environment as he was because I think he shared what many are too scared to: that he doesn’t know much about the environment.
But for all he didn’t know, he still cared. Environmental action isn’t a matter of expertise or facts. Anyone can compare a garbage dump to a forest and figure out which you want more of. The question is do we act.
Mark has acted so far in life. Let’s hear how he approaches environmental action.