Some people in my workshops describe early times practicing the Spodek Method as causing them anxiety. From my experience with performance arts like acting or sports in front of a crowd or, in attraction, learning to approach women, I know performing where others can see you can cause people without experience anxiety.

I also know that mastering that art can transform that anxiety into joy and glory. Everyone who became great at any performance art started as inexperienced and unskilled as anyone. Do the reps and you learn to succeed. You find the art in it and learn to express yourself through the art. You learn things about yourself you never knew.

What I just wrote applies to all performance arts. What about the art of sustainability leadership, in particular involving the Spodek Method?

I read that humans love talking about nature (sorry I forgot where so can’t cite my source, sorry). It makes sense that a species that hunted and gathered in teams would communicate about the context on which their existence depended.

Sadly, in today’s world, talking about nature changed from whatever used to lead to talking about it to talking about gloom, hopelessness, giving up, blame, and things many of us would rather not talk about. So talking about nature leads to anxiety. Most of our existence doesn’t depend on nature any more, making talking about it optional. Something we’re probably hard-wired to do we now don’t need to but when we do, it’s filled with doom and creates anxiety for many.

My conclusion is subtle: avoiding talking about nature when it provokes anxiety is like taking a drug to avoid that anxiety.

That is, we want to talk about something but expect we’ll regret doing so. The longer we don’t talk about nature, the more we want to talk about it, but we expect we’ll regret acting on our preference. We feel anxiety, like a smoker not smoking.

The Spodek Method leads you to talk about nature, which is like not smoking, so we feel anxiety. Practicing it more is like going longer without smoking. The Spodek Method in particular and sustainability leadership in general get harder until they get easier, eventually becoming a part of your identity, and therefore effortless.

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