You have probably heard about many different kinds of mindsets and how mastering them can make you a hero in your own life. When you deal with different mindsets, you will find a lot of information and tips and tricks to become the best version of yourselves. From a productivity mindset, a positivity mindset up to a goal mindset, there is a lot of support to guide you in achieving goals which are important to you. We are driven by different motivations, circumstances and environments in everything we do to feel impactful and fulfilled. However, we also need a version which is the best for society and nature. What you don’t often read about is another mindset lining up with the others: the Sustainability Mindset. The Sustainability mindset aims at supporting you to develop useful thought patterns and ideas for a better world.

Green is a trend, sustainability is a mindset

In its most simple form, a mindset reflects a person’s way of thinking and their opinions. The motivation behind a Sustainability Mindset, is that we express our thinking in actions which not only contribute to our well-being, but also to the greater good of society and the environment. An intellectual understanding of sustainability is important but not enough to drive sustainable development.

A mindset paves the road to action, and with every action made with a Sustainability Mindset we can accelerate the change needed to tackle the challenges ahead of us. When we analyse and interpret information to make decisions through the lens of a Sustainability Mindset, we take different parameters into account and make the best decision for the benefit of many. We should not live at the cost of others.

Alright, but what is a Sustainability Mindset? There is not a lot of information to be found as it seems to be a relatively new way of thinking. Thus, I made it one of my many missions to give you the best information possible to implement a Sustainability Mindset in your life. Let’s dive into the beginning of understanding what a Sustainability Mindset is. A researcher who is dealing with this subject is Isabel Rimanoczy. She already did a big chunk of the work and developed 12 principles of a Sustainability Mindset. They are grouped into four content areas with further subcategories: 

• Ecological Worldview (Ecoliteracy)
• Systems Perspective (System Thinking)
• Emotional Intelligence
• Spiritual Intelligence

Ecological Worldview

The Ecological worldview refers to the fact that we are all connected (physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially and spiritually). Our social and natural systems function as a network which has the capability to constantly regenerate through interactions. The purpose of sustainability is to highlight the interdependence of humans to the natural environment and to stop the negative human actions of destruction and exhaustion.

Related:

Why We Need To Understand The Planetary Boundaries

The ecological world view helps to interpret sustainability in a holistic sense, encompassing living as well as non-living entities. After decades of exploitation and mismanagement of human and natural resources, we need to shift our thinking and create pathways to return to the natural systems of the Earth. Previous and current decisions made by humans created this mess and now we need to make the right decisions to get out of it.

The two identified subcategories for the Ecological Worldview are:

Ecoliteracy

This refers to the understanding of the state of the planet. What is working well? What is not working so well? What are the challenges we are facing and why do we have them? It is crucial to be aware of and understand the scope of the reasons for the challenges. It does not help to look at it from one perspective, instead, taking different perspectives into account enables us to better understand the cause of the problems.

The entirety of the challenge can then be tackled by people with different knowledge, capabilities and perspectives. Here comes the power of multidisciplinarity into play to diversify the range of solutions. The complexity of how everything is linked does not make it easy to find the right solutions. However, with a multi-disciplinary approach we can create more opportunities to solve the challenges ahead. Another important point is to understand what ecoliteracy means to us and how we can improve it.

Our Contribution

Following up on how you can improve the situation, the first thing to reflect on is identifying your unintentional contribution to the challenges. You might think that your way of life cannot have such a big impact, but comparing your way of life on a global scale will change your perception. We are almost eight billion people on this planet. The environmental destruction started centuries ago and our excessive, resource-intense lifestyles are continuously adding to the misery. Actions add up.

It is crucial to expand your consciousness of the impacts of the decisions you make. Developing social sensitivity is a useful approach to become aware of how you are part of the problem. No worries, the majority of us are part of the problem to a greater or lesser extent. Good news: there are billions of possibilities, from being a problem, to becoming part of the greater good.

Systems Perspective

A systems perspective refers to understanding the different relationships between different parts of a system, what purpose they fulfil and how they influence each other. Usually, each part is vital for the system to survive and regenerate when hit by an external shock. Natural systems have the capacity to evolve over time and to adapt to outer circumstances. With the environmental destruction caused by humans, we continuously take away nature’s ability to restore itself and we are not in a position to imagine the full consequences. Nature has figured out the most spectacular ways to be sustainable, humans, not so much. 

For the systems perspective there are four subcategories:

Long-Term Thinking

Every action we take has consequences and they are not immediately visible. But what is important to understand is that our actions accrue one by one, but impacts multiply themselves. One action has multiple impacts, so one action can change the world because the result can have millions of impacts. This is why it is so important to consider the long-term outcomes when making decisions. 

Flow in Cycles 

The word “Circular” is being widely used when talking about sustainability goals. It is a concept where no waste occurs and everything exists and influences each other in a sustainable manner. To find inspiration to achieve circularity the best inspiration you will find is in nature. There are no linear processes in nature, everything works in a circular system and repeats itself until one or more parts of the system are disrupted. A system is sustainable when it has the capability to deal with the disruption. 

Both/And Thinking 

There is never only one way to do it, right? The concept of Both/And thinking refers to multiple things being true at the same time, with everyone’s experience being valid, regardless of the experience of somebody else. Everybody has different sets of knowledge, skills, and experiences, which are powerful resources to draw upon when looking for the best outcome in a specific environment. Collaboration can multiply the chances of finding the right solutions to a problem. By merging different people’s skill sets, something can be created with the capability to tick more than one box. Both/And thinking supports the development of creative solutions. It is one of the keys to more peaceful societies and healthy ecosystems.

Interconnectedness 

Diversity is one of the most important concepts to truly make a sustainable impact/act in a sustainable way. From an early age we were told that we need to fit in and not step out of line. But at what cost? We created linear ways of living, contributing globally to worse mental health, natural extinction and losing our chance to find our purpose. Diversity connects and merges different parts of a system to function in the best way possible, supporting each other and fulfilling true potential. Writing this makes me feel pretty excited, which I hope also excites you to join the sustainable path.

Related: 

5 Helpful Steps To Understand The Concept Of Systems Better

Why Systems Thinking Is So Useful To Achieve Sustainability

How To Easily Apply Systems Thinking In Your Life

Emotional Intelligence

Soft skills are more and more valued in the professional world, but they are also helpful in our everyday lives to improve our relationships and the natural environment. Emotional intelligence can be seen as another term for soft skills because it addresses the ability to understand and manage your own impacts, and also the impacts of the people around you. Everyone has a different level of emotional capacity to be able to understand how their behaviour affects other people and living-beings. 

Creative Innovation 

Our brain has the ability to create the wildest, thoughtful, romantic or exciting stories. There are no limits on how far your imagination can go and you can use it at any time. We can develop resilience with a constant flow of creativity, innovation and experimentation. Fitting into a weird concept of society prohibited our capability to expand our imagination beyond what we are forced to believe.

Technological innovation is praised as the number one solution to hold our challenges at bay. I find this narrative restrictive and excluding, especially as my tech skills are not on a level where I feel I can contribute to a sustainable tech revolution. My mind is full of ideas and dreams and I feel brave enough to write that I believe our imagination is more impactful than sole tech innovations. Now imagine we combine dreamer innovation with tech innovation, plus all the other ideas I haven’t thought of yet. Limits? There are no limits.

Related:

Climate Tech Startups: Nailing It With Diversity

Reflection 

There is a lot to take in when it comes to developing a Sustainability Mindset. Reflection helps to pause your life for a little while and assess what is going on. Are you content or not? Do you need to change something? Have you caused a good, bad or neutral impact? Reflection is also helpful before making a decision. You can think about all the different areas your decision could affect. Is the decision you are going to make creating the best possible impact for you, your fellow human beings, and the natural environment? If yes, awesome. If not, maybe reconsider and adapt your actions.

Self-Awareness 

With self-awareness, we have a powerful tool to gain greater control over our own actions. Understanding our personal values, beliefs, assumptions and motivation plays an important role in mastering our own actions and not running on autopilot. Our feelings and character determine our passion(s) and make it possible to pursue what we really want. 

Spiritual Intelligence

Spiritual intelligence distinguishes itself from emotional intelligence by addressing the qualities and capabilities of our authentic self. I find this subcategory difficult to describe as I see my personal knowledge is not yet sufficient enough to give you a deeper understanding. But I will introduce you to the three subcategories. I know that one day I will be able to fill this subcategory with more valuable content.

Purpose

I like to think of purpose as an unconscious compass, which guides us through our lives and introduces us to opportunities which fill our lives with meaning. Determination to achieve our dreams, goals and ambitions is an important driver to getting out of bed and being the best version of yourself. With purpose, you can chase the experiences which make you feel alive and create the memories no one can take from you.

Now we also have a global purpose: to accelerate the sustainable transition so it is possible for us to continue living our purposes. The burden of this task is huge, but we are not alone in this. Collectively we can make it happen. Even if the purpose of creating a more sustainable world weighs on our shoulders, it is a worthy purpose.

Oneness With Nature 

This one is not about returning to the woods to start collecting berries and hunting mammoths. Urbanisation is a rather irreversible trend, but turning urban spaces into natural habitats is inevitable. We are a part of nature and need to work on more harmonious relationships with all beings. We need to give nature space and stop immediately destroying and removing the little true natural spaces we have. What is destroyed cannot be replaced. We are destroying our livelihoods. Nature can continue without us but we cannot continue without nature.

Mindfulness 

Pay attention to what is happening inside of you and around you. A moment-by-moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings, body and environment enables you to be fully present. It gives you the opportunity to experience true connectedness and compassion. It allows you to gain control of, for example, negative emotions and to cultivate responses which are most beneficial to your well-being. 

That was a lot to take in and it is definitely not easy to develop a sustainability mindset, but it is also not the most complicated endeavour to accomplish. Developing a Sustainability Mindset brings us one step closer to contributing to a better world. It is a trial and error process, but it is a process, which can make all the difference.