Collaborating with the Planet: Why a Survival Mindset of the Past will not Create Tomorrow’s Solutions
The exigencies and challenges of this era are compelling those in business, finance, investments, and beyond to attempt what feels like a high-wire act -- to maintain their relevance when everything in the world is shifting beneath us at the rate of quicksand.
What will be your balance? How can your relevance be assured? The answer is blindingly clear: radically improve your relationship with our environment, or watch everything you've worked for plummet into a bottomless pit.
Look around you. Indeed, this might be the most chaotic and challenging time that the world has experienced since the Great Depression and World War II.
The current human mindset is seemingly obsessed with nothing but kill-or-be-killed survival. We can see this in the ferocious demand for resources in short supply, the narcissism that characterizes too many of our leaders, income disparity wider than ever before witnessed, dealing with Covid, and of course -- the elephant in the room that is climate change.
The survival mindset that landed humanity here will not propel us past the problems we now face.
We're working on how to tackle these issues from a flawed mindset. The question is, can we become a collaborator with the planet?
And it is only from this dynamic, symbiotic partnership with nature that true relevance can emerge.
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Relevance is the ability to consciously evolve your current state of knowledge and wisdom to meet the demands of an ever-changing culture and society. To remain relevant, you must support the evolution of that current culture and the emerging new paradigms, be it in politics, economics, or your particular discipline.
Most business people consider relevance from a "1.0," opportunistic past perspective. Limited thinking. “Greatest upside?” buzzes in their brains.
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In contrast, the "2.0" advanced-level future perspective, one that is intrinsically linked to harmonious communion with the natural world, says, "Where can I invest in the market that will offer me upside both financially and energetically?
Here's what you won't hear from a stereotypical, granola-crunching tree-hugger: 2.0-level innovators achieve at this quantum rate, while also generating vast amounts of wealth for themselves and others.
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Survival should not be the objective. Thriving should be: a deep sense of peace, community, prosperity. In those who adopt a 2.0-level, environmentally driven mindset, the act of thriving flows with ease and - best of all - result after lucrative result.
The environmental mindset reflects a deep harmony and relationship with nature. This mindset is what the globe is missing, but it's not permanently lost.
Deepened rapport with nature also fuels your capacity to innovate, to solve long-vexing problems in a fraction of the time.
Survival-thinking innovation can still take place. But without a mindset shift that harmonizes with nature, we'll only be perpetuating the same old problem.
I encourage all business leaders to enhance their symbiosis with nature, particularly through the power of biomimicry. This thrilling, emergent discipline explores how humanity can learn from Nature to solve problems.
Nature cuts its excesses. Nature prioritizes cooperation. Nature operates 24/7. Such laws can carry over brilliantly to the backdrop of your business.
Back to the wire that you're walking. What's balancing you this time spans far beyond the pole. Are you walking into the future tethered to a survival and lack mindset of the past? Or are you walking forward walking into the future mindset of thriving and abundance?