Better Late Than Never
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ― Aristotle
Every year I put down goals and work hard to not just to score them off the list but also make it sustainable habits. In 2019, acquiring new skills was on my list, so I completed a course in Design Thinking from MIT. Over the last year, I’ve consciously incorporated “empathy” in various dimensions of my life.
For 2020, I put down “logical and ecological living: on my list. Before I let you in on two secrets behind my resolution re-read the quote on top of this article.
Secret 1: I’m a sucker for clothes; a male version of Carrie Bradshaw. When I peeped into my closet end of last year, I noticed I had way more clothes than I needed and I could get through rest of my life without buying another shirt or trouser. From time-to-time, I do have Mary Kondo moment with my clothes and discard those that don’t bring me joy, but still that doesn’t reduce the pile.
Secret 2: I travelled to 32 cities, 4 countries clocking 50,000 miles in 2019. I came home only when I missed my bed and home-cooked meals. And just before I switched jobs in March 2020, I had planned to take a few weeks off and booked my tickets to Bhutan, a country that ranks highest on the Gross Happiness Index.
Until the COVID-19 pandemic struck I didn’t realize “logic” was a part of “ecologic”. I used the downtime to analyse damage to Earth behind my behavior impacts our shared home, Earth, and in the process unearthed the connection between logic and ecologic.
A T-shirt produces 3.2 kgs of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. And I had 40 of them in my closet, adding 128 kgs of carbon dioxide to planet earth. 50,000 travel miles pumped additional 2,267,962 kgs of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When I looked at other clothes in my closet I went into self-reflection mode. My irresponsible behavior was causing this planet to warm up faster, pushing animals towards extinction and creating ecological imbalance.
Staying home for over 30-days during the pandemic helped me break the cycle of travel and shopping. Also, it helped me overcome my FOMO (fear of missing out) and discover the joy of letting go.
I’m now on a journey to create balance, and it’s truly a step-by-step endeavor. What further strengthened my commitment is my employer LM Wind Power – the first carbon neutral business in the wind industry, since 2018. Their 10-steps to becoming a carbon neutral business affirmed my goal to be ecologic and live a sustainable life.
On this Earth Day, don’t miss this opportunity to make your pledge to live a sustainable life. Start by re-reading Aristotle’s quote on the top of this page. This message on Balance will definitely leave you inspired to add sustainable living to your 2020 goals.
Better late than never.
#GoCarbonNuetral #WeReduce #EarthDay
Internal Communications | Business Communications | Employee Engagement
4yCan very much relate to this post... good to read about the two secrets :)
HR Business Partner, Assistant Manager - KPMG Global Services (KGS)
4yInteresting thoughts!
Director of Legal Operations | Executive Chief of Staff | Fractional COO | Strategic Advisor | Women in Leadership Advocate
4yThank you for always inspiring others, Chandra!
Head of Marketing & Communications, Food & Beverage APAC | Ex-P&G | IIM B | Performing Carnatic Musician
4yInspiring Chandra!
Supporting organizations on their sustainability transformation
4yGreat reflections, Chandra! Hope others feel as inspired as you 😊 Happy Earth Day!