Your Personal Ecology

In his book, Retire Early and Live the Life You Want Now, John F. Wasik introduces the concept of a personal ecology. He asserts that you can find a new prosperity by balancing your personal ecology. So what is a personal ecology? Wasik states:

"Ecology is a beautiful word that is all about relationships. It shares the root word oikos with economy, which is from the classic Greek meaning household. A figurative translation is keeping your house is order. Physicist Fritjof Capra has an even broader definition that calls ecology "the study of the relationships that link all members of the Earth Household". That lofty idea doesn't exclusively refer to the place in which you live, however. It refers to the life energy you spend in working, commuting, relaxing, family time, playing, worshiping, or any other activity you can name. The relationships to these different "rooms" of our lives are interdependent. None can exist independently."

So your personal ecology is about the relationships between all your activities and people and places and things and how they combine to create you as a whole person. These affect in a positive or negative way your thoughts and feelings and your physical body, your whole person, your life.

We talk a lot about Earth's ecology or the ecology of a particular natural resource, such as a river's ecology or a prairie's ecology. But what about your own personal ecology? What are you doing to make sure it is healthy, thriving, balanced, and nurturing? This requires stepping back and looking at the big picture of your life. It is difficult, if not impossible, to understand our personal ecology when mired in the daily grind or the details of our problems and issues. Wasik contends that without this big picture view and attention you can never achieve true prosperity. Just as a prairie or a forest or a river needs a balance of nutrients, rain, sunlight, microorganisms, animals, plants, etc. to remain healthy and viable, so do you need a balance of nurturing and challenging physical, mental, emotional and spiritual activities. Your life can be out of balance, just like that river or the swamp or the prairie, by having too much or too little in any area of your life. The good news is that you have control over your personal ecology, unlike a river!

Wasik's Principles of Personal Ecology include:

1. "We can balance our lives." The relationships between ourselves and our work, our leisure, our family, our fiends, community, our spiritual lives, our health and everything else can be brought into harmony and balance. Take out a pencil and paper and draw a picture of your life. You can use diagrams or a pie chart or symbols, whatever is meaningful to you. What do you see in this picture? Is everything included? Is anything out of balance, too large or too small? Are you happy with where your attention is going?

2. "Money can be used to propel our dreams." Attending to money is attending to our life energy. Money represents our life energy. Where and how you earn and utilize it can tell you a lot about the health of your personal ecology. Money has tremendous power in this world and in our lives. Is this area of your life weak and ineffective or is it robust and full of vitality?

3. "Work can be redefined and help us reach our goals". Work can be defined as any productive activity, whether paid or not paid for. Rebalancing work can include how much time you spend doing it, how much focus you put on your work, and whether work brings you satisfaction or dissatisfaction. What work are you doing? Is it interesting to you? Do you like to do it? Is there something you can do to bring in more satisfaction? Do you have interesting work outside of "paid" work? Hobbies? Other interests?

4. "Personal growth will make much of the struggle easier." Personal growth is an admirable life activity. One that brings tremendous rewards in the form of an easier life, happier relationships, clarity and authenticity. Personal growth can include both inner psychological and spiritual work and "outer" work such as learning new skills and behaviors or becoming more educated. Personal growth is a lifelong activity, not just for your "college" years or your work years.

Because his book is about early retirement, his principles focus on work. But this concept can be expanded to include your entire life such as community, family, friendships, spiritual work, psychological growth, physical health, mental health and growth, emotional health, home, hobbies, works of service, etc. What does your personal ecology include now and what would you like it to include? A personal ecology does not expect that all areas are equal, but that they are balanced so that you have more of what you want and need and less of what you do not want and need. For example, maybe you are spending too much time and energy on work and not enough on your family. Or possibly you are spending too much time on the sofa and not enough at exercise or play. It is YOUR personal ecology and the end result will be health, balance, happiness, and more energy and vitality.

What steps can you take today to begin the rebalancing necessary to make your ecology healthy, thriving, productive and vital? Remember, small steps count!