Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Motivation...where are you?

"What's in it for me?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"I don't have the time or the drive."

That's mainly what it boils down to.

Ever since I started this project, I've found it very difficult to lead others and get them to follow directions and such. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that people simply have other better things to do and when it comes down to it, most of us are more inclined to put ourselves before others. I did not expect this to be a hit right off the bat; after all, I'm just a young, inexperienced college student that doesn't really know what she's doing. I started getting very worried because, ultimately, I'm doing this project for a grade and it'll be measured by how successful I was in leading others to help accomplish my goal, which is to change peoples' lifestyles to be more eco-friendly. So, I'm kind of left at a standstill. Not really sure if I should just give up (which isn't really an option, seeing as how the project is due in less than two weeks). How are you supposed to lead a group of people to do something for you if they're not willing to participate? This is definitely a challenge and a learning experience for me and I know that despite my recent failure in getting others to follow me and participate in my project (after they've agreed to do so), it will eventually work out. How many times can you ask someone to do something after you continually get rejected? I'm not the kind of person to intrude so I hate having to bug people about this, as if I'm nagging them to do something undesirable, like cleaning up their room.

At first, I was so excited about this opportunity to lead a project in something I was passionate about (the environment) and after affirmation from my peers, family, and professor, I was more than eager to get the ball rolling. However, as soon as I did that, the support quickly faded and I was left confused and disappointed. Now I'm on the verge of throwing in the towel, so to speak. I need some motivation because I will not give up on this and I will not let this setback bring me down.

Am I looking for a little empathy? Sure. But I know that ultimately, I need to change myself before I can change others. Now, if only I can do that in less than 2 weeks...

8 comments:

Fran Aukuso said...

Very nice Mayanne...we need more people like you doing what you do!!!! Keep up the great work, people will follow. I know I try my best to recycle and be as eco friendly as I possibly can. It's all about paying it forward, and why shouldnt we pay it forward to nature, right? Keep updating the progress!!! Thanks, Fran :)

Amanda said...

If you were to ask me about any of my eco friendly habits about a couple weeks ago, I wouldn't have anything to report. Not because I didn't care about our environment, but simply because I wasn't informed. I have honestly learned a lot while reading through Project Green and due to this, I have picked up various eco friendly habits that I choose to practice not just now but in the future as well. So thank you for that!
Your passion for contributing to the overall wellness of our environment, and your willingness to make a difference is very much apparent through Project Green. You're a great leader and deserve a lot of support. Keep up the good work :-)

Mayanne Atanacio said...

Thank you Fran! That really means a lot!

Thank you very much Amanda! I'm really glad that you are changing your lifestyle and changing the way you think. That is my ultimate goal, to get other people to change their lifestyle and be more aware of the environment! Keep it up and spread the word! :-)

Unknown said...

So my next move to be more eco-friendly is changing my cleaning products. I have already switched to recycled paper towels, and toilet paper in my home. But it dawned on me the other day when I was wiping down the kitchen counters, and scrubbing the bathroom, that the smell to the cleaning products I was using makes me so nauseous. Thinking about it further, I know that these products can be harmful to our environment, if not me inhaling the toxic smell. Just because you can smell the potent perfume of a product, doesn't mean that is what kills the germs and gets the surface clean! So I am going to buy Seventh Generation cleaning products. This is a great company. Again, it may cost me a buck or two more, but I think this is well worth it! I encourage everyone else to do the same. Another note, for people with children, these products are safer to have around. Under the kitchen sink products are so harmful to us, our kids, and our planet. We should all make a change!

Unknown said...

Ms. Mayanne - I like your blog site and admire your zealousness on eco-friendliness. Mark and I continue to be more sensitive and do our part the best way we can. In addition to what I have told you last time, Mark and I also started planting vegetables in the backyard. He is also finishing the solatube installation which definitely not only will provide us more light in the house, but save on energy and of course energy bill. Water conservation has also been on our list such that we are teaching our plants to adjust to less watering. They seem to be surviving very well. I guess just with anything we can survive with less if taught how to or exposed to it. Good luck on this project and mother earth will surely thank you for influencing others to save her.

Mayanne Atanacio said...

Thank you for sharing Becky and Mark (Auntie Anjali). Your ideas are inspiring to say the least!
Keep it up! :-)

Unknown said...

Mayanne - today we visited Urban Ore, a recycling place in Berkeley to check what we can reuse for a project. It is good to have businesses like this enabling use of items that normally would be considered junk, dirty, unusable for others. We also completed replacing all our windows and doors with energy efficient ones. This definitely not only make us live comfortably, but decreased our energy consumption and bills. We also continue to find plants that are drought tolerant such that water conservation is upheld. Today we added more succulents to our garden and still happy with the beauty they provide in addition to enabling us to conserve more water.

One of the biggest thing we have done is no longer using bottled water. We have a Britta system such that we just use a pitcher for our water instead of wasting lots of platic bottles.

Mayanne - thanks for making us continuously more eco friendly. The interesting thing is, we are not inconvenienced by this effort.

Mayanne Atanacio said...

That is great to hear Auntie! I'm glad that you're finding new ways to make your home environmentally-friendly-proof! Truly rewarding! That just goes to show how easy it can be to change your lifestyle to be more eco-friendly and it will pay off in the long run.

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