Getting The Green Feel Good Factor

One of the most unexpected (and welcome) things I’ve experienced since I started this blog is the sense of accomplishment and the good feelings that come from my making this journey. Every time I make changes to my lifestyle, no matter how big or small, I get a resurgence of these feelings and this encourages me to challenge myself further – it’s like a virtuous circle.

It is amazing how little things such as installing a draught excluder on the bottom of your door or cooking a vegetarian meal can give you a lift and remind you that you are on the right track.

I think we need to encourage these tiny actions as much as possible regardless of how much they each reduce emissions because this same feel good factor will slowly build in people as they realise just how easy and rewarding it is to change.

And there is no doubt that people are more likely to adopt changes permanently if they get some sort of enjoyment and a sense of meaning out of it.

Sometimes the challenges are as much practical as they are ideological with things such as keeping warm in winter or attempting to cut your water usage requiring some thought but yielding more than just good feelings (most often cost savings) but putting your mind to anything and achieving it will always leave you feeling good about yourself.

My advice would be to start small and set yourself achievable goals because it is the accumulation of these small wins that build up that feel good factor. I only say this because trying to go from 0 – 60 in one go might lead to failure and disappointment which in turn might lead to giving up.

It’s not hard to think of challenges either but if you need some inspiration then I’d recommend checking out the full challenge list from Change The World Wednesdays (#CCTW on twitter) which is a weekly challenge that I sometimes take part in.

Oh and I realise the image for this post is a bit weird – you don’t really need to go running around in flowery meadows to get the green feel good factor, that’s totally optional!

Steve (132 Posts)

Chief writer and editor on Green Steve. Blogging since 2011, Steve likes to delve into a wide number of topics.