finding your why

Many of us “fall into” doing environmental work without ever stopping to think about why we’re actually doing this. Starting small with something like helping a friend’s project, or doing a class assignment, we soon find ourselves months or years down the line still focusing on the same issues, but without ever realising what it is that is making us want to continue.

Discovering why you care about the issues you do can help immensely in preventing or recovering from burnout, feeling lost or frustrated, or feeling unsatisfied. It can help guide you when you’re looking to further your work - helping you avoid situations or projects that don’t actually align with what you care about or want to do.

Your “why” might not be obvious right away, and that’s okay. Your why is meant to be a tool to help you discover ways that you can make an impact about the things you care about, in a way that you enjoy. It’s never meant to limit you! Your ‘why’ can change and grow and evolve alongside you.

I went outside for the first time in ages, and I sat alone with my journal, and I wrote ‘why do you care?’

- Baylee Ritter

hear from Baylee

Listen to Baylee Ritter, an environmental educator, advocate, and founder of Everyone’s Collective, a plastic-free shop and environmental education center in Pontiac, Illinois that aims to close the education and action gap in rural communities

More about Baylee

A lot of advice out there around “finding your why” is built for people who are further down the line in their career - asking you to look back on your childhood and teen years while you’re still in them isn’t helpful. Instead, take a look at the following questions and see if the answers to any jump out at you. From there, see if that gives you an indication of your why.

questions to help you find your why

  • What gives you a sense of wonder or awe?

  • What makes you come alive?

  • What did you love doing most as a young kid?

  • What is most important to you?

  • What do you do to avoid work / when you’re supposed to be working?