The WellBeing Project Podcast
Ep 3: The HOW
(upbeat music) Welcome to the Wellbeing Project Podcast. I'm Rachel Buckley and this is episode three, The How. In the last episode, I explained why the project exists. Now I'm going to explain the how. How does the project address the issues of chronic human physical and psychological illness? I'm so glad you're here listening. Let's get into it. So the project is a fresh, practical, universally human approach to physical and psychological wellbeing. It can be understood best by seeing it as three components, a message, a method, and a movement. First, let's look quickly at the general approach, fresh, practical, and universal. So this isn't repackaged self-help jargon. It's not some new divine revelation either. It's just a fresh way of articulating the simple messages taught by history's most revered teachers. When it comes to practical, metaphors are wonderful for learning, inspiring messages are good for motivation. But if you don't have a clear, practical set of steps to follow on a daily basis, transformation is impossible. So the project aims to make things that tend to feel ambiguous, like mental health needs, crystal clear. And now universally human. One of the simplest ways to gain insight on ourselves is to remember that we are a species with far more in common than any differences. In modern life, we're endlessly differentiating ourselves from one another, defining smaller and smaller tribes and quicks. But that confuses our reality and obscures our identity. When we remember what we have in common, we understand our individual lives better. Now, let's look at the three aspects of the project, message, method, and movement. The project is a framework, language and imagery for understanding how humans thrive. The message is laid out in the seven concepts. You've probably heard me say it before, but if we don't understand what it means to flourish, our definition becomes not chronically ill. When we look around, our definition of healthy doesn't really reflect a thriving population. The message, the seven concepts, are a fresh approach. Again, not necessarily new information, but a fresh articulation. The intention is to make what's ambiguous or seemingly esoteric, practical and actionable. It helps us as individuals to ground ourselves in a larger context. In this case, as part of a species who share most of our needs and traits in common, compared to what's different. The seven concepts explain human needs that are both visible and invisible, physical and psychological. I emphasize language and imagery because that's what establishes conversation, how we communicate with others about our needs and experiences in ways that make sense to all. Okay, let's talk about the method. While the message is needed information, information isn't transformation. So in order to apply the information to our lives, we need a method. Change depends on the daily choices and the habits that we create. So the method is two things. It's tending, which is practical application in our daily lives and support. Regular connection and conversation with others who care and understand. And this is provided by the weekly small group conversation and we'll talk more about that in the next section. Let's get back to tending. So tending is an approach to life that's in contrast to a problem-solving approach. Imagine trying to plant a garden and grow vegetables with a problem-solving approach. You go out in your backyard, dig up the area you want to become your garden, plant seeds, water them, and excitedly wait for them to grow. Before long, you start to see green shoots and leaves dotted around the new garden. But as time passes, they don't grow to maturity. Some grow, but don't produce the vegetables you expected. Some shrivel up and die before growing very large. Nothing seems to be growing as you expected. Why aren't they growing? After doing some research, you realize some of the plants need shade, but they've been planted in direct sunlight. Some of them are out of season and should have been planted months ago. Some have been over watered and some haven't gotten enough water. Little by little, you dig up sections of the garden and replant others. Little by little, you adjust your behavior to meet the needs of each type of plant. Eventually, you come to understand that the only way to have a successful garden is to understand the needs of the inhabitants and then meet them regularly. The first part of your gardening endeavor was all about problem-solving because things weren't going right. But once you understood the specific needs, you fell into a rhythm of tending that looked much different than the frustration and constant trial and error of your earlier approach. Can you see how crazy it is to live life responding to problems and solving them rather than planning ahead of time to tend life based on the needs we understand upfront? Focusing on problems becomes a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. Tending focuses on cultivating overall optimal outcomes. Carl Jung said, "The greatest and most important problems of life are all, in a sense, insoluble. They can never be solved, but only outgrown." The project teaches tending as an approach to life. Tending the body, when you know the needs of the body, you can practically plant for them. Even though we mostly know what the body requires, we rarely plan for it. Even more importantly, is tending the being. We need awareness about the needs of the being, the invisible part of us. We could just as easily call it our psychological needs. I prefer to refer to the needs of the being because it emphasizes our identity of being versus objectifying an area as if it's a category, our psychological needs. Okay, so that's a bit about the method, and now let's talk about the movement. So we need a practical method to apply the valuable information we learn, but to actually follow through, we need more than that. We need real motivation, and that's where the movement comes in. We need the understanding that the seven cons up so the message brainless, and we need the practical guidance that the method teaches. But in order to personally benefit, we need the motivation that comes from being understood and supported by others. The movement isn't about building a big organization or having a trendy lifestyle. It's about creating an organic network of peer support. The weekly conversation uses 10 prompts that allows any group of individuals from any background to come together on any platform and have a way to share their experiences. Mentoring is a one-on-one style of support that uses the concepts as context. Both options are affordable. The weekly conversation is $10 to participate in, and mentoring will be specific to the mentor. So those are the three areas, message, method, and movement. Let's talk about how somebody gets involved or how do they participate. You're doing it right now. Right now, you're listening to the podcast, and that is the easiest place to begin. The main elements and ideas are available here. Definitely enough to know if taking the courses is what you want to do next. So there's no secret proprietary content that I need to convince you you're missing out on. The point of the courses is to deliver this information in a way that's personal as opposed to just reading a book. You're moving through the concepts with reflection. You'll know, after listening to the podcast, if that's what you want. The next step would be to take the courses. So the three courses help you get a deeper understanding of the material. The first course is the seven concepts. The seven concepts course teaches the ideas and language that applies to all human flourishing. The second course, Your Big Story, helps you understand your own life in the context of human development. The third course, Tending, teaches how to take universal concepts and apply them to your particular situation. You can think of it as the macros of flourishing turned into the very specific entrees that you enjoy. The Tending Course also explains how the conversation works, how to schedule, prepare, and participate. Once you've completed the courses, you are able to join a weekly conversation where you can be heard and supported. You can also schedule mentoring. With me, this can be done anytime. You don't need to have completed the courses. Sometimes you just need a personal conversation to help figure out your next steps. Well, that's it for this episode. I hope it was helpful for understanding the project better. If you'd like to talk with me, I'd love to hear what you have to say. You can find links to my calendar for booking one to one sessions in the show notes. In the next episode, I'll explain the common reasons why people go to therapy and how the project may offer an alternative that's more accessible and affordable. Registration for the courses is live now. I hope to see you next Tuesday. Let's get Tending. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)