Is My Work About Me, or About My Students?

This is a topic that I have been thinking about for a long time, probably ever since I started teaching. It's tricky, because talking about my thought process involves me talking about my mentors, and assessing how I learned my own skills and survival methods through their programs.

When I first started learning wilderness survival skills in a formal way, through the Tracker School and Tom Brown, Jr, I never thought about the 'Teaching Model' I was going through. I never really thought about the 'Teaching and Experiential Learning Process' either. I just signed up for the program, and tried to contain my excitement about the impending class.

During each class, we all just learned whatever Tom decided to teach, and we followed his instructions and plan, which was ever changing due to weather and other factors. We learned what we learned, whether it was tracking foxes in the sandy swales of the Pine Barrens, or exploring the cedar swamps covered in clay and ash camouflage. We had fun, we worked hard, we shared great meals and great stories around the campfire, and it was awesome.

It wasn't until a few years later, when I was teaching children in summer camps and youth programs, that I began to think about the best ways to teach these skills, because the intense, immersion methods that Tom Brown had used on me, weren't working too well. I realized that my students were struggling to live up to my very high expectations. They would carve their wooden coal burned spoons around the fire with blisters on their very soft hands, hands that had very little carving experience and no callouses for protection. They would struggle with motivation to keep working to get a bow and drill fire, after several failures, just due to exhaustion. Or fear of failure in front of their friends.

In my programs, I played the role of Tom Brown, as the head instructor, director, and all knowing guide to the wilderness. Tom didn't ask for student feedback either before, during and after his programs, and I never once filled out an evaluation sharing what worked and what didn't in all my time there. His school is very clearly his castle, and he makes the decisions and choices like the family Patriarch. When I was a student, I knew it was my job to learn and focus on that, and let Tom do the planning and delivery.

But here I was, sitting in the summer twilight, watching the fireflies wink in and out in the mist, hanging out at summer camp, questioning my decisions and my vision.

In the end, I had to trust what I was seeing in my campers, and I chose to make a series of shifts in the way I began teaching wilderness skills and awareness. I began to relax, and have a little more fun. I began to look at these young people as kids and not as fully grown adults. I had to tell more stories, and be less intense.

In the past 30 years, I've made lots more changes, and gotten tremendous results for our students. I've changed my program a LOT over those three decades, too. I'm not afraid to admit it. I've been less 'all knowing' and more collaborative. I've let my staff experiment with different games and activities, and we've been willing to fail, too. Again, we take this seriously, but we also know that in the end, we are a youth program and the key is to have fun doing what we do, and helping our students have fun too.

Looking back, I can say that it's probably the most important thing we can do as educators, to listen to what our students are telling us, both verbally, or on evaluations, or in their body language. What we have to offer is incredibly valuable and powerful and needed today, more than ever before in the history of the human species, and we need to keep listening to what our students are going through in order to teach them in new and better ways!

Check out the video of the changes that we're making at Hawk Circle to do our part, and help these kids! Let me know what you think and then send me a note to let me know what changes you are seeing and how you're adapting your work too!

Cultivating Your Visionary Message

Your vision is only as strong as your clear message.

How you share, talk about, write and communicate your message will insure it's success, or it's failure. It's honestly that simple.

Those people who master the art of communication, tend to make a greater impact, and change more lives, and reap the benefits of that vision as well.

These concepts are easy to understand, but can take a while to master, so I thought I would just share some ideas that might help some of you see your own vision in a different way, and maybe craft your own unique point of view, to help you on your path.

Here is an example to help illustrate my point:

Fred's Vision: To share the Art of Tracking to the World

Fred's Mission: To run workshops and intensive programs in tracking for kids, adults and elders.

(In this example, my mythical "Fred" has a wonderful inspiration to make the world happier, healthier and smarter through getting people outside and tracking and learning about nature, the senses, inner and outer awareness and more. However, this mission/vision is not easily understood by the average person in America, so, to fully stand out from all the other Trackers, and other nature based educators, "Fred" needs to have some Strong Points of View that he can share with people, so they can 'get' what he is trying to do, and what he's all about.)

Fred's Points of View:

One: When a person learns to track, he or she gains powerful tools for life.

Two: Tracking will connect you to nature faster than any other means.

Three: Tracking is the doorway to the spiritual side of our human nature.

Four: To master tracking, you must first learn how to think.

Okay, I could go on and on and on here, but I think you get my point. Each of these statements have strong beliefs associated with their understanding, and as you can see, each one of them could be a video, or a blog post, or an article in a magazine or online publication. Or it could be a chapter in a book. How you communicate these ideas, these points of view, to your ideal clients, is what determines your visionary success or failure.

To understand it deeper, what I'm trying to say is this: To walk your vision, you have to COMMIT. You have to actually stand up for something, and you have to share it in way that leaves no room for ambiguity. It can't be vague or fuzzy or anything like that, to your ideal clients (and even those people who aren't your ideal clients. Everyone should be able to understand your point of view, even if they don't necessarily agree with it or you.)

So, you have to back up your points of view with clear reasoning, emotional connection and your 'why'. Why do you think that point of view is valid? What stories, experiences or data backs up your claims? You can't just 'hope' that people will understand you, and that they will automatically tune in to what you are sharing. You have to make sure that it's clear.

This means studying the language that your ideal clients use, and are familiar with, so you can share your points of view in a way they can easily identify with.

For example, when I teach some awareness skills to students and campers, I often use Star Wars terminology to get my points across, because a lot of today's kids are very familiar with the idea of 'the Force', etc. This saves me time, and I know that they are able to 'get' what I'm trying to teach. I don't rely on it to go too far, though, in case some people are actually NOT big fans of the genre, but it's one way I can help over my knowledge be understood.

Your point of view should be clear, but it doesn't have to be simple, necessarily. However, you do need to make sure that you are communicating it in a way that is easy to understand.

Let's take it one step further using the last Point of View: To master tracking, you must first learn how to think.

My Point of View Reasoning: Mastery in Tracking comes when you've learned enough about the landscape, the animals, the birds, the plants, the weather and trees, so you can begin to make accurate predictions about the prints left behind. When you have enough knowledge and data, you can start to understand the world in a completely different way. Your ability to assess and question and answer your own questions, leads to thinking about the world in new and unusual ways. Learning to think and solve mysteries from an early age leads to great leadership skills, decision making, problem solving and interpreting random bits of data to make accurate assessments about lots of different situations.

I'm kind of moving through this rough outline very quickly, because I'm hoping you get it, and I don't want this to be too long. What I'm trying to say is, Tracking makes you Think. Tracking makes you Smarter. Tracking is about Learning to Love Learning about Stuff, all the time.

It's pretty simple, really. But in order to communicate this to people, you have to share this with people, over and over again, and drive these points home. You have to share your message with anyone who will listen.

I won't lie to you: Doing this is hard work. Honing your message, getting great at your stories and presentations, and crafting all this stuff isn't always easy. You have to ask people for their feedback. You have to try something out, and then try it again, and then try it again, unitl you get it as close as you can to being easy and smooth.

The payoff, though, is massive. When people understand who you are, what you do, and why you do it, they can make a decision as to whether or not they support you. They can make decisons to take your tracking program. They can decide to share your message with their friends, and more. Your vision can plant seeds, and sprout, and then grow.

If you're walking a good vision, and you want to see it flourish, figure out what your unique point of view is. Give yourself room for four or five of them, and see if you can write them down in a very easy to understand way. Don't just hope that people will get it, though. Ask people to watch, listen or read it, and get their feedback on it. Get data. Ask for help. Make sure to ask them to repeat what they think your main point of view is, after listening or reading, and then compare your results with what they're sharing. Do they match? Are they way, way off?

Don't be afraid to be bold! Stake your claim! Take a stand! It has to be 'felt', emotionally, for people to really connect with you and your vision. Make sure that the emotion is part of your message.

As my friend Brian G. Johnson likes to say, "Failure is Information." Which means, even when you don't get the message you were hoping to hear, buckle up, ask yourself 'Why'? and go back to work until you get it right.

Even if you're not perfect, it's okay. It's still better than keeping your vision the best kept secret in the universe!

When you have a vision, you automatically become an advocate, and a communicator. How you do that is up to you, but hopefully this post will get you thinking in new ways and maybe in some good directions!

'Troll-Proofing' your Nature Biz

One would think that an organization that teaches about nature, and helps kids or youth or adults get wonderful skills or tracking knowledge, or native crafts, would be fairly 'troll-proof', right?

Well, in today's massive internet culture, you would be wrong. Trolls can happen any time, anywhere, with any business, and that's life.

(For those who don't know, a 'troll' is typically defined as someone who posts annoying, non-helpful or generally negative opinions or topics on you or your work, either on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, your blog or anywhere where they can leave a comment.)

When trolls really get going, it can have an impact, and it can feel very threatening to the business or vision you've brought to life, and worked hard to build. It's scary to suddenly have someone really bash you or your work, especially if it's your first time.

It happened to me a few years ago, when I posted my first video on YouTube.

It was a short video about one of my wilderness survival camp outs, and what I learned from it, which I had filmed while in the Hawk Circle workshop barn, which was filled with all kinds of projects and timber framing stuff. I was wearing an old sweatshirt, and I just told my story, without doing a lot of 'takes' to get it perfect. I was pretty new to video content creation, so it was a little rough, but I thought that the story might be worth posting even if it wasn't movie quality.

Then I got a notification of a comment on my video, a few days later. Then another, and another. It was exciting at first, because it's always good when people interact and ask questions or add some comments, right?

No, it was someone who, for whatever reason, really didn't like me or my story or message, and just proceeded to leave about four or five comments about my hair, my weight, my messy shop and my clothes.

I didn't know who this person was, or where he was from or whether this was an acquaintance or what the deal was. I spent a lot of time sort of sitting on this experience, really feeling it, to see what felt like the right thing to do. It was a few days, actually.

I knew all of the advice that people give about not caring what other people think, etc, and I must say, it's different to understand that in theory versus when you are the object of some very personal, mean comments. Especially if you're not used to getting those in your daily life.

Anyway, eventually I chose to remove them, as they didn't add a different perspective to the video's message, and I moved on. Hopefully, whoever the comment maker was also moved on with his or her life too!

Since then, I've had other kinds of interactions that weren't necessarily 'troll' behavior, but were still concerning in some ways, so I've learned to understand how to view different online situations and handle them, so I thought I would share some insights that might help you and your school or organization too.

Much of this is 'proactive', so if you follow some of these guidelines, you should experience a fairly low incident rate overall. Hopefully!

Here we go:

Number One: Don't be an Asshat.

I guess this is obvious but it has to be said. If you are a jerk to your students, parent or staff, and you don't value your relationships, expect to be trolled. A lot.

Most trolls are people who are unhappy in their lives, and they are doubly 'troll-like' when the object of their unhappiness is YOU or something you did to hurt their feelings or piss them off.

If you treat people with respect, even if they have differing viewpoints, it goes a LONG WAY to minimizing the really intense troll action.

If you messed up with someone, anyone, admit it, and make amends, if you can, as soon as you can. Take responsibility and do the best you can to make things right. Even if you can't make things right, apologize, and be sincere. Most people can understand that stuff happens to the best of us, and situations can be beyond our control. Be human and be understanding and usually, our students, staff or clients will do the same.

Number Two: Try Not to Over-React.

Sometimes, a person can post something that can seem really rude, or hurtful, or crude or insensitive. However, it's easy to get defensive and emotional, and then suddenly escalate the situation to where everyone is bringing popcorn and soda to watch the show.

Take a minute. Take a deep breath. Think about your previous experience with this person, if you have any, and see if most of those have been positive for the most part. Look over the entire thread or conversation, and remember that the internet is terrible for interpreting tone and intent or sarcasm through these quick posts. What might have been funny if it was a comment made in a normal conversation can seem really rude or mean online.

Ask the person for clarification on what they mean. Give them the benefit of the doubt.

You don't have to immediately insult them, then delete their comments and then block them.

(That's how you can create a more damaging troll, though!)

If the comment is not too offensive, just ignore it and move on. If, after your continued interaction, things are going south (meaning poorly), just explain that you have to go do something else and let it go.

Seriously. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to walk away and give yourself a break. Take some time. Get some perspective.

That way, when you come back to the conversation, you can see it differently, and it often can be resolved without further damage or incident.

Remember that the person who is writing is a person too. I think having compassion is a good thing, generally, and within reason!

Number Three: Apologize (Yeah, even if you didn't DO Anything Wrong, from your perspective.)

Sometimes, this works, because something you said or did really rubbed someone the wrong way, and that person totally mis-read the post or blog or situation, and got upset. It might not be your fault, but if you apologize and just say 'I really don't think I wrote what I really meant to say, and I am super sorry about that.', it gives both of you a way out of your gridlocked stance.

It doesn't mean you are letting someone walk all over you. It's called taking the high road, and not getting sidetracked by trolls, or drama, or endless conversations that go nowhere. It's called 'getting back on track' to doing what is really important to you and your vision or business, and giving the person a way to just walk away, even if they 'think' that 'They Won'. The bottom line is, if they walk away, you can get back to work changing the world, and so, in a way, everyone actually wins! The world wins, and you win too. Because you aren't just pointlessly arguing.

Then, you just need to let it all go, and really move on.

Number Four: Avoid 'Poking the Bear'.

If you are a normal person, you have opinions and thoughts and perspectives that are important to share with everyone, to help make change, or make the world a better place. There is nothing wrong with that. That's awesome.

However, it's easy to overstep and trigger people who don't think exactly like you, especially if you enter into political discussions and lifestyle choices or religious conversations.

For example, you could write an article that is against nuclear power, because you want people to switch to solar or whatever, that is going to get lots of people upset, or get people to enter into a deeper conversation or dialogue that is helpful and transforming.

If you say, 'Nuclear Power is for Idiots', then, you're poking the bear. Because there are a lot of people that probably think it's great and the answer and it's the best thing since the invention of fire. You're needlessly firing up those people and will probably get some animate conversation.

If, on the other hand, you say something like 'I'm really concerned about Nuclear Power, because I just don't feel like we are able to safely store the waste from all those radioactive materials, and I am worried for my children, and the world we are leaving for them to handle', that's a totally different kind of expression. It's not poking the bear, and it's more open to helpful, connective dialogue.

You can use this approach with just about anything, and it's helpful. Unless you're talking about vaccinations, or politics, or gun control. Then, you're screwed!

The bottom line is, you can still think in your head 'Anyone who supports Nuclear Energy is a Buttmuffin!' but you cross over into creating problems for yourself when you post that online.

On the other hand, if you are an Activist, and you are trying to generate strong feelings, to get attention to something, you probably don't care. You probably don't have a business that you are trying to run, and you are not worried about losing clients or students and you just want to put your opinions out there. So, that's different. That's a WHOLE OTHER thing.

Number Five: Stay Focused and in 'Integrity'.

If you're trying to teach people about baskets, or bushcraft, or survival, or bird language, stay focused on that stuff, and keep going in your business. I'm talking about your official blog, Facebook Page or website here, not your personal pages or social media accounts.

If you're too scattered and all over the place, it's hard for people to get a pulse on what you do and why you do it, and to connect with you. It can be confusing, and confused people don't sign up for your programs.

Likewise, your integrity is everything, so make sure if you're promoting things that you're offering, that you can actually deliver what you promise. Make sure you are going to give people the experiences that they are looking for, and do your best to make good on your work.

If you are focused and in a good place with your integrity, you should be okay. It might push some people's buttons, but that's not the end of the world, and you'll probably not have too much drama going on around you, or your business or organization.

If you drop out of integrity, though, it's going to make it harder to stay clean. Sometimes, trolls are there to tell us that we aren't delivering what we said we would, or that we made a mistake. So, looking within, and seeing if that's true is an important step in the process, to make sure that we aren't deluding ourselves as far as our role in any interaction.

It takes a mature person to admit when they are wrong and make it right, and all we can do is try to be the best person we can be and keep going on with our lives and our work.

Number Six: When None of this Works...

If politeness or reason doesn't work, sometimes, you have to use the ban hammer, and delete and block someone from continuing to post things on your stuff. But it's great if you can do so sparingly, and only after some effort to understand and work things out.

Unless they are just complete tools.

There are a lot of people who will look at what you do, and just think you're doing it wrong. They don't like the way you describe your programs. They don't like you're pictures or what you're accomplishing. They are upset because you're successful and they are struggling (maybe?) and they just want to bring you down, because it is easier to do than to work on their own thing.

We can't always know what is going on in a person's head when they get 'trolly' and even good people can have a bad day, but the bottom line is, it's almost always about them and not you.

People love to project their issues on people around them. It's what they do. It's what we all do.

My Tracker School Troll Story

Well, this is before the internet, back in the 1990's, when I would take classes at Tom Brown, Jr's Tracker School, down in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, or at the Boy Scout Camp, or at the old Farm in Asbury.

It might be familiar. It usually happened when Tom would get in his Hummer and drive away for the evening, or just on break. That was the signal for the Troll Conversations to start happening.

"What do you think he does with all of the money?" was one refrain. (Yeah, never heard that one before!)

"I don't think people should charge this much for these skills." went another. (Ironic, since that person had already paid that much to be learning the skills and sitting by the campfire.)

"I don't agree with how Tom teaches (insert skill here) because that's not how my Pappy taught me...." was also common.

All of this drove me crazy, but it was instructional too, because I got to see Human Nature, up close and personal. People were just doing what people do. They talk. They let their concerns and their worries and their judgements and their projections wander all over the place, and that's what they do.

Me, on the other hand, I worked my butt off in some miserable construction job, full of unfinished basement digging, or crawling around on my back in a crawl space, full of spiders and growling raccoons, to make the money I needed to be able to come to the next class.

A few years later, when I was an assistant instructor, people would call me over to their discussions. "What's your opinion, Rick?" they'd ask. "What do YOU think about this?"

I really didn't want to answer those questions, or even get into it with them. Because when you're asking the wrong questions, almost ALL answers are going to be wrong. Or a waste of time.

I worked for $3.35 an hour, to make it there. I was focused, and I never asked for a discount. I understood why these people needed to complain or stress out about that stuff, but I could care less. All I wanted to do was to learn and focus on getting better, and growing my skills and meeting cool, like-minded people. I didn't care about drama, or being right, or whatever. That wasn't why I was there.

I was there to get skills, teachings, stories and experiences. I didn't need that other stuff.

What's the point?

It's simple. Stay focused on your goals, and be polite. Make sure, if you are going to stir up drama, that you're doing it for the right reasons. Make sure you're asking the right questions, and that you're not just wasting time.

Sadly, unless you are prepared to go to court, you can't stop other people from writing stuff that's not true, or slanted or stretched. You can't stop people from posting stuff that is an outright lie. But what you can do is live your life so that you are being the best example for others to follow, and that seems to be a deterrent to a lot of trolls. Have confidence in your path, and in what you are doing and what you are trying to do.

If you get stuck in something yucky, reach out to others that you trust to help guide you through it, too. You always have help near by, just like in the woods, right? There's always something around us, ready to be used to help us survive and thrive!

Good luck out there with your visions, people! Love what you are doing and where you are going and what you're building! Thank you for your hard work!