Author provides suggestions on climate ‘anxiety'

NBC Connecticut recently spoke with Matthew Mathison, an entrepreneur who has just written his first book, “Leadership Orbit.”

A key part of the book, Mathison says, is making small simple changes to overcome large problems. A global problem like climate change is a great example.

“The act of doing something that you can actually control, completely changes a mindset from one of being scared and overwhelmed, sometimes paralyzed, to actually getting energy, getting excited and getting motivated,” Mathison said.

If you’re waiting for someone to lead, well, that leader could be you. Mathison believes we can all be leaders — start small and simple with local efforts to combat climate change.

“When it comes to climate change, small things may not make a difference today or tomorrow,” Mathison said. “But if we actually do them over long periods of time, they will make a difference.”

Mathison said if you focus on things you can’t control, that’s where paralysis sets in. But taking action on things you can control is contagious.

“So I think climate change is one of those things where, boy, you could easily just give up. ‘This is too big. Oh, my little recycling effort is not going to make a big difference.’ But that’s the exact opposite of what needs to happen. We all need to do our part,” Mathison said.

Mathison encourages people to focus on the good, saying that there’s so much good that can be done with us, our family and our community.

He adds that we’re not going to make grand or noticeable differences unless we do something simple that lasts over a long period of time.