Buckshot not Bullets

"There is no silver bullet—there is silver buckshot" is the biggest lesson in the June 24, 2021, New Yorker Climate Crisis Newsletter. Wow! What a refreshing and simple language for solving problems. And, the more complex the problem, the more important buckshot becomes.

Buckshot is a mix of tactical interventions executed with sequencing, patterns and patience. It creates an upward spiral of small gains that move toward ultimate success. For example, buckshot to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy costs by 50% for the ninety-year-old Empire State Building comprised eight projects executed in a definite sequence, starting with its exterior, taking several years.

It’s an interesting read and I recommend it even if you don’t believe in the climate crisis.  

I used buckshot to solve personal crises without realizing it. Slammed by a mid-life crisis in my late forties, I was disgruntled, exhausted, and demoralized. The marketplace offered lots of material silver bullets—sports cars, new wardrobes, face lifts, bigger houses—but I knew they would only deliver short-term relief, not eliminate my angst. Instead, I took tactical actions that included partnering in a new business, divorcing a husband, mind-melding in therapy, earning a doctorate, and continuing to sail. It took six years, but I reoriented my life. I was, once again, a content, energized, clear-headed person soaring through her 50s.

Buckshot drove my change journey. I didn’t know my end goal, but the actions revealed what was right and led me to my future. Was it easy, no—it was hard work. Was it awful, no—there were adventures, new friendships, renewals and lots of self-awareness developed along the way. Would I do it again, yes—in fact, 25 years later, I crushed my retirement crisis with a year long sailing adventure, then turned to volunteerism that fits me, a homeplace that anchors me, strengthened friendships to prevent isolation, and finally writing to replace sailing. I never looked back.

The way I look at it, buckshot, not bullets, is the ammunition for a change journey.