I'm typing this as I sit in the World of Bushcraft having loaded my pickup and twin-axle-trailer to head south to meet up with the team to deliver a two day residential school booking for 90 students in our Oxfordshire woods. Straight from the woods, myself and several of the team pack down and head north again to spend the weekend on the stand at The Bushcraft Show. It's being able to work in a team that can deliver such diverse things back-to-back that sets Woodland Ways apart from the smaller operations in the industry. But that's not really what I want to reflect on... although it is all connected.
12 years ago I had found a short-term contract with an Essex based charity (where I lived back then) that used Bushcraft to engage with adults affected by drug and alcohol abuse issues plus working with schools to connect their students with nature. It was a great project that saw me work with around 2,000 people over the 6 month duration - my first taste of how Bushcraft could actually earn a salary rather than be just a weekend hobby. I took the opportunity that year to go to The Bushcraft Show for the very first time - I remember booking to make an axe with Julia from Wetterlings and generally immersing myself in the atmosphere. The other reason for going was that my manager at the charity had convinced me to sign up to an expedition to the Sahara Desert and the company we were going with was at the show so it seemed sensible to check them out a bit more. It's funny how decisions can change the entire direction of your life.
That trip turned out to be with Woodland Ways and it really drove home that Bushcraft could definitely be a full time job. I often get asked how people can get into the industry and to be honest there are so many different ways it's a hard question to answer. It is, however, why there are so many one man band style organisations because if all you want to do is deliver stuff as a hobby it's easy in a world where websites can take an afternoon to create and a salary is found elsewhere during the week. But I wanted something more, a job, a career, a salary, security and no two days that looked the same - I've done my time in monotonous jobs. I've documented my journey from apprentice instructor to Head of Courses in various other blogs over the years so I won't repeat myself too much here but the reflection was triggered by that anniversary of first going to the show.
The reason for the trigger was that this year I'll find myself at the show again, which I haven't attended as a customer in around a decade now, but this time I'll be part of the Woodland Ways team going up on the main stage to present. That's bizarre, a journey from show attendee, to customer, to apprentice instructor, to self-employed instructor, seasonal employed instructor, employed instructor, Head of Courses leading the team and now onto the main stage at the show that started it all. But it's this reflection of where I have come from that helps me in turn mentor and support the team of apprentice instructors and instructors at Woodland Ways now.
The moment I earned my Instructor Shirt
I remember in the early days being absolutely in awe of the knowledge and skill of those that mentored me and often had feelings of "I'll never be as good as them". That's a tough feeling to have and one, if we're honest, crops up as self-doubt, imposter syndrome or just feeling down. The simple answer is "no, you'll never be as good as them", however, you shouldn't aim to be - the competition is with you and no-one else. When someone has a ten year head start on you, you can never catch them up unless they stagnate and let's face it if that happens why would you want to admire them and see them as something to aim for. Goals are to stretch you, failure bolsters your learning, experiments lead to discoveries, all you have to do is embrace the journey and compete with yourself... although you might find that gap between those you admire and yourself closing significantly, that shouldn't be the goal.
So that's where I find myself in my journey now, reflecting on the last 12 years and what has been achieved, where I want to help take Woodland Ways next and how I can support each member of the team in fulfilling their own goals. Two recent conversations really highlight why reflection is so important to me...
The first was last month on a weekend course I was delivering with colleagues. A customer asked me what course it was I loved delivering the most. That really stopped me in my tracks as there are so many experiences on offer how could I choose just one? So I thought about it for a moment and here was my response...
"What I love is the moments, those snapshots of time, the nano-second where you see the spark come alive in a customers eyes. You're never sure when it will be or what the topic will be but suddenly it happens and they light up. Being there for their first ember, showing them the vast array of plants and trees that have a use, the list is endless but that's the course I love teaching the most - all those nano-seconds of spark that have accumulated over the years."
The second conversation was with two apprentice instructors during a quiet moment on the same weekend course. They were both finding themselves a little perplexed as to how they would ever be as good as those they were looking up to as their mentors. We talked about how the competition should only be a personal one - a competition of self-improvement not one of victory over another. This led to discussions on what that could look like and ways they could gauge their improvements... so I set them a challenge. I gave them a defined distance to walk in our woodland, one that they could repeat every time they were there, and asked them to establish the number of plants and trees they could confidently identify AND have a use for. I explained I didn't want the number as it was theirs and theirs alone but what it would give is a benchmark for improvement. There was lots to discuss around skills and knowledge weaknesses and again my advice was to take on those demons, face them head on but accept sometimes it may feel like they get the better of you and that's fine. I think as adults we forget that we still need to learn and practice stuff to be good at it and that's where working in a team really comes into its own. Everyone is always pushing themselves onwards with something, and that inspires everyone else to do the same. It doesn't matter if you're Jason (the owner), Senior Instructor, Apprentice Instructor or Head of Courses we all mentor each other, we all have something to offer because we're all on our own journeys.
I'm looking forward to the show this year and reflecting on where it all started and where my life has gone since then, but what I'm really looking forward to is seeing the nano-second of spark in all those eyes that come to visit us on the stand. Will you be there? I really hope you are because you're never sure where it might lead.