What Tree Shall We Be?
An Exercise in Identifying Resources, Values, Strengths, Life Domains, and Goals
Do you have a favorite tree?
Last year, in a much-needed sabbatical from my teaching job, I traveled to Tenerife in the Canary Islands to write my Flourishing Lawyer book manuscript. Visiting a town called Icod de los Vinos, I encountered a tree rumored to be over a thousand years old. El Drago Milenario. The Thousand Year Old Dragon. (Reportedly, dragon trees are actually “monocots,” not trees, belonging to the asparagus family. Still, El Drago totally looks like a tree.) I have two other favorite trees. A Joshua tree…well actually, THE JOSHUA TREE from Irish band U2’s iconic 1987 album by the same name. I visited the original tree — photographed by Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn for the band’s album’s cover — on a fun road trip to a California desert with two girlfriends. (Sadly, the tree is dead; it fell in 2000 due to high winds. But its trunk and branches lie in sand amid cacti and U2 fan memorabilia.) I also once fell in love with a Puerto Rican eucalyptus tree, mesmerized by psychedelic colors in peeling bark…orange, green, yellow.
During my sabbatical, to further my studies in applied positive psychology, I enrolled in a coaching training course called Positive Acorn, led by Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener. In one of our class sessions, Robert introduced my classmates and me to an activity designed to help individuals identify resources, values, strengths, areas of life we’re working on, and concrete goals — using the metaphor of a tree. Robert’s fun and insightful exercise made me think of my favorite trees — El Drago Milenario…U2’s Joshua tree…the Puerto Rican eucalyptus — then prompted me to design my own flourishing tree. I invite you to do the same.
Tools
Grab a piece of paper and a pen, marker, pencil, or piece of chalk. If you’re feeling creatively adventurous, consider using different colors to depict distinct parts of your tree.
Soil: Our External Resources
In our class exercise, Robert first asked us to take a piece of paper and draw a line somewhere along the bottom third of the page. The space below the line represents the soil surrounding our tree’s roots — the external resources and support structures available to us.
Draw your soil line. Then think expansively. Try to come up with a list of 15–20 resources accessible to you. Write them in the space below your soil line. External resources can include (but of course are not limited to): friends; family; significant others; pets; coaches; mentors; colleagues; our gyms or other fitness options; financial resources; social networks; components of our living or working environments; food and other sources of nourishment; education; activities that bolster our mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, occupational, social, and intellectual health and well-being, and so on.
Roots: Our Personal Values
Next, Robert asked us to draw a root structure within the soil. Take a moment and draw the roots of your tree. Within your roots, identify three to five personal values. Robert explained that values are different from strengths. Our values are invisible abstract concepts that represent “what matters to us the most,” according to The Values Project. Robert indicated that Professor Shalom Schwartz developed a theory of basic values, identifying ten universal personal values:
- Self-direction
- Stimulation
- Hedonism (pleasant feelings)
- Achievement
- Power
- Security
- Conformity
- Tradition
- Benevolence
- Universalism
Further, Professor Schwartz and his colleagues in Australia developed a values survey to help us assess the set of principles guiding our lives as individuals. If you’d like some help in identifying your values — your tree’s roots — consider taking the survey. You can also browse this article that lists other classifications of values.
Choose your top three-to-five values and write them within the roots of your tree.
Robert emphasized how roots (values) are “filters.” Our values help us discern what nutrients from our soil (our external resources) we want to let in, to help us grow and thrive. They also serve as barriers, protecting potential contaminants — people, behavior, situations, conflicts— from permeating our boundaries and undermining our well-being.
Trunk: Our Strengths
Next, let’s draw a sturdy tree trunk. The trunk represents our strengths. As Robert explains, the trunk signifies “how we deliver our values to the world.” Our strengths are visible to ourselves and others. The VIA Institute on Character provides a helpful list of 24 character strengths situated within six virtues. Consider taking the VIA Institute’s free, scientifically-validated survey to identify your “signature” strengths. In addition to your character strengths, what other strengths do you possess? Here is another strengths assessment called the Strengths Profile you might try, to identify your strengths. List your strengths within your tree trunk.
Large Branches: Domains of Our Life We Are Actively Working On
Now, let’s draw a few large branches supported by our tree trunk. Robert indicates that our large branches represent areas of our life we are currently focused on nurturing. He suggests we limit our large branches to three major focus areas. Large branches might involve: finances, romantic relationships, friendships, our creative life, spirituality, housing, physical health, mental health, emotional health, fun, work, travel, leisure, philanthropy, community, and so on.
Smaller Branches: Components Within Each Life Domain
From each large tree branch, let’s draw multiple smaller branches. Robert describes our smaller branches as sub-components of the three major life domains we are actively focused on nurturing. For example, let’s say we labeled one of our large branches: “My Creative Pursuits.” We might label smaller branches extending from the larger branch as follows:
- Time Reserved for Creativity
- Materials (i.e., laptop, paints, colorful paper/pens, camera, etc.)
- Physical Space Dedicated to Creative Projects
- Creativity Education (i.e., books on the creative process, workshops)
- Techniques for Setting Aside Self-Doubt or Self-Judgment
- Creativity Support Network (i.e., a small circle of encouraging and supportive creatives)
Leaf Canopy: Active Goals
The final addition to our flourishing tree is, of course, a canopy of individual leaves — representing our goals. Robert encourages us to arrange our leaves (our goals) so they “block each other as little as possible.” We want our leaves to have unencumbered access to sunlight, air, dew, and other positive environmental elements.
Draw individual leaves emerging from the small branches of your tree. Within your leaves, write specific goals for each life domain represented in your large tree branches. Building on the example above, for the life domain of “My Creative Pursuits,” mini-goals might include:
- Buying a new creativity journal
- Beginning (or continuing) a daily journaling practice
- Taking myself on an Artist Date (one of the creativity-boosting exercises advocated by author Julia Cameron in her encouraging book, The Artist’s Way)
- Going to an office supply store, buying colorful Post-it® notes, and jotting down ideas for chapters of a book
- Establishing a writing schedule with concrete goals (word count, page numbers, or hours)
- Tracking progress
- Asking three creative friends to join a Creativity Encouragement Circle
Big-Picture Goals might include:
- Writing a book manuscript
- Launching a creative blog
Environment of Flourishing: Where is Our Tree Located?
When Robert concluded the Tree Exercise in our Positive Acorn class, he asked, “Where is your tree located?”
Is your tree located in a particular country? Climate? Habitat? Is your tree situated in a forest around other trees, or is it solo? Is it in an orchard? In front of a house? In a park? In a botanical garden? On a beach? In the mountains? In the desert? On a ranch? In a meadow? What is the soil like? What is the weather like? What else is around, in, or on the tree?
Conclusion
We can try this exercise at different points in time — to observe how our perceptions of our resources, values, strengths, areas of life we’re working on, and concrete goals, change or evolve over time.
Let’s use our trees to envision and foster a life of flourishing.
