Track Your Life
Follow the next energizing sign instead of forcing a fixed destination
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
Boyd Varty adapts animal tracking into a process for navigating personal transformation. Begin by becoming comfortable with not knowing the destination, then develop track awareness: deliberately notice the activities, people, curiosities, and bodily signals that produce expansion and aliveness. Treat the next clear action as the first track rather than waiting for a complete route. Enter the following state by responding creatively and continuously to what actually occurs, adjusting as new information appears. Expect to lose the track; confusion is part of following rather than proof of failure. Recover by returning to present evidence and involving trusted people who can follow alongside you. The mechanism converts an overwhelming field of possible futures into a sequence of observable, self-generated signs and responsive actions.
Origin
Varty recognized the method while healing from trauma and reinterpreting the tracking practices he had learned from master Shangaan trackers.
Core principles
- 01Commit to the search without demanding a known destination
- 02The next clear sign is enough to continue
- 03Aliveness, curiosity, and energy reveal useful tracks
- 04Creative response keeps the process adaptive
- 05Other skilled trackers help recover a lost trail
How to run it
- 1
Enter the unknown
Release the demand to know the final destination or complete route. Hold a strong commitment to finding the way without turning that commitment into a burden.
Pro tip Separate commitment to following from attachment to a particular outcome.
Watch out Pretending certainty can hide the information that would redirect you.
- 2
Build track awareness
Train attention on the specific signs present in your life. Notice curiosity, energy, expansion, and the people or activities that make you feel more alive.
Pro tip Revisit the same situation because greater attention can reveal information missed on the first pass.
Watch out Do not substitute social expectations about what you should do for signals you actually observe.
- 3
Take the first track
Choose the next thing you genuinely know to do. Let that action generate the information required for the next choice.
Pro tip Make the next action concrete enough to complete and observe.
Watch out Do not wait for the entire path to become visible.
- 4
Enter the following state
Respond creatively to what is occurring instead of rigidly executing an old plan. Stay present, playful, willing, and aware as conditions change.
Pro tip Use each response to update your sense of direction.
Watch out A fixed destination can make changing evidence feel like an obstacle rather than guidance.
- 5
Recover the track
Expect periods when the signs disappear or you discover you were following the wrong trail. Return to observation and draw on trusted people willing to follow with you.
Pro tip Choose companions who support attention and discovery rather than imposing their preferred destination.
Watch out Losing the track is normal; treating it as final failure can stop the search prematurely.
In the wild
After retreat guests became exhausted, the group decided to return to camp. Renius stayed because he could not leave the male lion's track unresolved. His curiosity and commitment kept him following even without comfort, water, or certainty about where the animal had gone.
→ The story illustrates mastery as sustained responsiveness to a trail rather than compliance with the group's stopping point.
While recovering from trauma, Varty began noticing that tracking supplied a structure for transformation. He attended to what made him feel alive, treated the next known action as a first track, and used the following state to move without a predetermined destination.
→ Tracking became a durable way for him to navigate healing and life direction.
Common mistakes
Demanding the whole route
Requiring certainty about the destination can prevent action on the useful sign already available.
Following social instructions
Rules about what you should do can drown out the curiosity, expansion, and aliveness the method uses as evidence.
Following alone
When the track disappears, refusing help removes the perspective of other people who can follow alongside you.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people who feel stuck, over-socialized, or unable to rationally plan their next life direction.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for safety-critical situations where established procedures and expert direction must override exploratory choices.
From the transcript
“all trackers operate using unknowns to almost bring them to life”
“the first track being the next thing you know to do”
“constant creative response to what is occurring”
From the episode
#571: Boyd Varty — The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life
Boyd Varty