Author: Nick Terrell, Bureau of Land Management Fire
One of the most impactful lessons I have learned recently has been the importance of self-care. Along with mental health, self-care is a buzzworthy topic in the wildland fire field. But there's a good reason for that: we are burning out at an alarming rate (not a news flash by any means in 2025). It has taken me a few years to realize it - and it’s an admission of vulnerability in doing so - but I was approaching a burnout event the year that I got injured and had to sit on the bench for fire season. Looking back, I was not making enough effort to adequately manage my stress levels. What I have realized is that it really doesn't take much.
In some recent leadership coursework for my graduate program at Boise State, we examined principles of self-leadership. This work was based on the concept that we must be able to lead ourselves before we can lead others effectively. What is your personal value system and how does it line up with the mission statement of your organization? What are your personal motivators that move you to go to work? What’s your definition of leadership? What are your practices of self-care that sustain you in your work and life? If you are unsure of your answers to any of these questions, it's time for a tactical pause.
If you would have asked me these questions in the years leading up to my injury and burnout event, I bet I could have given you an answer that sounded good. It would not have been genuine. The self-reflection that I have undertaken since then has given me some great perspective, but it wasn’t easy. Any venture that involves cutting yourself open and examining what is inside can be easy to shy away from. This has to be why many of us (my former self included) resist doing this work.
The good news is that there is low-hanging fruit on the leading self tree. Assess your current self-care practice. Do it by casting a wide net - a self-care practice can be as unique as the person practicing it. It is also a Personal Anchor Skill for wildland fire leaders. Diet and exercise, journaling or creative writing, meditation, sleep, quality time with family and friends, random acts of kindness and charity, setting aside time to build or create (or destroy). It's all about what fills your cup and what works for you.
What are you currently doing that improves your mental and physical health? Are there opportunities to expand on those practices? What could you stop doing or easily start doing that will benefit you? Write it out on paper and identify the small actions you could take now. Translate those actions into goals and put them on
your calendar. For example, when do you want to accomplish the goal, or how often will you take the action? Take it one step further and set reminders for self-care goals on your personal device.
Start by setting the bar low! Sometimes we fail to implement self-care practice because we want the “gold standard” option. Use the infrastructure that you already have in place. The example I will give from my own self-care plan was using the mindfulness feature on my fitness tracker watch. I have kept a daily morning meditation practice for a few years now that has improved my focus and lowered my stress level. Using my fitness tracker feature to break up the day with a few short (three minute) mindfulness breaks amplified the benefits considerably. It was easy to add to my routine and it produced measurable results. The lesson learned was that a few feet turn into miles quickly when you put some thought into your self-care practice.
The ability to know yourself and take care of yourself so you can show up for others is a core skill - a Personal Anchor Skill. You can’t fill any cups if yours is empty; and in all aspects of their jobs, wildland fire leaders have plenty of cups to fill. We have a Duty to develop our subordinates for the future. It is a two-fold measure of Respect to be able to do so effectively - respect for ourselves that translates to respect for the people we lead. For those of us in the later stages of our careers, maybe the best we can do is to have the Integrity to model the good self-care practices for the next generation of wildland fire leaders.
Read more about leading self and self-care here:
“We Cannot Lead Others Without First Leading from Within.” Lolly Daskal. TED Talk. 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGIw1G7Kpgk
“Serious Leaders Need Self-Care Too.” Palena Neale. Harvard Business Review. 2020. https://hbr.org/2020/10/serious-leaders-need-self-care-too
Nick Terrell is a career federal wildland firefighter. Following a career altering injury, he left his position on a handcrew for a wildland fire support position. The career change has allowed him to pursue a master’s degree at Boise State University studying Conflict Management and Leadership. He still maintains operational fire qualifications and is a diligent student of fire.
