I’m noticing a sea change rise in background levels of stress and distress in recent years. Do you see it too? I call it the new hard times.
While the pandemic is a factor, Gallup Poll annual surveys show reported levels of negative experiences (like stress and worry) have been gradually rising over the last two decades. 2022 and 2023 had the highest levels seen so far, which were over 40% higher than for 2007.
I’m calling attention to this difficult feature of our times because acknowledging an issue is a key step in the journey of finding ways to address it. At least if it is on the table, we can consider our responses and have conversations about this.
Being involved in resilience work for decades now, I’d love to share some of the tools I’ve come to value most. So here’s a recording of the free webinar ‘How to face the new hard times with resilience tools that help’. It is in two parts – and maps out six of the core resilience tools I use and teach.
| A check-in tool with hidden depth is the Three Zones of Challenge graph shown below. Green zone is the comfort zone, Orange is where we’re stretched but in a manageable way, and Red takes us over an edge into higher levels of threat, danger, overwhelm or defeat. What zones have you been in recently? And how about for people you work with or support? In coaching and training contexts, I find this graph gives people a way to acknowledge both their current level of pressure and how they are managing with that. Within teams or groups, the words ‘green, orange or red’ offer a way of signalling when we are coping ok and when we need support. |
 |
| The zone you’re in doesn’t just depend on how severe the challenge is. There might be difficult situations that used to be red for you, but which you’ve learned to deal with in ways that make them more orange, or even green, when you face them now. What we’re looking at here is a growth mindset applied to our ability to respond to adversity. When we’re struggling, or supporting others who are struggling, there are learnable skills that can make a difference. |
Project Thrutopia.
Two words I’m finding helpful here, particularly when combined as a double act, are ‘Project’ and ‘Thrutopia’. When I take something on as a project, or support someone else to do this, there’s a recognition that there’s a journey involved. Even if each step by itself might seem like it won’t do much, when smaller pieces act together in a larger project, something more coherent comes into play.
If utopia is a distant positive vision, and dystopia a negative one, thrutopia is about developing a better version of where we are now. When there’s a sense of unraveling, of things falling apart, a Thrutopian vision gives a glimpse of how we might find a way through. With more and more people finding sleep disturbed by worries of how they’ll cope, the three zones graph reminds us that red, orange or green aren’t just down to what we face, but also the skills, relationships and resources that help us face it. Project Thrutopia is about taking on the piece of work of growing our capacities, both personally and collectively, to face what we face and find a way through. Thank you Manda Scott for introducing me to this term and Rupert Read for coining it.
The process of building and supporting resilience is a key piece of the Thrutopian jigsaw. It isn’t enough by itself, but when contributing to a larger vision, a bigger project, it has such an important part to play. That’s why, in 2015, I set up the Resilience Practitioner Training. Hundreds of people have been through this now, and the next group starts on 15th October 2024 (with an early booking discount by 8th October). You can find out more about it by clicking on this link. We also have a recorded version of the course available you can start at any time and work through at your own pace. And if you’d really like to do this but the price stands in the way, let us know what you can afford and we may be able to help.
