What About Resilience?

Welcome to this conversation

To Get to the Other Side, Episode 7 (August 9, 2020): What About Resilience? Have you ever experienced something hard? Job loss? A difficult relationship? Maybe a pandemic? [fill in the blank here]? Of course. We all have. How did you get through it? Was it resilience? Telling you to be resilient in the middle of something hard is likely to be ineffective, at best. But resilience is something we all use to get through hard things. Justin Ley started a health care business to help move toward the "other side" where resilience isn't relegated to being a simple individual pursuit or gift of fate. Listen as he discusses some of the latest science around resilience and how we can apply it to our lives and the systems we are part of.

Justin Ley is an entrepreneur in healthcare technology. In this episode he explores resilience through a personal and professional lens along with thinkers Michael Ungar and Shaka Senghor.

Key Takeaways & Homework Practice

VOICE #1: Shaka Senghor | Big Think | 3 qualities of super resilient people LINK

Hope, resourcefulness, and memory loss. These are things that would make anyone going through a difficult time more resilient.

Standing on a wobbly board between milk crates

One of the best things about Fabric for me is that many of our conversations force me to consider gray and ambiguous stuff. Perhaps you remember Greg Meyer (our fearless leader) putting a wobbly board between two milk crates and then walking between the crates and almost falling. he was showing how it can be uncomfortable to consider multiple points of view at the same time (like standing in the middle of the board) instead of just sticking with what we already know and are comfortable with (like the ends of the board firmly on the milk crate). Here’s another perspective on resilience.

VOICE #2: Dr Michael Ungar - 2 stories

Building Resilience Through Relevant Interventions LINK

You don’t tell someone to be hopeful. You give them an experience that makes them  feel normal. - Michael Ungar

What resilience is and isn't - 9 things children need LINK

On one solid milk crate we have an argument that says, ‘be hopeful and optimistic to get through the hard things in front of you. That’s a good argument. We all need more of those things, right?

On the other end (the opposite milk crate), we have an argument that says, this has nothing to with hope and optimism and we should not individualize resilience in this way. Instead, it is all about changing the physical circumstances around someone that allows them to actually improve their life and build some resilience.

How can we stand together on this wobbly board in the middle of these two arguments?

Homework Practice:

My challenge for you is three parts: First, how are you going to face the day with hopefulness (but not the hollow kind)? Second, think of one memory that is helpful and hold onto it and think of one that is not so helpful and let it go. Lastly, think of one practical thing you could do that would  help improve your own physical circumstances and that of the amazing people around you. Let’s build some resilience. - Justin Ley