Thinking axis
Sustain
Comfort and reminders as to why and how to keep going, or how to pivot when things don't go as planned. Sustain tools are defined by three critical themes.
17 Sustain tools
Start here when it's gone wrong, or it's taking longer than you thought.
Emotional Hygiene (4)
Consistent and skillful care of our emotional selves. You can assist yourself in delivering the possibility you are striving for.
Riding the Waves
Emotions come in waves, with highs and lows. Know that the cycle is natural — everyone feels it. If you're at a low point, better times are coming.
Connection & Community
We are sustained by enriching communities. Surround yourself with others who understand your situation or can build your optimism, and connect with people you can learn from.
Hope is Active
Hope isn't something that happens; it is an active choice to believe our dreams into being, even if we feel they are on shaky ground.
Comforts
Our senses bypass the thinking brain and bring immediate comfort. Use them to create a haven at home or at work — no matter your situation.
Reality Check (8)
Using the reasoning mind to unpack the real situation. You can counsel yourself, finding solutions that are realistic.
Alternatives & Probabilities
Too often we think in binary terms, obsessing about success versus failure. Seeing the broader set of options and thinking in terms of probabilities can help decrease your stress about the unknown.
Learned Optimism
Decatastrophize setbacks by seeing them as temporary, isolated to the circumstance, and not entirely your fault. Celebrate your victories and dispute the negative beliefs to find more energy to try again.
Creative Competition
Don't lose sight of the benefit of competition: it gets you doing your best work. What can you learn from competitors? How can they inspire you? Creative collaboration is even better.
Frustration Management
It's OK to let yourself feel frustrated by a setback for a period of time, then use reframing techniques to defang it. Setbacks are an inevitable part of uncertainty and possibility.
Worst Case Scenario
Obsessing about the worst case can be disabling. Walking it through to its final implications often reveals that the “monster under the bed” isn't quite as terrible as we feared.
Sorting Knowns vs Unknowns
Identifying what you know and what you don't can decrease your anxiety and provide some knowns to fill in the gaps. Analogies can make sense of the unknowns and give you firmer footing.
Embrace Being Human
Surrender to the reality that humans have instinctual fear — it has helped our species survive. Then move into a more meaningful attitude toward anxiety and uncertainty.
Optimization Myth
There isn't one best way to do anything. Don't get so obsessed with what you imagine the optimal outcome to be that you miss the way it was really meant to happen.
Magic (5)
Leaps of insight, connection, and serendipity that change and inspire us. We don't control magic, but we can make room for it.
Picaresque
Few people live the life they planned. Go along for the ride of your life. Don't take things too seriously or personally. Cultivate your garden and discover the magic that is already there.
Memento Mori
From the Latin for “Remember, you must die,” this ancient meditation on the certainty that your time is limited helps infuse the days you do have with more vibrant living and joy.
As If
Living as if something were already true is a technique philosophers and activists use to invoke change. Living as if possibilities exist increases the chances that they will come to be.
Techs You Live By
If technology is “any phenomenon put to use,” what technologies are you using, and why? Being intentional about adding philosophy, art, poetry and music creates more room for magic.
Helping Others
Empathy, compassion, and service all reward the giver and the receiver. When people are kind during times of struggle, they experience less distress and more hope themselves.
A book I wish I had been offered when starting my adult life.