
Resilience is not a DIY endeavour - kevintb
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-put-down-the-self-help-books-resilience-is-not-a-diy-endeavour/
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rramadass
Good article. The author's focus on the Environment more than the Individual
is very right. It helps explain why when people move away from
cloistered/detrimental environments to a more nurturing one for their talents,
they often bloom. There is a symbiotic relationship between the Environment
and the Individual with the former often holding the upper hand. An Individual
can be easily shaped by the Environment while the reverse is quite hard to do
(and thus the reason for the self-help industry).

The above may seem like a mere platitude but unfortunately people often focus
too much on the Individual and forget the Environment. For example see
research on "Behaviourism/Operant Conditioning" and also "learned
helplessness". Nature only gives you possible potential, it requires
tremendous Nurture to activate and make it bloom.

Finally; a caution, we should NOT make the mistake of assuming that the
Individual is helpless. Willpower, Attitude, Fighting Spirit etc. are all to
be cultivated. So self-help is still needed. It is just that their effect in
changing ourselves and the Environment is often overemphasized. This is the
crux, if the Environment is not conducive, no amount of self-help practice is
going to help, you need to move out of the bad to a good Environment for you
as an Individual to win.

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gbuk2013
This is a difficult article to read because on the one hand there is a lot of
truth in it, but on the other there is a fair bit of confusion.

Trying to build resilience in the middle of a crisis is like teaching
prevention to someone who is seriously ill - it is simply too late. At that
point the person needs outside help to recover.

This does not mean that taking responsibility for your well-being is somehow
pointless and that adapting essentially a victim mentality is all that one is
reduced to. And yes, you will most likely need someone's guidance and yes, the
environment you are in will make a big difference. But dismiss personal
development and the taking of responsibility for it is simply nonsense.

I wish I had the time to write a longer response but I don't and anyway who's
going to bother reading it anyway. ;)

~~~
bordercases
USA's SOF truth #4: "Competent Special Operations Forces cannot be created
after emergencies occur."

And they're built to be resilient.

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nudpiedo
Very revealing, especially in a forum where often overachievement is praised
and it is not rare to read testimonials of burnout. It also highlights the
importance of having a supporting net and an environment... I guess the same
applies to Startups, after all Y Combinator offers such kind of environment,
not just financing.

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sfgweilr4f
This section resonated with my experience:

"For example, we heard stories of school guidance counsellors who insisted
that parents take time off from minimum-wage jobs to attend case conferences
because guidance counsellors and psychometricians do not work evenings."

This is indicative of a lot of service providers especially government
departments. Pure arrogance and inflexibility. Those same departments then
complain about low participation and/or lazy people "who can't be bothered" or
who "don't follow up" their various "government intervention" plans.

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addicted1005
" Change your world first by finding the relationships that nurture you, the
opportunities to use your talents and the places where you experience
community and governmental support and social justice. Once you have these,
your world will help you succeed more than you could ever help yourself." \--
but how?

~~~
0xcde4c3db
Yeah, this genre of advice (as with most other self-help advice, to be frank)
is pretty much "draw the rest of the fucking owl".

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bryanrasmussen
I find self-help books and self-help gurus like Sampson to be something akin
to placebos for willpower, but placebos work for a lot of people so I guess I
just go through life gritting my teeth and bearing it rather than spending my
time complaining how it's all a bunch of bull.

~~~
azhu
What is willpower if not a placebo? It’s simply a belief at the end of the
day.

~~~
bigred100
Line from a song I heard recently: “Faith ain’t nothing but a game face,
cousin.”

