How to Persevere in Difficult Times. Developing Antifragility
We all fell into the “black tunnel of dramatic events.” And if we do not develop antifragility in ourselves, then this can turn into psychological trauma.
Economist and trader Nassim Taleb originally coined the term “antifragile” to describe various economic or social systems. However, over the two pandemic years, this term has become hype. Therefore, today it is often applied at organizational, team and individual levels.
Personal antifragility is the ability of a person to capitalize on failure and loss; harden when faced with chaos or blows of fate.
How to become antifragile?
1. Choose the right field for the game
I propose to look at the dramatic circumstances through the logotherapeutic model of Fate-Freedom, which Viktor Frankl laid the foundation for his practice. He said that any situation in which we find ourselves has two fields.
- The Field of Destiny - it gets into what we cannot change: our biography, our biological, social and psychological past.
Here are all the actions of other people. All the “black swans” of our life also fly here. Each of us has such a fateful field. And from time to time we mentally visit it. But if a person is always in this field and continuously reflects on what he did, how and why, and also what this world or people did to him, then he feels like a victim of circumstances. Hyperreflexia develops - an unnecessarily long concentration on negative experiences, which brings with it despondency and despair. But the field of Destiny is beyond our control. It is important to understand this in the moment and let go of control over it.
- The field of freedom, opportunities and choice in the circumstances.
Even if a person is on his deathbed, as long as he is alive and breathing, he has different options for action. As soon as a person mentally moves into the field of Freedom, he begins to see the possibilities and choose actions that have the greatest meaning both for him and for the world. Man becomes the author of his decisions. By controlling his life in this way, he endows it with meaning.
2. Collect yourself internally
— Start systematically applying stress management tools at all levels: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual.
Your main task is to preserve your psyche and the ability to make non-polar “either-or” decisions, but multivariate ones, that is, to work out different plans for different scenarios.
- Turn on critical thinking and the search mode of brain activity.
Consciously filter news content so as not to become a victim of information manipulation and not to succumb to panic. Focus more on what is happening here and now. Listen to people and analyze events.
- Try not to mentally fly into the past and future - this can give rise to fear and anxiety.
If you are experiencing a panic attack, then ask yourself questions: what exactly am I seeing, hearing and feeling right now? What good can I do for myself and others?
- Structure your time and space.
Say to yourself: “Now I will perform such actions, and at lunch and in the evening, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow - such. In this place I will place this, and in that place I will put this. For our brain, these actions mean planning for the future, and therefore give rise to a sense of control over reality.
- Engage in creative activities.
Try to switch to activities that are useful to others.
Questions to yourself
- What can I do now?
- Whom to help, whom to support?
Why do it? - you ask. I answer: so as not to fall before the shot. It is for this that it is necessary to form your personal field of Freedom.
3. Avoid Learned Helplessness
Learned helplessness is a state in which an individual does not attempt to improve his situation, although he has the opportunity to do so. This state, as a rule, occurs after several unsuccessful attempts to influence negative circumstances (or avoid them). It is characterized by passivity, that is, a refusal to take any action even when the opportunity presents itself.
The three main factors that form learned helplessness are:
- a person’s persistent confidence that he is not able to cope with the task on his own;
- feeling that he cannot control the situation;
- the habit of blaming yourself for all the failures.
What is the antidote to learned helplessness? Search activity of the brain and proactive behavior.
Every person has two types of behavior: reactive and proactive. Reactive behavior is also called obligatory. It can be characterized by the phrase “I do what I must.” This is impulsive behavior - every stimulus is followed by a reaction. Proactive behavior is initiative behavior, to which no one obliges us. For example, we decide to help someone or take on the organization of an event.
4. Start practicing antifragility
- Improve individual parts of your own system/subsystem.
Each of us is a system. This system consists of:
- subsystems - physical, mental and spiritual beginning; body parts; knowledge, experience, competencies, personal resources;
- supersystems - family, friendships, work, business, hobbies, social groups, networks, place of residence, country, etc.
Think about it, perhaps now you need to improve yourself, your business in some way … and further down the list.
Questions to yourself
- What will I improve now?
- How can I, my skills, my business help me not only survive, but become better right now?
- Look for fragile parts.
For the whole system to be antifragile, its individual elements must be fragile. Elements become stronger due to competition. The whole system benefits from this. The main thing is to admit defeat in time and start looking for other opportunities. Now is the perfect time to let go of strategies, beliefs, or losing parts of your business that don’t work.
Ask yourself questions
- What part of the system/supersystem will I be now? Loser or winner?
- What part of my personal system can I sacrifice, and with what help do I want to win by strengthening it to the detriment of another part?
- Nullify.
The internal state of antifragility feels like the belief “I have nothing to lose!”. It is easiest to describe it as a kind of zeroing, a state of inner lightness that comes after hard times experienced.
Ask yourself questions
- How can I feel for the state of emptiness or zero within myself?
- Where exactly do I want to reset now?
- What do I want to let go like bread on water?
- Reduce losses.
The fragile loses more than it gains. Its expenses are greater than its income, it is asymmetric, and this asymmetry is unfavorable. The antifragile gains more than it loses. Its income is greater than its expenses, it is asymmetric, and this asymmetry is favorable. The first step towards antifragility is to reduce waste.
Ask yourself a question
- Where can I cut my expenses now, what can I give up?
- Build connections.
An antifragile system is characterized by many connections to the outside world. Personally, I see great potential for personal antifragility in horizontal relationships. There is such a sociological concept “The strength of weak ties”. Weak horizontal ties keep us much stronger than vertical ties (career ties, which we usually rely on more). Especially in a big storm. And yet, when we do something important for others, it gives our life value and meaning.
Ask yourself questions
- Who do I want to support? Not for profit, but just because.
- Who needs my help now?
- How exactly can I be useful/useful to others?
- Who do I want to be with, who is really dear to me?
- Keep a sense of humor.
Even in the conditions of a concentration camp, people needed the “humor of the gallows” to survive. Laughter helps to cope with the effects of prolonged stress. It activates the immune system and relieves pain symptoms, reducing both muscle and mental pain. Laughter allows the brain to be creative.
Ask yourself questions
- How often do I laugh during the day?
- How often do my loved ones, employees, clients and partners laugh?
- How often do we all laugh together in my family and team?
- “Stroke” your vulnerability, accept it in yourself.
Think about how you can take care of yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for mistakes, but take them as learning. Repeat often that you are a star, that you are strong, brave and kind, you are courageous and can handle everything. That difficult times will pass sooner or later, and you will succeed.
Ask yourself questions
- How do I keep my posture, is my back straight?
- What does my body feel, does my psyche process external and internal stress?
- Is what I’m doing now feeding or healing my pain?
- What would I do (a) if I were not afraid (s)?
— Make decisions in the field of Meaning.
Nietzsche said: “If a person has a WHY, he can endure any HOW.” It is important for us to look for meaning in each specific situation and each time to expand our field of possibilities with the question: what else can I do? If we choose the solution ourselves, then we stop being victims and become authors. Yes, we can be wrong. But this is the antifragile position. Having accepted it, we grow inside ourselves a certain core of the philosophy of stoicism and understand - “Everything that does not kill us becomes an experience.”
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