The crisis couldn’t care less. It only grows more quickly.
Discontinuities aren't going to wait for you to be ready before they remake your world. My Crash Course teaches you how to ready yourself.
This Tuesday is the last day to sign up for my Crash Course in Personal Ruggedization. (Detailed course description here.)
Why should you take this course? Read to find out.
IT SEEPS UP THROUGH THE SOIL. It blows in on the wind. It floats downstream. It can be tasted in the heavy rain. It hides itself in the spring sunshine of early January.
We hear it everywhere, like a distant howl — in worried conversations, from the scientists’ warnings, amidst the pings and tones of our phones, on the news, in the candidates’ speeches, echoing from the protests in the streets — until we stop listening.
We mute the planet and its crisis. Our crisis.
The crisis couldn’t care less. It only grows more quickly.
It’s probably not news to you that most people filter out planetary reality. Even if they’re heard a lot about climate change and ecological collapse, they go on making choices and living their lives as if nothing much had happened over the last fifty years. Like everything is more or less the same as it ever was.
I’d really love for them to be right, but they’re not.
If you’re reading this, you know that we’re living through a massive discontinuity. No one has ever experienced what we now see coming: Lurching, unprecedented transformations — in the climate, in natural systems, in farming and industry, in communities and their economies, in political upheaval and migration and conflict and war — playing out, day after day, for the rest of our lives.
Almost none of us are ready. But we can get ready. Personal ruggedization is the process of making ourselves ready. It’s something we learn how to do. It’s what this course teaches.
Who should sign up for this course?
If your sense of urgency is escalating with everything you’re learning about this crisis, but you feel daunted by the sheer scale and complexity of the problems you find yourself needing to navigate, this course is for you.
Imagine being being more grounded, confident and capable in how you handle your personal or professional challenges as this crisis unfolds. That’s my goal.
This course offers a clear framework for decision-making in uncertain times.
It’s grounded in the science and expert opinion (and my over thirty years in the field), but it also takes into account the fact that each of our lives and priorities are different, and even if we had perfect foresight, no one answer would work for everyone. This course helps you develop an approach that’s right for you and your loved ones.
We start by paring the planetary crisis down to its impacts on the systems that make our lives possible. This helps you focus on the patterns underneath the chaos (they exist), rather than being overwhelmed by the constant onslaught of warnings and disasters. Planning for the future should help support a positive outlook, even when the problems are hard and stressful.
We then look at how to spot a place that will optimize your chances. What makes places more or less endangered by these changing patterns? What impacts do they face, now and in the future? How well situated are they for living with those impacts? How fast are people there working to get ready?
What are the choices you can make about where and how you live? Is the place you live relatively safe or brittle? What risks do you need to be looking out for? What are the local indicators of potential and progress? What are the warning flags? Do you need to plan to relocate? If so, when? What happens if you wait too long What should you look for in a new hometown? If you can't make a big move, how might you reposition yourself and ruggedize in place? What kind of places probably can’t be saved?
How can you build the life you want in a way that’s likely to last? How will these impacts and choices affect your family’s well-being, prosperity and security? How will they put torque on your work, on your kids’ futures, on your retirement? How do you set your loved ones up for success in all this turmoil?
Most importantly, how can you have the conversations that really matter with the people who matter most to you? How do you bring family, friends and colleagues in on your explorations? How do you find others who are wrestling with these ruggedization realities and build community with them? How do you make ruggedization an engine for achieving purpose-driven success?
There is no other course like this, as far as I know.
I hope you’ll join me.
Ruggedly yours,
Alex
P.S. Last-minute questions about the course? Please email Alison@AlexSteffen.com and we’ll be happy to help (but I might have answered your question below).
FAQs:
1) Is this course designed for people outside of the U.S., too?
Yes! While many of the examples and maps are from a U.S. context, I have traveled extensively for years, and can toggle contexts easily. The most important insights are universal.
2) What if I'm most interested in ruggedizing my business? Will this course help?
To make smarter personal choices in the face of the climate crisis, we learn to see (and anticipate changes in) the interconnected systems around us. Those same insights can also help us make better decisions in business and investing.
3) I can't make all the classes, are they recorded?
Every call is recorded and shared with the participants.
4) How much interaction is there? How much access will I have to Alex?
We do 30 minutes or so of group discussion at the end of every class, and I am available to answer questions (and for deep-discount coaching calls) during and after the course. In addition, taking the Crash Course qualifies you to join an ongoing discussion in the new “Advanced Course” to be announced in April.
5) Do I have to be a climate expert or work in a climate job for this to make sense?
Though many participants work in climate-related fields and businesses, the course starts from the basics and builds systemic understanding from there. No special knowledge is needed to benefit, and a list of resources for further learning is provided.
6) What if I decide this course isn’t right for me?
We want you to have a great experience. We also value your investment of time and resources. If, after the first live call, you truly believe that the course is not right for you, you have 6 days (until Wed, March 6) to request a 90% refund.
7) What are the course times again?
A Crash Course in Personal Ruggedization begins Thursday, February 29th, 2024, and runs for six weeks. Classes will be held weekly on Thursdays, from 10am - 12pm PST, on Zoom.
8) How much will this course rock?
So much. The feedback we’ve gotten on the Crash Course has been overwhelmingly positive, and I love teaching it.