"There's Nothing Else Like This, Anywhere."
Announcing the tenth Personal Climate Strategy Workshop, beginning April 14th!
How would you like to know you’re ready for life in a hotter, more chaotic world?
We’re very excited to be able to announce this spring’s Personal Climate Strategy Workshop, beginning April 14th, and running four weeks (classes on April 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 30; May 5 and 7. Wrap-Up Discussion Call on May 14. Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 - 1:30pm Pacific on Zoom. Already interested? Find out more here:
The New York Times just ran a feature about the Workshop, and the response has been really terrific.
A lot of people are suddenly feeling the need to ask the question, “Are we ready for what’s coming?” Most of us aren’t. We’re not even ready for all the change whipping around us today. We live during an unprecedented crisis, and we all have to make our way through it. We need strategies for doing that.
I saw that need emerging earlier than most.
Five years ago, I set out to build the best system available to meet that need. It’s based on my decades of on-the-ground experience and research. It’s grounded in the best new evidence from a range of disciplines. It’s informed by thousands of conversations I’ve had with folks facing climate chaos in their own lives. It’s now been delivered, reiterated and improved over nine Workshops.
I’m confident in this system — and I think the fact that a high percentage of Workshop participants make their livings in fields like risk management, climate policy and institutional strategy speaks to the quality of work underpinning this system. It’s why I believe the feedback I’ve gotten, that “there’s nothing else like this, anywhere.”
Now, no one can guarantee your outcomes. Anyone who claims they can is deceiving either themselves, or you.
There’s no one right answer. Models disagree. Data are incomplete. Unchecked assumptions weaken reliability of predictions. The very speed of change ripping through complex and interconnected systems is magnifying uncertainty.
And the same facts can have different implications for different people. Every good climate strategy is bespoke. Your individual circumstances, values and responsibilities mean that someone else’s solid strategy might fall apart for you (and vice versa).
You can, however, definitely improve your odds. I can show you how.
You can stack the cards in your favor by adopting personal climate strategies that build on your own strengths, reduce well-evidenced risks, that secure reliable gains, and ground you in realistic thinking.
Let’s unpack how this Workshop delivers these:
Make Smarter Real-World Choices
A false belief in continuity — that things will more or less happen tomorrow as they happened yesterday — can be ruinous in times of rapid change. Early action means real leverage. It’s absolutely vital to match our thinking to the discontinuities of this moment.
Participants have told me that the tools we use, like the Brittleness Triangle, have helped them:
Get a practical grasp on climate foresight, understanding the patterns behind the chaos and improving decision-making in every aspect of their lives.
Become more aware of the systems upon which they depend, and inspired to advocate more effectively for change.
Find clarity on their own risk tolerance, priorities and value; on their own relationships and connections to community; and on the timing of the changes they need to make.
Already, hundreds of participants have used the mental models I offer in this Workshop to sharpen not only their plans for the future, but also their timelines of action.
Reduce Knowable Risks
As the planetary crisis bites deep over the next few years, risk is going to translate into financial loss, and the costs of being unprepared will escalate.
Participants have used their personal climate strategies to:
Relocate — across town or across the world — finding new homes with greater safety.
Ruggedize their homes to function better in the face of ongoing upheavals.
Work with their neighbors and local officials to make the essential systems around them more climate-proof.
These steps mean real money saved from loss prevention, but also direct benefits in terms of quality of life, health and family security.
Secure Your Gains
Creating a stable, rugged platform for living the life you’ve built makes it much more likely that your family will continue to thrive in the years ahead.
Participants have used their strategies as a launchpad to:
Shift careers in ways that make them better prepared for discontinuity in the workplace.
Give their kids a more stable place to grow up; and guide older children in their own decisions about how to face climate chaos.
Reallocate investments, improve their insurability, make financially sound home ruggedization improvements and prepare a more robust retirement.
Astute people understand this crisis as both a massive societal upheaval and as a new context for our lives, one that offers us the chance to be more intentional with our choices — and maybe see better results than we were expecting.
Last, but certainly not least, we Improve Resilience with Connection
This workshop is built on a foundation of science, expertise and evidence. Yet we also spend time talking about our emotions and our worldviews, about who we’re connected with and how we communicate. That’s by design.
First, it’s healthy. Almost everyone who really gets the planetary crisis gets worried about it. That constant concern can leave us feeling isolated and anxious. Self care, mental hygiene, honest communications and positive relationships are important tools for maintaining the grit to navigate this crisis. The heart matters.
Second, it’s smart. Mental resilience and emotional connection are also the keys to getting hard things done. Personal ruggedization is a team sport, even for the most self-reliant among us. Connecting with others and communicating effectively about your common goals and shared future is how you make serious personal changes work.
We discuss approaches to building mental resilience and nurturing intelligent optimism. We have chances to connect with others who are working through the same problems. There’s no need to carry this alone. And we share tools for initiating effective conversations about shared futures with those you care about.
Bottom line: This Workshop works. More than 500 people have now taken my two climate strategy classes. Many of them have written testimonials (see below).
What are the nuts and bolts of the Workshop?
Eight sessions of 75 minutes each, followed by discussion.
One wrap-up call, where we go over our new tools and apply them to actual locations participants have suggested.
Recorded videos of all the calls, to refer to later.
Extensive resources, readings and prompts for further exploration, to help you keep moving forward after the Workshop.
Invitation to our alumni network group, and deep discounts on one-on-one consultations.
It’s an extraordinary chance to answer, with confidence, “Yes — we are ready for what’s coming.”
So, if this opportunity — a holistic approach to building the life you want in times of escalating crisis, delivered through a tested system with proven successes, led by a 30+ year climate veteran, and explored together with a group of smart, like-minded people from around the globe — sounds like something you want, then please join us in this Workshop!
You can also gift the workshop to a family member or friend.
Space is limited.
Thanks,
Alex
PS: Here’s what a few of the past participants have said about the Workshop.
“Alex Steffen’s course could save your money, your sanity, maybe even your life. At a time when the stability of systems we’ve taken for granted over our lifetimes is shifting beneath our feet in real time --- from insurance and housing to healthcare – due to escalating climate threats, what can you do to face climate reality with savviness and knowledge, so you can make the right decisions for you and your family, think about your investments and possible migrations wisely, using the latest data and insights? If you’re not yet asking these questions, you’re not paying attention. Alex Steffen will change the way you think about planning for your future.”
—Britt Wray, Director of CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry
“When all the others are just talking about what systems-collapse or planetary crisis looks like, Alex’s work already gives you a framework on how to navigate it with confidence and with the clear possibility of creating a thriving and hardened future for you, your loved ones, and the communities you serve.”
—Justin D’Atri, Group Sustainability Transformation Lead, Zurich Insurance Group
“Over the course of taking the class I began to realize that developing my own personal climate strategy will likely be the vehicle through which I get back in touch with the things that matter most to me in this life. Alex reminded me that if a strategy is not doing that, then it’s likely not a strategy for me. We are in uncharted territory in this climate crisis, but the world is not ending, life is moving forward and the cities and structures we have now will be the places from which we ruggedize and adjust to living in a hotter world. And some of them are less risky than others. Alex wants to teach us how to spot brittleness and plan ruggedly. He wants us to stop blaming ourselves for this crisis, stop doom-scrolling and to realize that building our own climate strategies and implementing them is the best salve, one of the most positively impactful things we can do, and perhaps one of the best vehicles to a more meaningful and intention-filled life. And we don’t have to do it alone...”
—Katie Herzig, Musician, Nashville, TN
“Thanks to Alex’s course, our family took decisive action and moved to a new city. We love our new home. We’ve jumped right in to work alongside our neighbors who are already ruggedizing the city. There’s much to do. We are so grateful that Alex helped us quickly identify the important factors to consider and set us on a path for being better prepared to care for ourselves, our neighbors and all in our city and wider region. Alex’s work was life-changing for us, and absolutely worth our investment of money and time.”
—Maia
“Alex has been thinking about the impacts of climate change longer than most people. Through his course, Alex provides an insight to the more likely future scenarios and helps attendees position themselves, physically and mentally, to avoid the worst impacts and take advantage of the opportunities that are created.”
—Jeff Roulston, Queensland, Australia
“In light of the most recent IPCC report, I would recommend this ruggedization course to anyone who plans to live on this planet after 2030. You will acquire a strategic framework to approach personal life decisions in the face of uncertainty, as well as a helpful lens through which to view and evaluate current events and policy decisions. I have gained valuable perspective to help my family and I not just survive, but thrive through the Anthropocene.”
—participant
This course “has changed the way I think about my work in climate change engagement and communications. It has opened up novel routes to talking about both climate risks and the potential of climate action. On a personal level, It stimulated a new level of thinking about personal and family contexts in terms of risk assessment, planning and adaptation activities…I am an academic, climate communications specialists and climate activist; this course met the needs of all of those 'personas.'“
—Liz Gladin; Climate & Biodiversity Communications Consultant
“As someone deeply invested in climate activism, a mother, and a former mayor, I can't stress enough how important it is to consider this course, whether you're just becoming aware of the crisis or have been concerned about our changing climate for some time. …I urge you to enroll in this course and to also reach out to your local elected representatives, encouraging them to do the same.”
—Heidi Harmon; former mayor of San Luis Obispo, CA
“For anyone interested in personally preparing yourself and your family for climate change impacts, boy do I have a great recommendation for you…
“Last year I paid $2,400 for his intensive 6-week course, and it was one of the most impactful learning experiences I’ve had on any topic in the last decade…
“All you have to believe is that the future is likely to be more risky and uncertain, whether from climate change or just natural disasters, political instability, social unrest, armed conflict, economic or supply chain disruption, etc.
“Heck, you could completely disbelieve climate change is happening at all, and this course would still be transformational because its focus is on preparing you and your family and community for a wide range of potential scenarios, whatever those might be. [He] completely dismantles typical “prepper” advice, showing how fundamentally misguided it is for almost any future scenario (the actual best way to prepare is completely counter-intuitive).
“Most of all, the students and community that are part of Steffen’s courses are simply phenomenal. Thoughtful, wise, accomplished but also empathetic people, many of whom are playing active roles in shaping policy, economics, planning, and business.
“Alex addresses a remarkable range of holistic topics, from the all-important choice of where to locate yourself, to the psychological mindset shifts needed, to basic provisioning and preparing for utility interruption, to adapting your career, finances, and business for likely future changes.
“I ‘10 out of 10’ recommend you check this one out.”
Tiago Forte, entrepreneur, Forte Labs
“After nearly 20 years working in sustainability—and having followed Alex Steffen’s work even longer—I finally took his Personal Climate Strategy Workshop. To put it simply: it’s the most valuable climate foresight training I’ve ever taken.”
— Justus Stewart