Grow from adversity

Antifragile Quotient “AQ” Assessment, Antifragile Quotient | AQ Assessment

We have lost our innate ability to grow stronger from adversity and are growing increasingly fragile. The cracks are showing up in people and organizations everywhere. Learn about the two trends behind our increasing fragility.

Our societal foundation has been eroding


Faith traditions and their virtues that guided billions of people for thousands of years are being abandoned rather than reformed.

The concept of "community" has faded. The need to specialize in our education and work has increasingly led us to migrate away from family to urban areas. At the same time, the pendulum has swung from a collectivist mindset coming out of World War II to one of extreme individualism today. Consequently, never in history has such a high percentage of us lived so densely concentrated among people we don't know or care for.

Families have been fracturing from increased rates of divorce and estrangement. The migration trend and general breakdown of the community mentioned above have left many non-traditional families needing more support than they historically received from extended family and community. Government agencies are now increasingly expected to care for our extended families.

We have never been freer to believe, say and do as we like. We're more unencumbered than ever by any guiding authority, whether a higher power, community leaders, elders, family traditions, or moral obligation to each other. And it's causing many to feel alone, lost, and directionless like kites blowing in the wind. We've evolved to become an instant gratification culture bent on pleasing ourselves and addicted to endorphins and numbing behaviors. We will do just about anything to avoid pain. And when the pain comes, and it always comes, we hurt even more because we're ill-equipped.

Our collective stress has been increasing


Globalization and technology have meant increased levels of competition felt everywhere. The education or apprenticeship that once served a person well for a lifetime may now be obsolete in a few years. Despite the powerful tools technology has placed at our fingertips, we must work more than ever to get by. The boundaries between our personal lives and work have become unrecognizable for many. And despite the increased working hours, more people and organizations than ever feel like they're on the verge of failing.

Considering both trends mainly occurred in the last 100 years, a tiny fraction of human history, we've essentially conducted a widespread and dangerous experiment that's wreaking havoc on our mental health and well-being. Are we surprised stress is being called the health epidemic of the 21st century?

We need a new paradigm to thrive

Antifragile Quotient “AQ” Assessment, Antifragile Quotient | AQ Assessment

Prior to our societal institutions becoming fragile, and before globalization and technology had caused widespread disruption, our innate ability to grow stronger from adversity was largely intact and IQ was the go-to determinant of who would thrive.  

  

With widespread adoption of the computer and internet, there was a leveling effect of raw intelligence relative to emotional intelligence. The ability to work quickly and collaboratively with others in leveraging the power of shared knowledge to obtain greater outcomes became critical such that by the mid-nineties, we realized EQ was often better than IQ at determining who would thrive.  

 

As the decline of our institutions accelerated, technology and globalization marched on.

The iPhone, social media, and apps like Slack, which brought work to our nightstands, accelerated the pace of change. By the mid-teens, words like “grit” and “resilience” were being used to indicate who would thrive. They were also evidence of the fact that we had lost touch with our innate ability to grow stronger from adversity and felt collectively overwhelmed.  

  

While the grit and resilience movements brought hope in our fight to keep up with change, their focus on “bouncing back” didn’t reactive our innate ability to grow stronger from adversity as evidenced by the staggering rise in depression and mental health issues. As new technologies like AI come on the scene, and the pace of change accelerates even faster, our ability to bounce back will diminish further and our mental health crisis is poised to worsen.  

Your Antifragile Quotient or “AQ”, now determines who thrives - and who doesn’t.

The concept of Antifragility was developed by New York Times best-selling author, Nassim Teleb. In his book Antifragile, Taleb explores why certain people, ideas, organizations and industries thrive because of the adversity they face, when others manage to merely bounce back or fracture altogether.

“The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.”

How does my Antifragile Quotient help me thrive?

Rather than merely “bouncing back” and managing the inevitable decline that comes with it, growing your Antifragile Quotient or “AQ” helps you see and interact with the world through a new lens, reactivating your innate ability to grow increasingly stronger from change and adversity. Congruent with science, AQ is based on the overlapping human truths of the world’s major religions that founded much of civilization and guided billions of people for thousands of years. AQ holds the power to help you regain control over and responsibility for what feels out of control as you radically live out the 7 Elements of Antifragility:

THE ACTUALIZED Element of Antifragility

The Actualized Element of Responsibility provides the ability to make the road to Antifragile a reality. Mastery of it provides the freedom to be Antifragile.

AQ Element of Responsibility

Possessing the capacity to respond to the situation at hand.

THE PRACTICE Elements of Antifragility

The Practice Elements of Courage, Forgiveness, & Gratitude are the energy sources needed to be Antifragile. Together they provide the nerve, orientation, and composure to be Antifragile.

The AQ Element of Courage

Realigning your relationship with fear in order to move toward an unknown, despite uncertainty.

 

The AQ Element of Forgiveness

Processing and letting go of all the painful situations we experience.

 

 

The AQ Element of Gratitude

Living out a deep appreciation for not only the aspects of life we enjoy but also the suffering that shapes and strengthens us.

 

THE Foundational Elements of Antifragility

The Foundational Elements of Clarity, Connection, and Purpose are the launching platform needed in being Antifragile. Together they provide the grounding, support, and direction to be Antifragile.

The AQ Element of Clarity

Removing the mental clutter and emotional baggage that block our best perspective and inhibit us from the benefit of others’ perspectives so that we might observe the present without distortion.

The AQ Element of Purpose

Finding a fixed point of orientation to guide our lives and aligning all our actions to that highest aim.

 

 

AQ Element of Connection

Recognizing our inherent wiring to exist in community, our need to be in nature, and our need to have alignment within ourselves, and with those around us.

 

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