This course is not for every one. It is aimed at young adults (twenties and early thirties) who want to make a jump in their development, identity, independence, and effectiveness. They are interested in moving from shallow — window dressing — sustainability to deep — actual — sustainability, and who know that true sustainable progress comes from capable individuals and not from top-down policies. Yet they do not yet know what next steps to take to bring more of life under their command.
The school of thought targets young adults at — on average — medium to high life-skills levels as described in the table below.
| Aspect | Low life-skill level | Medium life-skill level | High life-skill level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own actions | Often make situations worse | Have many indeterminate outcomes | Generally improve situations effectively |
| Overall state | Continually coping with problems, languishing | Regularly coping with problems, while not always able to take life’s opportunities | Thriving in complexity through effective use of life’s opportunities |
| Personal adequacy | Very low adequacy, deep sense of disappointment in self | Medium adequacy, (some) confusion about how own acts relate to outcomes | High adequacy, deep confidence in the overall effectiveness of own actions |
| Feelings | Deep resentment of self and the world | A noticeable background feeling of purposelessness and lack of direction | Deep confidence in own resilience and the opportunities the world offers |
| Autonomy | Essential reliance on care, choices, and skills of others | Ability to live adequately in environments shaped and controlled by others | Ability to protect, maintain, and shape one’s own environment in a desired direction |
A central purpose of the school of thought is to help you make a transition from the medium life-skill level towards the ability to self-realize a high life-skill level.
For whom this course is not a good idea
People who are still struggling with the basics of life, will generally resent being confronted with the weaknesses and shaky foundations of their own belief system. When brought out of their comfort zone they will become defensive of their existing opinions and bolster them irrespective their quality (or lack thereof).
More specifically, this course is not for you if any of the following applies to you:
- If you are currently mainly on the low life-skill level as defined in the table above
- If you cannot commit or guarantee sufficient time and mental energy
- When your school, social, and work situation provides little stability
- You are convinced that large fractions of society are dead wrong in their opinions, beliefs, and values, and that your (liberal, conservative, religious, climatic, …) opinions, beliefs, and values should be adopted by these people
- When someone confronts you with an unfamiliar opinion, you feel the need to correct that opinion and when the person persists in his/her opinion you like to distance yourself from this person (and his/her toxic influence).
- When someone is critical of the people, norms, and structures you consider authoritative, you feel an unresistable urge to defend these authoritative structures.
For whom this course is aimed at
The course is aimed at young adults who feel sufficiently comfortable in life to confront a period of crisis, especially when in safe, stimulating, and broadly interesting environment.
More specifically, you’ll love this course if most or all of the following applies to you:
- If you are — on average — well above the low life-skill level in the table above.
- You feel an urge to take more of life under your own command and you have the time and mental energy to take a risk
- You have a decent sense of stability in your school, social, and/or work situation
- You have humor and self-mockery comes easy
- You realize that others with conflicting other opinions might (also) have access to valuable insights and you feel a slight (or a strong) interest in figuring out how they view and understand the world.
- If someone exposes you to an unfamiliar opinion you (also) feel interested.
- When someone is critical of the people you consider authoritative, you experience only minimal defensive feelings
- You love learning new skills and improving existing skills
- You want to learn to master basic skills such as:
- Growing your own food
- Building a tiny houses
- Learning to become self-sufficient
- Revisiting all kinds of daily skills to see whether you can improve on them
- You prefer deep sustainability (and true solutions) over shallow sustainability (and cosmetic solutions)
If you fit this profile you can apply