Simone Stolzoff

So it's a balancing act.

We need to have some certainty in our life, some things to anchor us and help us feel grounded.

And then also we can build that tolerance for uncertainty through our own experience, learning that we can be okay in uncertain situations.

Yeah, I mean, it's a hard question, but I think the problem often starts one step before, which is even being able to distinguish and ask yourself, what is in my control in this moment?

So I think climate change is a great example.

So many people are anxious about climate change right now.

It's this big tapestry of potential intersecting crises.

And the enormity of that has the potential to send you for an existential loop to keep you up at night.

And the thing that will help your anxiety is actually the exact same thing that will help make a difference with climate change.

Is recycling.

which is taking action, you know, and there's this quote from Dan Harris, the 10% happier guy, where he says, you know, action absorbs anxiety.

And I really like that as sort of a naturally neurotic and anxious person.

I often find when I'm able to take the first step, that's when my anxiety starts to dissipate.

That's when I can start to see clarity.

And at the same time with something like climate change, the only thing that's going to actually help us is if we do find that sort of one string that we can pull on in the tapestry of different solutions.

There's a metaphor that I learned while I was working at this design firm, IDEO, that I think about all the time, which is that being a leader is like sitting in a rowboat on a lake that's shrouded in heavy fog.

You might not be able to see very far in front of you,

You might not be able to know exactly where you'll end up, but you have two jobs.

The first is to have faith that you'll eventually reach land.

Remember, you're in a lake.