A NEW YEAR OF UNCERTAINTY – SHOULD WE RESET?
No more cotton wool, no more mediocrity and no more self-destruction: thoughts for 2024.
In January 2023 in these pages an article, 2023 – Improvements – set out a wish list of things to happen to improve the year, such as more long-term leadership and bidding farewell to ego. Because the wish list was largely unfulfilled, many of the same items would appear for 2024; and sadly the number of existential risks has increased with Putin’s criminal war still rampant but now supplemented by terrible turmoil in the Middle East, begun with the barbaric Hamas atrocities of 7 October, and Iran openly fomenting violent chaos though proxy extremist groups. Those nations of the world which seek order have their hands full this year to combat those who desire disorder to opportunistically grab wealth and power.
Individuals and groups of people can exercise their freedoms, where they have them, through the media and elections and pressure groups, to influence the decisions of leaders, in Governments and business. However, a lot of energy could be wasted fretting and despairing about what might happen that is bad, which is so beyond personal control. The fact is the World has never been more uncertain but we have to live with it until stability resurfaces. Personal energy might in 2024, as perhaps always, best be concentrated on our individual and community circumstances. Perhaps it is a good time to consider resetting our thoughts and attitudes and boosting our resourcefulness, so that we take greater control and responsibility for our own situation and the situation of those around us.
In Sherbhert’s recent article Mood Fuels Economic Energy, personally creating the right mood was a focus. It harked back to the can-do values of the Royal Marines . Their objectives include courage and excellence, determination, unselfishness and cheerfulness. To pursue such values, perhaps a reset on living with risk, our core strengths and taking charge of our own lifestyle, not sub-contracting out, could be worthwhile and bring results both for self and country.
RISK-LIVING
A core skill to advancement and resilience is risk-assessment. Perhaps today a propensity to prioritise reducing risk of harm or risk of failure to as close to zero as possible, that is risk aversion, is seriously holding people and the nation back from becoming dynamic. This results in a serious risk of creating generations for the future more interested in a cotton wool existence, unfulfilling and unchallenging, than in a commitment to making as big a difference as possible to improving the world around them.
Safeguarding is a very important principle but has become a word which epitomises risk aversion, a one size fits all word: in fact there are so many situations where the level of safeguarding needs to be balanced against other considerations. It embraces health and safety which on a daily basis is taken to ludicrous levels as anyone who has read a 40 page health and safety policy for an everyday life, not especially risky, environment will know, where common sense might be the best policy. At one extreme, the principle of safeguarding which prevents children from any abuse in the widest sense by adults is fundamental. But safeguarding which shields children or adults from experiencing normal course hurt, physical or otherwise, of a type they need to cope with is perhaps doing them no favours. At another extreme it is not unheard of for children not to be exposed to competitive environments such as sport because there will be winners and losers and risk that little ones will be hurt by coming last. Yet coming to terms with failure is critical to life success, dusting off and starting again. Learning what skills we have.
For example , there is serious risk of physical harm if people play rugby or other contact sports. The risks must be balanced against the benefits, such as learning teamwork, playing to strengths and covering weaknesses; team spirit and camaraderie; learning discipline ; the value of fitness; no pain without gain; turning up and committing when its icy cold and wet and so on. And where a risk, like the risk of brain damage through concussion, is discovered taking precautions and finding balance.
Every time we drive a car or go on the streets we must assess risk and resolve how to handle it. How often do we, or others we witness, fail to say or do things for fear of risk of rejection or failure, looking stupid. Fear created by risk has to be overcome so often but that requires exposure to hard situations and that is something today it seems people seek protection from so often. We need to face the question in perspective “what have I really got to lose?” when we hesitate. A lot more risks than are taken today may be worth taking. Innovation, investment, reskilling and seeking long term gain from short term pain are all risky but vital for success. The pandemic seriously challenged the appetite for risk, so much so that expectation was raised that some third party could remove it. No, individuals need to assess it, embrace it and decide and choose accordingly. Perhaps that is worth resetting for 2024.
PLAYING TO STRENGTHS
So often in these pages has self-awareness been emphasised as a starting-point for good decision-making, creating confidence, the bedrock of resilience. A particular area where we need to know ourselves is our skillset, our strengths and also where we are less strong and less able. Some weaknesses will, as a defence, need some shoring up. But success and excellence, which will differentiate people, will arise from appreciating, honing and maximising strong abilities, whether physical, mental or emotional. Perhaps too much time and effort is often spent in for example education making us a bit less mediocre in an area where we will never star perform. So too when we are adults, we can strive to do something ourselves which will be a struggle, but in fact applying self-awareness we know would be better left to someone more skilled: teamwork and delegation sit here.
We may not be great at maths or English but we need those basic skills to survive: so too now in a digital world. While doing that, becoming great at what we are really good at should be our ambition. We may even find our real strength is seemingly unglamorous such as being caring and empathetic but that is what we should major on. The simple fact that every person is different and has different talents in different degrees makes absurd an obsession with a Universlty education for all. Also, it makes the concept of equality impossible and undesirable to apply to people.
Perhaps the fact that so many people seem unhappy with their work can be explained by them not having properly identified and developed their strengths: and so they work at something where they struggle and struggling is a huge weight when borne every working day.
Perhaps it is worth in 2024 examining hard our strengths and weaknesses to establish where to apply our extra effort to be more productive and reset our focus.
RESET ON PERSONAL HEALTH
Bad diet and bad foods and drinks leading to bad health outcomes such as diabetes are now at least established as topics for open discussion. There seems to be general agreement that ultra processed foods when consumed in any quantity are a health hazard, a cause of diabetes certainly. There is no real doubt that the UK is the fattest large country in Europe, or that obesity costs the country billions of pounds each year in direct NHS cost and lost productivity; or that obesity causes heart diseases, the biggest killer in the UK; or that UK children are getting more and more overweight, building in for them, without action, a tougher and potentially more miserable and shorter life. Given our responsibility for our own behaviour, these are self-inflicted wounds, or in the case of children wounds inflicted by parents. This problem is a bit like earlier problems with smoking and even climate change. It took a long time to reach consensus that smoking, a choice grown-ups are entitled to, seriously damages health, some level of banning is acceptable, and a stark programme of health warnings was necessary, in addition to a tough tax regime. So too climate change, where it took years for the naysayers to come round so that there is now no debate really as to the effects of global warming, and that massive changes and restrictions are needed. Surely now too, the time has come for the fatness and ultra processed food problems to be tackled accordingly.
Rather like cigarette companies, no longer can the processed food and drink lobby and food retailers be allowed to continue the lie they have consumers’ interests at heart; but instead government and businesses and anyone who purveys food including the NHS need to work together and reset the nation’s diet through education and real incentive measures.
But mostly the individual must work to solve the problem for themselves. By not consuming in vast quantity and rejecting ultra processed products, the consumer can change the food mood. Especially, they can vote with their feet, tell the food companies and retailers they want healthy not deadly food on the shelves, and buy accordingly. Of course, people will have different and proper reasons why this is hard or impractical but the challenge is to solve difficulties as best one can, if the matter is important. There is little doubt surely this is very important.
So the third reset to consider is around taking greater responsibility for one’s own health. The NHS purports to want to move to preventative more than remedial medicine: here is the opportunity for individuals to make a real difference in 2024.
TAKING CONTROL
Perhaps 2024 can be more about taking control of our own destiny wherever we can, devoting energy to accepting but challenging sensible risks with common sense, playing to our strengths and starting the fight back against the disease of bad consumption.
