Resilience: Variables
This is a more in-depth overview of the third step of a resilience framework proposed and described in the podast Building Up: Resilience by Kory and Kellan (K&K). This step is described in Episode 7: Consider Your Variables. Please refer to this overview page for a summary of the overall resilience framework, and on this page you can see my more in-depth overview of the next (fourth) step of the framework.
The step Consider your variables influences how one emphasizes the various pillars in the previous Consider the pillars step, and is used to tackle the questions “How should I prepare?” and “What should I prepare for?”. Questions such as “How much time do I have to work on my resilience?”, “How much finances do I have for it?”, “What is my location (e.g. urban vs rural area) and local circumstances?” will help guide this.
Within the episode, the following are said to be some of the main variables to consider regarding the question “How should I prepare?”
- How much time do I have?
- How much money do I have? Split this into two parts: (1) Disposable income, and (2) Wealth (e.g. how much property do I own?). For example, one may have a low disposable income but still be in a good position if one owns property, versus somebody who has a large income but has to pay a lot in rent.
- What is available at my location? Refers e.g. to how close one’s geographical location is to key resources etcetera. For example, if one has a river nearby, the how-to-prepare aspect when it comes to water availability differs from the case when there are no nearby water sources.
- What does my community / community type look like? As in, am I in an urban / suburban / rural area?
- What is my starting point? As in, where am I within the “resilience spectrum” at the start of my journey towards increased resilience? Example questions: What resources do you have access to, what skills do you know already, etcetera.
- Am I an introvert or an extrovert? Affects e.g. community building.
- What’s my family size, and who is / are going to be dependent on me?
- Who’s in it with me? For example, in a relationship it could be that your partner does not support / is not interested in anything resilience-related. This makes your path towards resilience different compared to the case where your partner is on the same page as you.
- What’s my health status?
The following are said to be the some of the main variables to consider regarding the question “What should I prepare for?” Note that there is lots of cross-over with the corresponding “How should I prepare?” list, even though the questions in the respective categories have different implications (compare e.g. the respective locality-related questions “What is available at my location?” versus “What is my geographical location?”).
- What is my geographical location? Note that the amount of time and money devoted to different pillars may differ a lot depending on this (e.g. less focus on a backup heat source in a tropical climate).
- What does my community / community type look like? As in, am I in an urban / suburban / rural area?
- What are my community ties? As in, am I in a political group, religious organization, etc?
- What is my rough age? This affects what you prepare for, because you may think that certain threats only become present in X years, while you may no longer be alive (due to age) after that many years.
- What is my gender?
- What is my health status?
- What is my family size?
- What is my minority status? Minorities often become scapegoats in times of crises / scarcity.
- What is my end goal? Ties right back to the first step Establish your desired outcome.
- What are my current interests and skillsets?
It is also mentioned that it is recommended to make a profile of oneself, even writing it down, so that one can assess one’s variables properly.