The Resilience Compass

How Resilient Is Your Life?

Discover your strengths, vulnerabilities and opportunities to thrive in an uncertain world. Resilience includes inner capacities, relationships, community, connection to the Earth, practical resources and meaning. This is a self-reported snapshot of how your life is supported today, not a judgement of your worth or ability. Some factors are within your influence; others depend on circumstances and access to resources. The aim is to discover where support, connection or preparation could make a difference — and how we can help create a life-affirming future.

Discover your strengths, vulnerabilities and opportunities to thrive in an uncertain world.

Because we all know by now that we live in increasingly uncertain times.

Climate disruption, technological change, economic pressures, political instability and social fragmentation can leave us feeling as though the ground beneath us is shifting.

Resilience is not simply about preparing for disaster.

It is our capacity to face reality, metabolise difficulty, remain connected, adapt, imagine possibilities and respond meaningfully to change.

This assessment explores seven interconnected dimensions of resilience: how you respond to challenge and how well your life is supported through relationships, resources, community, ecology and meaning.

Your results are a self-reported snapshot of your circumstances today, not a judgement of your worth or a clinical diagnosis.

Answer according to what is actually true of your life today — not what you wish were true.

Rate each statement from 1 (Not at all true of my life currently) to 5 (Very true of my life currently).

1 — Strongly Disagree

2 — Rarely agree

3 — Sometimes agree

4 — Mostly agree

5 — Strongly Agree

1. I can distinguish between facts, opinions, predictions and misinformation, and am willing to question my own assumptions.

2. I consciously navigate my consumption of news and information about the world, recognising its emotional impact and knowing when to engage, pause or step away.

3. I can notice my automatic reactions to stressful or challenging situations and create enough space to choose how I respond, rather than simply acting on impulse.

4. I am curious about why certain events, injustices or developments in the world affect me more deeply than others, and what these reactions reveal about me.

5. I have a clear sense of the values and principles that matter most to me, even when they differ from the expectations of others.

6. I can recognise how my own beliefs, choices and behaviours contribute to the patterns I see in my relationships and the wider world.

7. Even when circumstances are beyond my control, I can recognise where I still have choices and influence over my life.

8. When something concerns me deeply, I can identify meaningful actions within my reach rather than remaining stuck in helplessness.

9. I am willing to take meaningful steps towards what matters to me, even when I feel afraid or cannot guarantee the outcome.

10. I regularly make space to imagine, dream about or explore different possibilities for my life and the future.

11. I can recognise possibilities for positive change without denying or minimising the serious challenges we face.

12. I recognise my unique gifts, strengths or passions and can see ways they might contribute to something meaningful beyond myself.

13. Even when I am aware of suffering and uncertainty in the world, I make space for joy, pleasure, beauty and experiences that make me feel fully alive.

14. I can recognise the early signs of stress, fear or overwhelm in my body and identify what I'm physically experiencing.

15. When fear, grief, anger or other strong emotions arise, I can allow myself to feel them and know how to return to steadiness when they become overwhelming.

16. I have ways of expressing and processing difficult emotions that genuinely help me, such as crying, movement, conversation, writing or quiet reflection.

17. I am willing to face the grief of living in a world where people, species, ecosystems and ways of life are dying, rather than turning away from that reality.

18. I can recognise and express anger in ways that help me establish boundaries, communicate my needs or take constructive action without harming myself or others.

19. I can reflect on difficult emotional experiences and gradually make sense of what they reveal about my needs, values or life.

20. I recognise when my body needs rest, nourishment or restoration, and I make space to respond to those needs.

21. I have relationships in which I feel safe enough to express my feelings, needs and truth, even when what I say may be uncomfortable for others.

22. I can remain curious about another person's perspective when we disagree, without needing to convince them, withdraw or abandon my own position.

23. I can recognise when old wounds, fears or habitual patterns are influencing how I interpret and respond to others.

24. When conflict arises, I can recognise my part in it, take responsibility where appropriate and work towards repair when it is safe and possible.

25. I have people I can rely on in difficult times, and I feel able to ask for support as well as offer it.

26. I am willing to address unresolved issues in my close relationships, rather than avoiding difficult conversations or allowing resentment to build.

27. I experience my relationship with sensuality, pleasure or erotic energy as a source of nourishment, connection or aliveness, in ways that feel authentic to me.

28. I can recognise and honour my sexual desires and boundaries, and communicate them openly when appropriate, without abandoning myself to please others.

29. I feel connected to a community beyond my immediate family or closest friends, where I experience belonging and shared responsibility.

30. I know people in my local area with whom I could exchange practical help, resources or care during difficult times.

31. I have conversations with people in my community about the challenges facing our world and how we might respond together.

32. I have experience collaborating with others towards a shared goal, and feel capable of contributing to collective action.

33. I can participate in difficult group conversations, navigate disagreement and help find fair ways forward without avoiding conflict or trying to dominate others.

34. I actively contribute to the wellbeing of people, communities or the natural world around me, through caring, sharing skills, helping others or tending to the places and living beings I encounter.

35. I experience a personal connection with the living Earth — with plants, animals, land, water or the elements — and feel that I belong to a larger web of life.

36. I regularly take practical steps, however small, to care for, protect or regenerate the natural world.

Practical Preparedness — please imagine a serious disruption lasting at least seven days, affecting essential services, supplies or communications. Consider your actual resources, relationships and circumstances today — not what you hope you might be able to organise in the future.

37. I have access to enough food, or reliable alternatives for obtaining it, to meet my basic needs during a disruption lasting at least seven days.

38. I have a realistic plan for accessing safe drinking water if my usual supply becomes unavailable.

39. I have considered and prepared ways to meet essential needs such as warmth, cooking and lighting during a power cut lasting at least seven days.

40. I have ways to communicate, access important information and coordinate with people I depend on if the internet or mobile networks are disrupted.

41. I have considered how I would meet essential health, medication or care needs for myself and those who depend on me during a disruption.

42. I have some financial flexibility, accessible resources or practical support that could help me manage an unexpected loss of income or essential services.

43. I have practical skills, or access to people who have them, that would help me adapt when everyday systems or services are unavailable.

44. I have made and discussed a basic plan for how I and the people who depend on me would respond to an unexpected emergency or prolonged disruption.

45. My life has meaning beyond what I achieve, produce, earn or accomplish.

46. I consciously contemplate my own mortality and am willing to face the fears, grief and uncertainty that arise when I reflect on death and the possibility of collective death.

47. I can recognise when something is beyond my control and find ways to let go, rather than exhausting myself trying to force a particular outcome.

48. I can experience a sense of being held by life, even when circumstances are painful, uncertain or beyond my control.

49. I experience my life as part of something larger than myself — whether through spirituality, humanity, the living Earth, future generations or a deeper sense of purpose.

50. Even when I cannot know whether my efforts will succeed, I can find meaning in how I choose to live, love and contribute to the world.

Total Score: / 250

Your Resilience Capacity is: %

Your Seven Capacities of Resilience

Self-Awareness & Discernment: %

Agency & Imagination: %

Nervous System & Emotional Resilience: %

Relational & Erotic Resilience: %

Community & Ecological Resilience: %

Practical Preparedness: %

Existential & Meaning Resilience: %