# Story 3: A 4-part framework for finding meaning in a chaotic world

- **Episode:** [174](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/174.md) (2025-02-25)
- **Type:** news-roundup
- **Tags:** meaning, framework, chaos
- **Time:** 14:24–20:38 (start 864s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/174?t=864](https://truthliesandwork.com/174?t=864)

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[14:24] Leanne Elliott: Well, I mean, I have been a bit ranty because there's a lot going on. And the truth is, I have been getting messages from So many of you lately saying that everything is just getting a bit overwhelming, and I get it. There's a lot, there's a lot to get overwhelmed by. The political drama, the wars, leaders who seem out of control, out of touch, these strict return-to-office mandates, DI rollbacks. It is a lot to handle. Um, so I recently came across a guide by Stephen Hain on Psyche that I thought I'd share with you. It talks about making your life feel more meaningful when we're in kind of this state of chaos and lack of control. So to bring some of our life back into balance amidst this chaos, um, he suggests that we do a little mini quiz, a little mini audit, see how connected we feel in 4 key areas of our life. Those areas are relationships, community, work, and spirituality. So we'll just quickly rate each of these areas in our heads as we go through on a scale of 1 to 3, 1 being not very connected at all right now and 3 being very connected
[15:28] Al Elliott: Okay
[15:29] Leanne Elliott: So first up, Al, we have close relationships. That's how's your connection with family, with friends? Do you feel like you've got a solid support system? And if you do feel a bit low here, it might be time to reach out, call a friend, schedule a catch-up, or even plan a simple coffee date. Next, let's talk about community. This is all about feeling like you belong somewhere, a local group, a sports team, even an online community. Ask yourself, do you feel part of something bigger? And if not, maybe consider joining a group or volunteering. Sometimes even really small steps can boost that sense of belonging. And just as a little hint, listening to us right now means that you are part of the Truth, Lies and Work community. You are not alone in wanting to create awesome workplaces. And speaking of that, the third area to consider is work. So beyond just showing up or task masking, does your job give you a sense of purpose? Do you really feel like what you do matters? If work feels more like a grind than a calling, then there are lots of different things you can do if you can't get a new job right now. Maybe there's a project that you could dive into, or a side hustle, or even some voluntary work that sparks your passion. And finally, consider spirituality. And I don't mean just religion, although that is one aspect of it, but any practice that helps you feel connected to something bigger than yourself, to be feeling mindful of your environment, whether it's a few minutes of meditation, a walk in the park, maybe take your little hound with you, or some quiet time. Just some quiet time. Was the last time just sat and just didn't do anything, just be quiet. Ask yourself if you're taking time to ground yourself. Um, actually, there's a quite interesting video about forest bathing on our YouTube channel. I'd recommend you check that out if you're looking for some, some ideas. Real thing, don't have to do it naked, that is optional. Um, so once you've got your rankings, uh, just to remind you, relationships, community, work, and spirituality. As I said, if one of these does feel a little bit out of sync, it's some sign that you might need to give it some attention. And why does this matter? Well, when everything around us is really stressful, it is easy to feel disconnected. It's, it's psychology, it's physiology— physi— physi— physiology. Why can't I say that word? Physiology
[17:35] Al Elliott: You did, I think
[17:36] Leanne Elliott: Did I just say it? Repeated it a number of times. Um, but yeah, our threat response kicks in. We tend to withdraw and isolate ourselves. It's very natural, very normal response, but there is a lot of psychology that shows us that when we feel connected, the opposite of that, we find more meaning in our lives and we're actually much better equipped to handle life's challenges. And that's the kind of catch-22 we're in physically, emotionally, psychologically. We want to withdraw. Actually, the best thing we can do is connect with others. So yeah, here's a thought for you. Which of these 4 areas do you feel you could use a boost in right now? And what's the one small step you could take today to make that connection Stronger
[18:14] Al Elliott: It's lovely. I think the, um, uh, this is along the lines of, I know we mention it every week, we need to be on commission, uh, Dr. Audrey Tang's vitals, um, a little bit along the lines of that. Um, back in the day, um, it was, I think we used to call it the life wheel or something where you'd, you'd have like 8 spokes and you'd measure it and it would show you like, it looked like a spider web kind of thing, uh, show you where you're out of sync. Um, yeah, I think we all need a little bit of time and this community thing is That's something I think is going to be massive in 2025, or it's— the problem is going to be massive in 2025, is that you're just going to— people are lacking friendship, lacking community. They're just lacking it. And they really, really, really want it because we just live online so much that often— I did see something funny on Twitter the other day. Someone took a screenshot of a post. I might have been on LinkedIn actually. And this guy, he was a tech guy from the States, and he said, What? I've got this idea, so why don't we just like do a podcast where we get a load of people together, but we just don't record, we don't have mics, we just sit there and have a cup of coffee and like have a chat. And someone pointed out, well, mate, that's just hanging out. That's what we used to do. So, you know, we've gone that full thing where everything has to be a podcast or has to be like a thing. People are just craving connection and craving friends. Difficult for men to make friends. I've got no, I've got no basis, no scientific basis from that, but I'm sure there'll be stuff online
[19:34] Veerle Numan: Yeah
[19:35] Al Elliott: Friends, particularly sort of my age downwards. I think everyone's just struggling at the moment. So this is really, really good advice
[19:40] Leanne Elliott: And as I said, don't forget you can find those communities online as well if you're struggling to find them in person. Sometimes online is a good place to start. And also in terms of community and in terms of work, volunteering is really underrated, not talked about enough. Like, it's one of the few things in terms of wellbeing, individual things you can do In terms of wellbeing that show consistency, consistently a correlation with improved mental health, wellbeing, meaning, purpose, all that type of thing. And it's actually really good for your career development as well. I joined the Samaritans, as regular listeners will know, very, um, quite early on in my career to get some experience, a point in my career where I wasn't particularly fulfilled or happy and worked for a bit of a dick as well, to be honest. But you know what, when I was able to move on, I had that couple of years experience under my belt. I went to a job interview and the only thing the interviewer wanted to talk to me about was marathons. Didn't give a monkey's about the, you know, the experience I gained in HR and coaching and all that stuff. So, it's always worth looking at