How to apply wisdom in a mad world

To develop a daily practice of wisdom, apply the six dimensions of system 3 thinking through the lens of the WISE Framework:

• Widen your search for information beyond your own biases, integrating available data points as completely as you can.

• Sense what is emerging and what you wish for as the best and most ethical outcome among competing interests.

• Make a series of smaller decisions and experiment with what will work best for the common good in the short term and the long term.

• Take a stand on important issues. If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything, as the saying goes.

• Deliberately comment on current affairs, and articulate your opinions and views, drawing from your knowledge and experience.

• Practise cultivating emotional balance through articulating what you’re feeling without those same feelings overwhelming you. Learn to recognise what and who presses your emotional hot buttons and take a third-person perspective on what appears to be unfolding, without taking it personally.

• Take a curious interest in other cultures, ideals, and beliefs as a way of enriching your perspective. Indigenous cultures have much to teach us in terms of the basic conditions for living in harmony with the planet, and with ourselves.

• Practise the skills of the compassionate mind: mindful preparation, mind training through imagery, forgiveness, and compassionate behaviour.