Last year, I saw an increase in nihilism. Nihilism is defined in the dictionary as: “the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.” In its most extreme it can be seen as arguing for the destruction of all systems as everything is meaningless. Now, there are big problems in the world that may trigger this type of thinking. But I will not sit here and write about the ills and horrors in the world because I trust you already see it and hear it with the stream of notifications to our smartphones buzzing all hours of the day with stories of the great ill facing the world. It can be overwhelming and I have seen it lead to a rise in online discourse on the meaninglessness of our existences (aka nihilism). I can understand this logic. However, I think the witnessing great ills, unfairness and breakdown of systems is actually leading to a lack of trust. And without trust, all things fall apart and seem meaningless. Let me explain, for society to work we have to all trust the rules, values, norms etc. However, more and more we are witnessing the degradation of these, and the social contracts associated with them. This means people don’t trust the world around them, they don’t trust things will work out and the system will do what they are meant to. This lack of trust seems also to be generational as things have changed drastically in the world around us. If you looked at the immediate past and mapped the patterns or rules to success and now followed them, success would not be guaranteed in the same way. For example, we are seeing a younger generation, who cannot trust financial truth of old such as: “Work hard, Go to University, You will get a well-paid job where you will earn a good living and be able to buy a home, pay off a mortgage and Enjoy your pension.” With inflation, aging population, caring for aging family more and more people are realising these old models may not secure their futures. So why save or invest for a future in this changing paradigm. This extend ever further than the economy, but also to a mistrust of laws and regulations which many don’t trust them to be fair either. This epidemic of lack of trust in nothing to ignore. When a person cannot trust anything, they cannot make plans as they are no fixed knowns or truths they can rely on as they envision a future. They cannot plan either and if they could plan, they would not trust that the plan would work so they would find themselves unmotivated to execute the plan. In short, there is too much chaos, and this causes the human nervous system to be deregulated as we experience this chaos/uncertainty as a lack of safety. Afterall, our brains want to balance energy input versus energy output. Therefore, when we have no trust, there is no predictability for our brains and all actions seem worthless if the cost, returns are unknown. If a brain cannot work out a path to a better future, the individual in society is lost and the collective society suffers as a result. However, the antidote to this is more trust. But instead of trust in others and systems, to build trust in one-self, in one’s ability to be resilient in face of things falling apart and in one’s ability to navigate the challenges of life. That is a trust you that is hard won, and you build in yourself through discipline to the rules, values and system you create yourself.