We are excited to share with you the next interview in our “Beyond the Page” series featuring Ryan Grist.
What if the key to addressing our climate crisis lies not just in technology and policy, but in our inner development? In this thought-provoking conversation, coach and writer Ryan Grist reveals a powerful framework that connects personal growth to planetary healing.
Drawing from his article “Coaching to Support Outer Change,” Grist explores how the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals have inspired a complementary framework called the Inner Development Goals. These inner goals—organized into five pillars: stable self, adaptive mind, connected heart, inclusive collaborator, and courageous changemaker—provide a roadmap for the internal skills we need to face our greatest environmental challenges.
“Where things often break down is in the human dimensions,” Grist explains. “It’s in relationships, stress, mindset, and overwhelm.” While technological solutions receive substantial funding and attention, the “soft skills” that enable effective collaboration, perspective-taking, and compassionate action have been historically undervalued. Yet these skills may be exactly what we need to navigate the complexity of climate change.
The conversation takes a particularly meaningful turn when Grist demonstrates how compassion functions as a trainable skill. Through practices like Tonglen (breathing in suffering, breathing out healing) and Metta meditation, he shows how we can expand our capacity for connection—even with those we find difficult. “Hurt people hurt people,” he reminds us, suggesting that sending compassion instead of more hurt transforms not just relationships but our approach to shared problems.
As we face political uncertainty and growing eco-anxiety, Grist offers “muscular hope” as an antidote—not wishful thinking, but a practiced conviction that positive change remains possible. The conversation concludes with a compelling invitation to identify which inner development dimension needs attention in your life, and to explore how strengthening these skills might ripple outward, creating change from the inside out.
In this episode, I talk with Ryan about his article published in our March 2025 issue.
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