Reorient to what matters
We all want our lives to matter—so why do so many students feel disconnected, distracted, and depressed? In a world of noise and traps, schools and families can equip them with real skills to navigate and thrive.
We partner with universities, families, and young adults to teach the skills that build meaningful lives—connection, purpose, and the foundations that make change last.
Why this work matters now
Today, life is engineered to capture attention and increase efficiency—not to cultivate fulfillment. Infinite feeds and packed calendars crowd out strong relationships, exploration of passions, and the work of deciding what gives life meaning. Despite advances that should improve well-being, the outlook for many young people is trending the wrong way.
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In 2023, ages 18–25 had the highest rates of major depressive episode (17.5%) and any mental illness (33.8%) among adults. On campus, counseling centers report sustained high demand, with 173,536 students and 1.21M+ appointments across 213 centers in 2023–24; prior counseling is at its highest level since tracking began.
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Teens who spend >3 hours/day on social media face double the risk of depression/anxiety symptoms; about half of U.S. teens say they’re online “almost constantly.”
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For ages 15–24, time spent with friends fell ~70% over two decades; Americans averaged ~20 minutes/day with friends in 2020 (down from 60 minutes). Social disconnection raises premature-death risk roughly on par with smoking 15 cigarettes/day.
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Globally, employee engagement fell to ~21% in 2024; in the U.S., engagement dropped to 31%, a 10-year low. “Workism” (basing identity on career alone) compounds fragility.
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U.S. 12th-grade reading and math hit multi-decade lows on NAEP in 2024; across the OECD, PISA 2022 posted unprecedented drops (≈−15 pts math, ≈−10 pts reading vs. 2018)
The crisis isn’t an absence of meaning—it’s the wrong kind. Young people are absorbing cultural scripts (status, comparison, consumption) that pull us away from how humans actually thrive.
Reorientation replaces those scripts with evidence-based skills in connection and purpose, on a healthy foundation, so meaning lasts.
What we teach
Our programs help individuals avoid pitfalls, increase awareness, and align daily actions with what truly matters.
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Goal: build and keep strong in-person ties and join healthy communities.
Barriers we remove: isolation, social-skill drought, toxic group norms.
Skills we build: anchor friendships, weekly check-ins, class/org participation, mentoring touchpoints, hosting/joining clubs and networks. -
Goal: aim effort at work that helps you and others. (Purpose grows from connection.)
Barriers we remove: miswanting, résumé-chasing, choice overload.
Skills we build: strengths → useful projects, service/volunteer pathways, 1–2 meaningful commitments you’ll keep, small experiments that compound. -
Goal: understand your life in a way that guides action and builds resilience.
Barriers we remove: comparison loops, toxic positivity, fragmented stories.
Skills we build: weekly reflection, values → behaviors alignment, narrative reframes after setbacks, gratitude/savoring.
Our Process
Our process turns insights into small, repeatable habits, keeping you focused on the things that matter most.
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Look under the hood: motives, feelings, impulses, and the forces around you (algorithms, peers, norms) shaping your days. Notice patterns, not to judge—but to learn.
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Compare your habits to your values. Keep what fits, drop inherited scripts, and design simple guardrails that support the life you want.
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Turn alignment into tiny weekly experiments. Do, measure, adjust. Then loop the cycle—Awareness → Alignment → Action—because life changes, and your orientation should, too.
