Keeping Calm in Chaos

Hi there,

What’s the Story?

I hope you’re staying steady in this beautifully chaotic world of ours. I just released a new clip on YouTube that I hope you’ll enjoy. This week, I get into keeping calm in chaos, which is as relevant today as it has ever been.

If life’s been testing you lately, this is your roadmap to staying calm, centered, and in control, no matter what’s going on around you.

Now let’s dive into the big ideas.

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Keeping Calm in Chaos – How to Take Control When the World Feels Out of Control

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes 52 seconds

Chaos is inevitable. Calm is intentional.

We live in a world that moves fast. News cycles are relentless. Social media amplifies every emotion. And our to-do lists multiply like rabbits. In the middle of it all, we have a choice: be consumed by the chaos or learn to create calm within it. This week, I want to keep things as simple as possible and walk you through several steps on how to do this. Here’s how:

1. Understand the Four Types of Chaos

There isn’t just one kind of chaos. We face it on multiple levels:

Overwhelm – too much to do, not enough time or energy.
Emotional Stress – when your nervous system’s hijacked and your feelings run the show.
Personal Drama – the chaos we create in our heads when things are too calm externally.
World Chaos – global uncertainty, pandemics, war, climate, economic stress—all the things.

Recognizing what kind of chaos you’re dealing with is the first step in managing it.

2. Deconstruct Your Emotions: Valence, Arousal, and Direction

Emotions aren’t just “good” or “bad”—they have layers:

Valence – Is the feeling pleasant or unpleasant?
Arousal – Is it high energy (anxiety, anger, excitement) or low energy (sadness, calm, apathy)?
Direction – Are you focused internally (rumination) or externally (action, attention)?

By identifying these ingredients, you get power back. You can ask:

“Do I need to calm this emotion down?”
“Do I need to get out of my head and into action?”
“Can I change the arousal level through breathing, movement, or reframing?”

This is where neuroscience meets self-regulation.

3. Polarity Thinking: Why You Need Both Calm and Chaos

The biggest myth? You should strive for constant calm. That’s not how we’re wired.

Too much certainty? You’ll crave variety.

Too much calm? You’ll seek stimulation.

Too much order? You’ll rebel.

Humans need polarity, a balance between structure and spontaneity, peace and progress. The trick isn’t eliminating chaos. It’s designing your life so you choose your chaos and recover from it fast.

4. Declutter the Mental Noise

Here’s how to get back in control:

Worry List: Write down what’s bothering you. Just naming it can reduce its power. Get it onto paper or your screen.
Brain Dump: Everything in your head goes on paper or your screen: tasks, thoughts, random ideas.
Organize & Prioritize: Sort your brain dump by urgency, importance, or outcomes.
Action Plan: Pick the 1–3 things that move the needle and build a plan around them.
Backup Plan: Create a fallback so even the worst-case scenario doesn’t paralyze you.

This turns chaos into a checklist, and checklists are grounding.

5. Change Your State, Change Your Story

You don’t just have to think your way out of stress. You can move your way out.

Go External: Get out of your head. Do something physical. Break the loop.
Shift the Arousal: Breathe slowly to calm anxiety. Move more to shake depression.
Change the Meaning: Reframe the situation. What else could it mean?
Use Anchoring: Associate calm or laughter with your trigger. Change the emotional pattern.

The fastest route to change is through your body.

6. Question the Chaos in Your Head

Thoughts that stress you out usually follow a pattern. The big four:

Catastrophizing – always imagining the worst.
Exaggerating – blowing things way out of proportion.
Personalizing – making everything about you.
Ruminating – going over the same problem on loop.

Here are the antidotes:

“What are the facts?”
“What else could be true?”
“Is this the worst-case scenario, or just a thought?”
“What did I learn? What do I know? What will I do?”

These questions are your exit ramp from the stress spiral.

7. The Four Seasons of Life (Jim Rohn Style)

As the legend Jim Rohn described, life moves in cycles. Sometimes you’re in summer and everything flows. Sometimes it’s winter, and everything feels hard. But winter is always followed by spring.

If you’re struggling right now, ask yourself:

“What can I learn from this season? How can I prepare for the next?”

This mindset builds resilience, hope, and momentum.

8. Create Calm on Command: Breathing and Grounding

Simple tools. Big results.

Belly Breathing – In through the nose, fill your belly. Out through the mouth, slowly.
Sigh Breathing – Breathe in, then sigh it out with your whole body. Let it drop.
Grounding – Feel your feet on the floor. Anchor to the present. Go outside. Touch a tree.
Find Your Cave – Your go-to place (real or imagined) that helps you recharge. No screens. Just you.

You can’t control the world. But you can control your breath, your body, and your presence.

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