You don’t have to look far to find that chaos is running rampant in our society and world. If you let it get to you, it will hinder your success and ruin your outlook on life. Today, I talk about one powerful key making sure you can stay calm in the midst of chaos.
ON THIS EPISODE:
“I’m so busy I don’t know whether I found a rope or lost my horse.” – Mark Schaefer
If you watch the news or stream social media, you can easily be overwhelmed by all of the chaos that floats through our society. If you flip through the talk shows or read the news feed, Politics and conspiracies, opinions and non-factual information threaten to wreak havoc and steal the joy in which God wants you to live.
Happiness is based on short, external bursts of happy feelings. When you get that job promotion- it makes you happy. When you get an A on a test. The sugar rush of a chocolate frosted donut. It makes you happy. But happiness is fleeting. What you want is Joy.
If you find joy, you find happiness. If you find happiness, you may or may not find joy. And the problem with society is that we spend more time looking for happiness, rather than that foundation, confident, fulfilling experience of joy. And it doesn’t take long to have happiness sucked right out of us because the chaos of life happens.
And you see the negativity around you – there’s plenty of it.
The key to turning Chaos to Calm is simply this. You chose to do it.
I’m going to give you three choices but the overall key is to understand that you have a choice. Feeling chaotic is still just a feeling. And if you’ve been listening to the podcast, I’ve said this many time because it’s true. You have the power to chose what meaning you put on your emotions. You have the power to chose how to respond to those feelings. Yes, feelings are strong and consistent but once you make up your mind what those feeling mean, it makes all the difference in the world.
So here are three choices you can make to turn Chaos into Calm
- Choose your attitude – In our brains, we all can hear a parent or teacher right now. ‘Attitude’ a settled way of thinking or feeling. When I feel like all of the chaos in my world and the global world is just too much, a simple choice of saying, “It’s going to be okay” is settling your way of thinking or feeling.
- Choose your focus – Bondurant speedway. “Target fixation”. Often, when the chaotic feelings happen, you need to intentionally hit pause and focus on the most important thing going on. If your finances are in chaos, make a budget. Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace University. If you have 18 action items that should be accomplished in the day, slow down, organize them using my Productivity 101 cheat sheet. Ask, at the end of the day, which one has the greatest consequence if I don’t get it done. Regarding world events, it’s important to know what’s happening in France right now for example. But don’t focus on it. Don’t obsess about it. Focus on that which you can control.
- Choose your response – I mentioned this earlier and it is intentionally third on the list. Once you settle your mind and slow down to focus on that which matters, then you can choose how you are going to respond. If you see a 10% drop in revenue from the previous quarter, don’t jump off the ledge, find out why and then chose to respond or not. Same with world events. If there is something you could do in local governments or in your community, get involved if it’s a wise thing for you right now.
RESOURCES:
- Audible.com – 180K audio book, right at your fingers
- Productivity 101
Todd Stocker 