Keep a level head in a crazy world.
When was the last time that you felt overwhelmed by a sense of mass chaos, confusion, and hysterics? That the world was just too damn loud. That everything was overwhelming you?
Maybe you haven’t felt it to quite that extent. Maybe you have. Maybe you’ve felt even worse than that. But the point is: we all have some experience with the overwhelming volume this world puts out.
The raging new fad on TikTok that we feel like we’re not capitalizing on.
The next Twitter witch-hunt.
Our boss hammering down on quarterly performance with venomous “pep talks.”
The critics telling you that your writing sucks and you’re behind your peers.
Some of this is associated with FOMO. We feel like we miss out on a lot of things.
The perfect dip to buy and best peak to sell.
That party we were invited to but already made plans ahead of time with someone else.
That everyone else is living and thriving in their life and you’re stuck with the 9–5 job.
FOMO is a joke. And its nasty brother that I like to call Hysteria is just as much of a laughing matter.
They both want to steal our time away, for different reasons. FOMO wants us to engage in regret, even if what we’re doing is necessary for us.
Hysteria, unlike FOMO, wants us to get anxious. It wants us on edge about a myriad of things that we quite frankly, have zero control over as individuals.
The potential of a World War 3.
The rise in opioid addictions.
Essential goods are getting more expensive.
But in the end, it’s the same effect. It disrupts our peace.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t develop a strategy over some of these things (like budgeting to combat gas and food prices), but we need to take care of ourselves first and wrestle in these two ugly brothers, put them under control. And it’s an ongoing process, never once-and-done.
Recognize your personal need for peace.
When we think of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we often stop at Self-Actualization and assume it means a bunch of things:
A fulfilling career.
A higher calling.
Doing your duty for your family or community.
These things are well and all, but what about some peace and quiet for once?
It’s not a mystery that people need peace. Over a decade ago, the NIH surveyed people that had meditated in the past 12 months. Over 90% of them said that they did it for stress and anxiety relief.
We don’t need peace all the time, but we need it to recalibrate and adjust their goals and priorities. We can get easily get lost in the clouds or dredges if we don’t bring ourselves back to earth.
It’s why countless people go to churches on Sundays, or spend their mornings sitting on the porch and drinking coffee. Other people engage in martial arts, which helps them unify their body and mind again.
Everyone has their anathema, their antidote to the maddening world around them. Some are healthy outlets, some aren’t. I think we all need a good method to deal with the madness that constantly buzzes around us.
See Hysteria for what it truly is.
It’s a ravenous monster that eats our time.
Mark Twain wisely said “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
Hysteria is like a virus. It replicates and spreads to new hosts rapidly. People become consumed in hysterics in things that they have little control.
It’s not that we shouldn’t seek justice for the large body of society, or engage in constructive, worthwhile attempts at activism and change.
But we know the difference between real action and the empty, screaming-at-the-void that people do on social media.
The incessant virtue signaling.
The constant arguments in comment sections and reply threads.
The contrarian content that exists solely to try and piss people off on some political spectrum.
Don’t sell your tranquility for this. It’s not worth your time. You deserve better.
Set physical boundaries for yourself.
Not being around computers or phones from time to time is a great way to keep peace.
It’s harder to do as humanity goes on, because work and passions are often tied up into the digital world and the age of rapid information.
For one, I love to write. I do 90% of my writing on the computer. (The other 10% falls into journaling and preparing an outline for my articles). That means that when I’m working, 90% of the time, I’m vulnerable to attacks from that mad dog Hysteria.
So if I really need to get something done and I’m failing to keep my focus, I have to start putting up personal boundaries.
Separate workstations. Throwing my phone across the room. Taking my notebook outside and drafting ideas in nature. Going for a walk and mulling over everything.
It’s not an easy game to play, there’s not always a guaranteed formula that will keep us out of earshot of the noise. But in being flexible, making adjustments as needed, we can see ourselves become divorced from the crazy world.
Most importantly: learn to say NO!
Successful author and former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink repeatedly says in his book, Extreme Ownership that maintaining calm during crisis is crucial.
This is especially important if we want to lead others, or use our influence for some goal. No one wants to follow a person that looks like they’re breaking down at the first sign of bad news.
It’s one of the reasons why there are so few true leaders in our time.
They don’t know how to say no to the madness and keep their cool.
But even if we’re not trying to lead others or make a splash in some way, learning to say no is vital to making our lives our own.
Ryan Holiday breaks it down pretty well. Saying no to the inessential is essential. Marcus Aurelius cracked the code over 1800 years ago.
“Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?’”
Yes, people are going to be pissed off if we say no to them and what they think is most important for us.
Read that back. Why should we care if they’re angry? It’s our life. Don’t let them have control over it. Don’t let them dictate every moment.
Sometimes that means not going to the party, or despite our boss’s intentions, only staying at the office for our 8 hours. Going above and beyond the call of duty is not always a good thing. “Quiet quitting” is just being responsible with our individual time.
Being mad about people owning their own time is megalomania. Not leadership. So to hell with what those people think.
Own your own peace.
