2025 July 22 Chaos is not strategy

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Chaos Is Not a Strategy

This is Jim Cranston from 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com, the podcast and website about reimagining your life. Thanks for joining me today to talk about chaos—and why chaos is not a strategy.

Tonight we're talking about how to live—and even thrive—in a chaotic world. Chaos enters into our lives many times unexpectedly and in ways we just wouldn't have imagined. Although I'll cover a couple of specific situations, I want to remind everybody that chaos and unexpected events happen all the time. Being resilient to such things is a good skill to have.

As you look around in the world today, you see a lot of very public displays of chaos splashed across the news and social media. Interestingly, some of the main characters involved are even claiming that chaos is actually a strategy.

Let's be clear about one thing right out of the gate: chaos is never really a strategy. It's an excuse. You may be in a chaotic situation where you have to act creatively. You may create chaos to achieve a goal. But chaos unto itself is never really a strategy.

Being surrounded by chaos is often very distracting. So how can we manage ourselves and our lives, and still be productive or peaceful, or even focused, when it seems like everything around us is going in a million different directions all at the same time?

The answer is the same as for many other situations. We're still in control of how we interpret the situation—even chaotic ones. We have to remain focused on goals that are relevant to us. This is particularly important because I'm in a different social and political situation than usual, a different recording environment—everything is different. I just did a first take that crashed halfway through. Nothing I would expect to work is working the way it normally would.

The moral of the story is: chaos can happen at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. All you have to remember is that although things may seem chaotic at a particular moment, the reality is that you can change your reality. That change in perspective gives you space and time. It shifts your mindset, creates some distance from the everyday drama, and gives you the opportunity to organize your thoughts—and to be creative.

One of the best things about organizing your thoughts is that you can step back and review them to see if they're still consistent with your goals. Often, when you do that, you'll find that many of the things you thought were very important to you were actually just distractions—or weren't really all that important overall.

That isn't to say those things are bad or negative—but they're taking up space in your mind and your life that might be better used for more productive or enjoyable things.

One of the things we may lose sight of when we talk about living your life aligned with your vision is that this isn't all just about productivity. Yes, for many of us, productivity is an important piece of it. But it's also important to remember that you have to leave space in your life for things that allow you to grow.

Growth can come in many different forms. While some of that growth may be about productivity, it can also be about gaining things like world perspective, interpersonal skills, or just plain enjoyment of the world around us.

Behind me there's a lovely view that goes out for miles and miles, ending in a beautiful set of mountains. If I were sitting inside being totally productive, doing this perfectly—a good recording, no mistakes, etc—you and I would miss all the beauty that surrounds us.

So when everything around you—and even inside you—feels like complete and utter chaos, remember: you already have everything you need within yourself to bring that back under control.

I'm not suggesting that you ignore the source or the effects of the chaos. Realize, though, that chaos itself is just a symptom of how events are currently transpiring. We have the ability to look through the chaos—oftentimes to see the meaning behind the actions.

Once we see the meaning, we can direct our efforts to either better achieve an outcome more aligned with our own goals and life vision, or we can do something else entirely—something that takes the emphasis off the chaos and brings it back to things we do have some control over.

A big bonus—kind of a multiplying factor—is that once we realize we have some degree of control over our circumstances, that alone reduces some of the apparent chaos in our lives. So when the news or social media is telling you that every single thing in your life is changing and you have absolutely no control over any of it, realize that you really do have a lot of control. Because we always have control over how we react to things—how we react to situations—and that's the beginning of taking control back in our lives. It's how we start living calmly, productively, and peacefully, even under chaotic circumstances.

Your homework tonight is pretty easy: think about some totally out-of-control things you've heard, seen, or experienced today. Instead of just reacting to them, try to understand them. Why might someone be causing them? Then evaluate them in terms of your own goals and life vision. How important are they, really, to you?

Extra points if you also try to find some opportunities to use that apparent chaos to bring more peace—not only to your life, but to those around you.

Remember, there are a lot of wars and things going on in the world—political unrest, social unrest, natural disasters happening all the time. If you can and you're able, please check out the links we have at UKR7.com—those are links to help the people of Ukraine. Since the war against Ukraine started, those links have helped people in a lot of different ways. You have a choice—whether it's helping them with their lives, helping them rebuild their homes, or whatever's most important to you.

Also, there's World Central Kitchen—WCK.org. They operate wherever disasters happen. They do a lot of great things. There are lots of other organizations—international, national, and local—who can always use your help.

Plus, even if you're not in a position or mindset where you want to volunteer or get directly involved, remember: one of the best ways to care for yourself is to care for others. One of the best ways to care for others is to do little things to make their day a little bit better. Just something as simple as saying, Hey, good morning. How are you doing? can completely change someone's day for the better.

If you can and you're able, please check out UKR7.com and WCK.org. Volunteer locally. Look up local organizations. Or just do a little tiny thing to make somebody's day better. Sometimes that has huge benefits—not only for them, but for yourself.

If you found something interesting or useful, please pass it along. Please subscribe, hit that like button. If not, please drop me a comment as to what you'd like to hear. 

Have a great week. Remember to live the life that you dream of, because that's the path to true contentment. Love and encouragement to everyone. See you next week on 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com.