Strategies To Thrive Despite The Chaos
Maintaining a STRONG FRAME [strategy 1 of 5]
The last eighteen months have shown us that anything is possible.
What comes next? It’s hard to say, but I’m of the opinion it’s going to be challenging for all of us.
I’m not alone in this concern. I see the suffering in friends, loved ones, and interacting with viewers of the Doug Casey’s Take podcast. The suffering manifests as anger, fear, depression, and projection.
For some this is a “blackpill” moment. Understandably confused and afraid, it’s easy to lose hope. But, losing hope would be a terrible mistake.
It’s a War for Your Mind, Really
The battle we face today is a battle for your mind.
As a student of persuasion, it seems to me that the battle is intentional. Why? Because psychological warfare done right is subtle enough to go by unnoticed. It’s tools are distraction, division, confusion and isolation. Do any of those sound familiar?
Many of you have seen the excellent video produced by the Academy of ideas which walked through the causes of Mass Psychosis. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and check it out.
In a real crisis there’s a good chance that we’d come together. But, from where I sit, that’s not the goal. The goal is compliance.
Psychological Warfare
If an enemy attacked us with a missile strike or a land invasion. We’d know:
That we were being attacked
Who the enemy was
How to defend ourselves
But, when the battleground is your mind, you might not even realize you’re being attacked and if you do, you’re likely to identify the wrong enemy and formulate the wrong approach for defending yourself.
The world of 2019 seems a distant memory now. And what is emerging looks more like a dystopian novel than life in “the before times” as Doug Casey calls it.
How to Thrive Despite All Else
I’ve formulated a 5 part strategy for Thriving in this period of chaos. Over the course of the coming days, I’ll discuss each part individually.
The first part is foundational. Without it, nothing else will matter. And yet, in my experience it’s poorly understood and, thus, easy to underestimate.
MAINTAINING A STRONG MENTAL FRAME
Your Frame is the way you see yourself in relation to the world around you. It contains your beliefs, your identity, and your attitude (among other things). The stronger that frame is, the less likely you’ll be subsumed by the propaganda whether that be of the blackpill or of the hopium variety.
A Strong Frame offers other advantages too. Frankly, most people have weak frames. In “the before times” as Doug refers to them, a strong Frame made it easier to find success in all areas of life. Great artists, entrepreneurs, and leaders of all stripes have STRONG FRAMES.
Not long ago I discussed Frame with my friend and business partner, Gary Young. We talked about it in terms of a Tool of Persuasion and it is. More importantly for today, a Strong Frame can immunizes you from manipulation.
You can listen to the conversation on YouTube
Or you can listen to it on Spotify here:
In the coming days, I’ll discuss the other strategies. But, here’s the complete list:
5 Strategies to Thrive Despite All Else
Strong Mental Frame
Rational, personal risk assessment
Decentralization
De-leverage
Build Institutions
It makes us look back since the inception of social media. Aka Facebook, Instagram etc.. and we can now see, that these platforms were never about allowing others to engage and connect with family and friend's across the globe. It was always "psychological" and about manipulating people to give over their information. It has also brought with it the demise of real world interactions, and heightened ego. Most spend their time engaging in virtual world dopamine hits, and know nothing about the world around them. Apathy is on the rise! We are in a color revolution and we're most certainly in the process of demoralization as society. We have been for a long time. As long we all spend out time arguing about perceived differences ( all by design and fueled by the media of course ) ie black, white, Democrat, Republican, trans, non trans, etc etc.. we will never be able to unite, and see that the enemy is not each other. Turning a blind eye to what is happening, won't solve anything either ( aka the people with their heads in the sand.. sitting on the couch ( including many men) hoping dopamine hits and virtual clicks will make it " all go away " .. It's evident there is no one, particularly in the political spectrum, that is coming to " save us all " . if we don't stand for something, we'll most fall for anything! Great read, Matt! :)
Excellent "food for thought," Matt. It's so refreshing to be reading content that:
A) Confirms that I'm not crazy (i.e. I'm not the only one who thinks we are in the midst of a very sinister plot).
B) Talks about possible solutions to our situation.
I especially like that your approach is something I can PERSONALLY do. It's about what I can control. I don't have to persuade anyone else, which of course seems nearly impossible to do these days.
Thanks again for your positive message!