There’s a lot going on in our world right now. Much of it is heavy. Some of it is horrific. It’s hard to open a news app or scroll through social media without absorbing tragic stories of war, destruction, and loss. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s destabilising.
And yet, here I am. Waking up in a warm bed every morning. Walking safely through my pretty neighbourhood. Watching the sunrise 🌅 over the sea, wrapped in colour and calm. Sharing a friendly chat with neighbours. That contrast isn’t lost on me, not for a second.
A phrase has been rolling around in my head lately:
“There, but by the grace of God, go I.”
Not as a cliché but as a sober reminder. I didn’t earn peace. I didn’t engineer the stability of my surroundings. I just happen to live here, now, under this sky, at this time. And I’m deeply aware of what a privilege that is.
Gratitude, I’ve found, is more than a feeling. It’s a stabilising force. It allows me to hold the world’s chaos in one hand and progress with purpose in the other. It helps me find what I now call chaostability – that inner centre you can build and return to, even as everything around you is shifting.
Practicing Presence
Every morning (well, nearlyevery morning, regardless of the season), I get up before most of the town has even stirred, step into my trainers 👟, and head down to the beach. I reach the seafront in good time to watch the sunrise.
It’s my sacred time. Five miles, 10,000 or so steps, one sea breeze-powered reset. Somewhere along the way, I stop for a while. Breathe it in. Meditate and give thanks 🙏. Then, another power walk back home with a clearer head and calmer heart.
This has become my daily anchor. Not because I’m especially virtuous or disciplined (I’m not; I happen to love sunrises). But because it keeps me sane. It’s the start of what I call chaostability: the ability to hold stillness within motion, to move through chaos without letting it own you.
What We Focus On Grows
There’s a saying from my many years of working with Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that’s been my mantra ever since I first heard it back in 2003, and I have many, many personal stories to prove it works:
“Energy flows where your attention goes. Direct it with your intention.”🎯
The principle is simple: Decide what matters to you and be really specific about it. Focus your attention there and take action that aligns with that intention only.
The energy will follow your attention, so be careful what you pay attention to. Ask yourself:
Does this decision or that event support my achieving this intention? Yes? No?
It’s easy to get distracted by ‘shiny pennies’… don’t. ✨
As if by magic, you’ll start noticing people, opportunities, and solutions showing up to support it. It’s like the universe gets on board with you!
Here’s a recent situation:
At the beginning of last November, we had to part ways with our original builder on the Leylands project… terrible workmanship, behind schedule, and an alarming ability to do stuff without achieving much. We had planned to list the property that month. Realistically, now we were probably looking at January, maybe even February. Not ideal! 😬
But I wasn’t ready to give up…
So, I set a new intention: to have the house finished and on the market by the end of November, nonetheless. It was a bold target given the time of year and the lack of available tradespeople, but I focused all my energy on that outcome. No distractions. No room for doubt. I got to work contacting everyone I could think of that might be able to help.
And synchronicity showed up! ✨
A builder from one of my networking groups had no availability in his company, but he referred me to a newly self-employed former colleague. Joe had excellent trade skills – and a loose relationship with timekeeping and reliability. He needed daily management and strong oversight – but at least we were able to get the work moving. 🛠️
Then came the sawdust incident. Just as we were finishing off the project, on Joe’s final day, he moved his bench saw into the living room – because it was snowing outside❄️, and he didn’t think to use the new lean-to out the back. By the time we arrived later in the morning, the entire (by now furnished and staged) house was coated in a thick layer of fine dust. The photographer was scheduled for the next morning.
I thought it best not to speak. Danny sought out the vacuum cleaner. 😶
But again, synchronicity showed up. Another contact in my network has a cleaning business on the side. One phone call later, she had a team assembled for an overnight top-to-tail scrub. The house was sparkling when we arrived in the morning!🌟
We were able to list the property before the end of November. Even better, we accepted an offer at the full asking price in the first week of December. Ultimately, we lost a little time, but we did not lose a single penny. All because the intention stayed firm, the attention remained focused, and consequently, the right people showed up at the right time.
Strategic Calm
This isn’t just about one project or a lucky save. It’s been a pattern built over the last twenty-odd years for me and in some pretty massive ways.
As we shift our strategy up a notch or few to more complex property developments, we’re approaching this next chapter in the same way: set the intention, focus attention, and align action.
We have a big goal for where we want to go with this and have purposefully sought the support we need: great mentors, trusted advisors, and an exceptionally experienced team of industry professionals and tradespeople. The properties and the deals will show up 🏢💷.
Chaostability.It’s a way of doing life that I believe is essential right now, and it works in your contexts, too.
We have to anticipate as best as possible what might lie ahead, whilst simultaneously focusing on developing our own internal steadiness to respond well, staying alert to opportunity and moving forward… even when the pathway ahead is buried in mud! 🥾
Gratitude: the Fuel for Chaostability
When the world feels dark and heavy, gratitude reminds us of all that is still good. When progress feels slow, it reminds us of how far we’ve come. And when we’re tempted to give in to the chaos, it roots us in what really matters 💛.
Gratitude is not soft and fluffy, it’s strategic and realistic. It helps you stay steady when you might have wobbled. It keeps you moving when you might have stalled.
Perhaps most importantly, it gives us the strength to keep building – our businesses, careers, relationships, and lives – in ways that will benefit others down the line. There are people in the future who will be better off because we chose this way now.
It’s worth taking a moment each day to reflect on what you’re grateful for and using that to shape how you show up… right now, this day and tomorrow.
This is how we move forward.
With presence.
With purpose.
With gratitude. 💫
