Who Do I Need to Be in the Face of All This Chaos?
March 3, 2025
Lately, I’ve found myself coming back to the same question, over and over again:
Who do I need to be in the face of all this chaos?
Not what should I do? Not how do I fix this? But who do I need to be? Because if I don’t decide that first, I risk something even worse than uncertainty, being swept up in the noise and becoming part of the chaos myself.
I’m not immune to it. I’ve felt the pull to react emotionally, to fire off a comment, to let frustration take the wheel. I’ve also felt the weight of uncertainty, the hesitation of wondering, Am I handling this right? Am I showing up the way I want to? So, I started asking myself:
- Am I going to be a bully, pushing my opinions aggressively just to feel in control? No.
- Am I going to be transactional, only engaging when there’s something in it for me? I don’t think so.
- Am I going to be overly confident, pretending I have all the answers when I know better? That’s not who I am.
Why these questions? Because if I’m being honest, I know I could be that person. I have it in me. Maybe I always have. And for a long time, I didn’t want to admit that. But I see now how easy it is to default to aggression, to be reactive, to let self interest turn to destruction.
Frankly, I’ve seen enough of it in the last 48 hours, from people with more influence than I care to acknowledge. It’s exhausting. It’s corrosive. And I refuse to be another voice adding to the fire. I can’t perpetuate that.
There’s no perfect answers to these questions. No single right way to move through the chaos. But there is a way to move through it with intention; with clarity about who I’m choosing to be, for the people who rely on me, and for myself. Because this isn’t just about leadership or responsibility or being a steady force for others.
It’s also self-preservation. It’s about protecting my own energy, my own ability to make decisions, my own clarity in a time where so many people feel lost. If I wake up every day and have to decide in real time how I’ll respond to the latest headline, comment, or crisis, I increase the risk of being emotionally compromised. I increase the chances of reacting instead of leading. I increase the likelihood of making decisions I’ll regret.
But when I decide in advance who I want to be?
- I don’t have to wing it.
- I don’t have to waste energy figuring it out in the moment.
- I don’t have to let the chaos dictate my mindset.
Instead, I get to be steady. I get to be intentional. I get to engage in a way that aligns with my values and keeps me from adding to the noise. This isn’t about being right. It’s about being the person I’ve chosen to be.
So, I’ll ask you what I keep asking myself:
Who do you need to be [for yourself and others] in the face of all this chaos?
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