Don't panic
Remembering to control what you can control
👋Hello, my friend. Quick one for a crazy week. Hope it resonates with you!
Intentional Wisdom x Peloton
Enjoyed that yoga last week. Think my body needed it! This week, the challenge is to do at least 2 strength workouts. That’s very doable.
Here’s the link to join the group if you’re not already there.
Don’t panic
This past week was rough for anyone with exposure to the stock market. We saw the biggest weekly drop since 2020, and for those of us who’ve been around for a little while, it brought back some not-so-fun memories—2008, the 2001 tech crash, and even, for some, the 1987 market crash. It’s painful to see value erode, especially when that value is tied to things like retirement or future plans you’ve worked hard for.
But one of the lessons I’ve picked up over 25 years in the financial markets is this:
Staying focused on the long-term really matters.
And, interestingly—perhaps counterintuitively—these types of big market downturns often end up being some of the best opportunities.
I was talking with my financial advisor recently, and we were going over what we’d do in the event of a major correction. The plan? Invest more. Haven’t quite pulled the trigger yet but getting close.
Despite the many things to worry about in the world, I don’t think this is the end for the U.S. stock market, or for the global economy. But I do think a wave of uncertainty has rolled in, and it’s going to take some time to work its way through the system. Usually, what happens is the market panics fast—prices in all the bad news at once—and then we start to get signals that maybe it’s not as apocalyptic as we thought.
I’m not here to predict what happens next. But I am here to say: panicking doesn’t help.
And while this newsletter is not financial advice, I do think this idea—don’t panic—is worth carrying into other areas of life too.
Whether it’s investing, health, parenting—whatever it is—staying calm and staying focused on the long term tends to be the smarter play.
Health, WebMD, and me
Take health, for example. I wrote recently about getting my bloodwork done through Function Health. Some of the autoimmunity markers came back a bit off, and... yeah, that kind of freaked me out.
Like many of us, I have a not-so-great habit of turning to Dr. Google when I’m feeling uncertain. And if you’ve ever done that, you know how that ends: twenty minutes later you’ve diagnosed yourself with a terminal illness.
So I’ve been trying not to panic. Not to jump to worst-case scenarios. Not to make decisions based on something I read online in a forum from 2009. Working with an actual doctor and reminding myself to trust that process rather than spiral into anxiety loops.
Easier said than done, of course. But worth trying.
Parenting: The Long Game
Another area where panic creeps in? Parenting.
My kids are young enough that college is still a ways off. And yet... here I am, worrying about whether my seventh grader is on the right academic track. Is he getting good enough grades? Will he get into a good college? Are we messing this up somehow?
It’s kind of nuts. But I know I’m not alone.
I try to remind myself: if my parents had tried to predict my future based on seventh grade Greg, they might’ve been a little concerned. And yet, here I am. Things mostly turned out OK.
So what can I do today? Make the next best decision.
I can encourage my kids to read. To explore new interests. To stay curious. I can’t guarantee any particular outcome six or ten years down the line. So I might as well not waste this precious time now getting overly worried about it. It’ll work out.
Youth Sports and the Tiny Stuff That Feels Big
Speaking of parenting, sports are another trigger for panic.
We worry about—oh is our kid good enough in this sport? And if they’re not, what can we do? Can we get them into lessons? Can we do this? Can we do that?
We’re so worried about: Did they make this team or that team? Did they win? Did they play or sit the bench?
And it’s like—let’s zoom out. What’s the long-term implication of whether your seventh grader or your fifth grader got into the game or not? Or whether they won or lost the game? It’s... virtually meaningless. I mean, it’s fantastically small in terms of importance in the overall grand scheme of things.
What is important is the relationships we have with our kids.
And I think if we’re overbearing and overly concerned about outcomes—in the classroom or on the field—it can lead them to place too much importance on those outcomes as well. And that teaches them to stress over things they can’t control.
The thing I try to remember as a parent is that we’re modeling behavior. That actually does have long-term implications. So if you’re going to worry about something, maybe it’s worth worrying about how you’re showing up. How panicked or worked up you’re getting. Because your kids are watching. They’re learning how to do life by watching you.
A Few Tactics That Help Me
I wish I could say that I’ve mastered the art of staying calm. I haven’t. But I’m working on it. And here are a few things that help:
Journaling. Writing down what’s on your mind—especially what you’re worried about—can be really helpful. And maybe even more helpful? Flipping back and reading those entries months or years later and realizing: most of the stuff you worried about didn’t end up being all that bad.
Breathwork. I’ve been using a breathwork tool on the Whoop app lately (screenshot video below)—basically what Andrew Huberman calls the “physiological sigh.” A couple minutes of that and I can feel the stress level drop. And it’s not just a feeling—my recovery and sleep scores have actually gone up when I’ve done this consistently.
Exercise + Sleep. These are deeply connected for me. If I don’t move my body during the day, I don’t sleep well at night. And if I don’t sleep well, I don’t handle stress well. So I try to prioritize both.
Relationships. There’s a ton of research showing that strong social connections are essential for well-being.
Final Thought: Control What You Can
Whether it’s the stock market, your health, your career, or your kids’ future... there’s a lot you can’t control.
What you can control is how you respond.
And so maybe the goal isn’t to never feel stress or fear or uncertainty. Maybe the goal is just to say:
Yeah, this is hard. But I’m not going to panic.
Sometimes easier said than done, for sure. But always worth trying.
That’s it for this week but before you go…
Content Diet
Win or Lose
If you haven’t seen this animated Pixar series on Disney+, you can thank me later. There’s not a lot of shows that my entire family can agree on but everyone LOVED Win or Lose. It’s about the up’s and down’s of a bunch of kids trying to win a softball championship. Each episode plays the same couple of days over except each one is from a different character’s perspective. I love how Pixar has cracked the code for how to make 4-year-old's laugh and 40-year-olds cry all while keeping the attention of 13-year-olds.
Have a great week.
Greg