Before The Chaos (6/25)

Good morning from close friends Brett Hobbs and Michael Barone. We are here every Monday morning to help prepare you Before The Chaos!

3 Facts Before The Chaos

💼 Business: Gas prices are finally easing. Oil has tumbled since the U.S.–Iran ceasefire cooled fears of a wider war, and cheaper crude is starting to reach the pump — welcome timing with summer travel in full swing.

🌎 Current Affairs: The U.S.–Iran ceasefire is holding — relief more than resolution, but the guns are quiet, oil has pulled back, and the world feels a notch less on edge than it did a couple of weeks ago.

🌡️ U.S. Weather: Enjoy today’s mild stretch — it won’t last. A heat dome is building, with widespread 90s forecast across the eastern half of the country next week, severe storms rolling through the Central states, and critical wildfire conditions out West this weekend.

Calm Is a Superpower

It’s been a heavy stretch of headlines — a war and a fragile ceasefire overseas, markets swinging on every update, and big heat and storms building back home. Some weeks it feels like the whole world is spinning and you’re just hanging on.

But notice who actually wins on days like this. It’s rarely the loudest person in the room — it’s the calmest. The one who slows their breathing, sorts what they can control from what they can’t, and takes the next right step anyway.

Calm isn’t passive, and it isn’t pretending nothing’s wrong. It’s a decision you make on purpose, especially when everything around you is loud. Protect it like the asset it is. The chaos will always be there — your steadiness is the edge.

Reflection

“What am I trying to control right now that was never mine to control?”

“What’s the next right step I can take in the next ten minutes?”

Take Action Task

Draw a line down a page: “In my control” on one side, “Out of my control” on the other. Spend your energy only on the left side today. Ours: we’re picking one worry off the right side and consciously letting it go.

Act of Altruism

Be the calm for someone else. Text one person who’s stressed and simply ask how they’re doing — no advice, no fixing, just presence. Ours: we’re checking in on a friend who’s having a hard week.

Verse

Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Closing

You can’t control the headlines, the markets, or the weather. You can control your next breath, your next word, and your next move. Choose calm — it’s the most underrated superpower you’ve got.

Have a blessed day,

Brett & Michael