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June    20th

CALM    IS  CONTAGIOUS

“If then    it’s    not that    the things  you pursue  or  avoid   are coming  at  you,    but rather  that    you in  a   sense

are seeking them    out,    at  least   try to  keep    your    judgment    of  them    steady, and they    too will    remain

calm    and you won’t   be  seen    chasing after   or  fleeing from    them.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    11.11

here is a maxim that Navy SEALs pass from officer to officer, man to man. In the midst of chaos,
even in the fog of war, their battle-tested advice is this: “Calm is contagious.”
Especially when that calm is coming from the man or woman in charge. If the men begin to lose their
wits, if the group is unsure of what to do next, it’s the leader’s job to do one thing: instill calm—not by
force but by example.
That’s who you want to be, whatever your line of work: the casual, relaxed person in every situation
who tells everyone else to take a breath and not to worry. Because you’ve got this. Don’t be the agitator,
the paranoid, the worrier, or the irrational. Be the calm, not the liability.
It will catch on.