There is a crisis in the world, and the first thing to vanish is your inner peace. The world trembles, and so do you internally.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
It might be war in the Middle East and large-scale protests across Europe.
Or perhaps it’s something else. Climate crisis and wildfires. Maybe it’s the stock market crashing like it did during the financial crisis.
I’ll be the first to admit that I am affected by major news.
When the war started in Ukraine, tears streamed down my cheeks. I remember crying in the middle of my morning run or during peaceful moments with my own kids when the children of the war came to mind.
What could I do about the war in Ukraine? Not much. But a little: I ended up hosting a Ukrainian family in my home for a month and a half.
The attack in Israel on October 7th, the hostages in the tunnels, the thousands of civilians killed in Gaza, the protests in the West, and manifestations of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia give me nightmares.
What does all this have to do with investing?
Inner Peace is a Prerequisite for Wealth
It’s natural to be affected by such horrific news, but it doesn’t help anyone if I can’t sleep at night, so I need to turn that around.
In fact, inner turmoil can be harmful because negative energy spreads like wildfire and can affect other areas of your life.
I believe that inner peace and focus is a prerequisite if you want to be good at investing and attracting prosperity.
External pressure requires extraordinary inner peace.
But how do you achieve inner peace when the world around you is upset?
Here is my checklist, primarily written for myself in these times, but perhaps you can also benefit from it.
1. Plan Screen-free Time
You need time where you don’t check the news at all.
Maybe you can even plan it and put it in your calendar?
Whether it’s just a few hours here and there, a whole day, or an entire weekend, you need time where you allow yourself not to think about the crisis.
What about planning a camping trip without the internet?
If you can go a whole day without news and without thinking about it, it’s like hitting the reset button.
When you are looking at the screen, think about how you use your time.
I avoid tabloid journalism and opt for analysis and quality journalism.
Be careful with social media, where there are no filters (like journalists) to sift through the information.
I systematically block anyone entering my thread with hate messages. If they cross a certain line, I also report the post, so they don’t get to spread their hatred and disrupt others’ inner peace.
2. Cultivate Conscious Positive Thoughts and Ideas
We can replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
Positivity is contagious, just like negativity.
My most shared post ever is actually a positive post from a remembrance of the Kristallnacht with the words: “This is what I will think of with gratitude tonight. Thousands of people in Copenhagen showed up to remember the Kristallnacht and to show their support for the small Jewish community in Denmark.” You can see it right here.
If in the evening, at bedtime, I feel upset thinking about hostages or bombs, I push the thought away with the image of the beautiful torchlight procession in Copenhagen. It works.
3. Envision How You Want It to Be
In the Middle East, it would be beautiful if Israelis and Palestinians could live in peace and prosperity alongside each other or even together. That’s the ideal. It’s an image I cultivate in my mind.
If stocks fall, I think of the opposite and of prosperity.
I hold the ideal up as a vision that I believe in. I visualize it as if it’s already a fact. It helps create inner peace.
4. Get Enough Sleep, Eat Healthy, and Exercise
No one is well if they don’t have the basics in order: diet, sleep, and exercise.
All of us with children know how cranky and upset our children get if their sleep is disrupted for a single night. Or if they are hungry.
You need to take care of your physical needs lovingly – even when you don’t feel like it.
I have minimized all stimulants that counteract a stable life and can interfere with sleep or appetite.
I currently avoid alcohol altogether and have significantly cut down on coffee, caffeine, and sugar.
I am also very conscious of breathing all the way down to the abdomen – especially in the evening. It helps the entire nervous system calm down.
Here are my best tips if you have trouble sleeping:
Set aside an hour to prepare yourself.
A. Spend twenty minutes preparing for the next day (write down a few tasks to get them out of your head).
B. Spend the next twenty minutes taking a warm bath or shower and making your bedroom cozy. I use a heated pillow in my bed.
C. Spend the last twenty minutes just relaxing in bed and breathing calmly, as if you’re already asleep. There is nothing more effective than breathing to relax. You may read, but no screens.
5. Connect with Nature
Take a walk in the forest or on the beach. Feel the sunshine on your face. Get fresh air in your lungs. Listen to the birds chirping and the leaves rustling.
Get out. Every day.
I have a dog, so it happens naturally.
Honestly, it’s downright annoying to have to walk with the dachshund Hugo at 6 a.m…. but as soon as we’re out the door, I enjoy the fresh air, movement, and freedom.
It’s like being cleansed a bit. Letting some air into the upper floor. It helps.
6. Find a Simple Activity that Calms You
When I was on maternity leave, I couldn’t get enough of knitting. It was the only thing my tired brain could handle in the evenings. These days, I am obsessed with solving crossword puzzles.
With crossword puzzles, I have to concentrate enough that I can’t think of anything else, and it’s also pretty boring, and it makes me sleepy.
Crossword puzzles have become one of the last parts of my evening routine. What can this activity be for you?
7. Focus on One Thing You Can Do to Promote the Ideal
Focus on what you can change, and leave the rest.
It helps to do something.
When Russia attacked Ukraine, it helped me to host a Ukrainian family in my home. I focused on that. There were a lot of task involved. Finding a school for their son. Getting them registred. Getting their dog to the vet. Helping figure out the bus system.
What could it be for you?
Maybe you can donate some money? Maybe you can volunteer for an organization?
Perhaps you can learn something? If, for example, you are afraid of losing money in the stock market in a new financial crisis, learn about investing.
My usual subject is investing and creating a prosperous mindset.
If you want to learn how I invest in stocks without fearing a crash, you can download my free e-book Free Yourself here.
