Here’s Why the More Everyone Else Worries… the More Defiantly Calm and Focused I Become

(How You Can Do the Same...and Why Democracy Depends On It)

Here’s Why the More Everyone Else Worries… the More Defiantly Calm and Focused I Become

(How You Can Do the Same…and Why Democracy Depends On It)

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #735: Friday, January 16th, 2026.

Before Anything Else…Read This Carefully

Let’s get one thing straight before I say another word.

Fascist behavior is happening in the United States right now.

Not rhetorically.
Not hypothetically.
Not “someday if things get worse.”

Right now.

People are being harassed.
Targeted.
Threatened.
Stalked.
Physically attacked.

Some have been permanently traumatized.
Some have been seriously injured.
And yes…some have been killed.

This is real.
This is documented.
And anyone pretending otherwise is lying…to you…or to themselves.

So if you are scared, angry, or shaken, that reaction makes sense.
You are not imagining things.
You are not overreacting.
You are responding to a country under strain.

Now let me be just as clear about something else:

Nothing that follows in this article dismisses that reality.

I am not minimizing what’s happening.
I am not “checking out.”
I am not numb.
And…I sure as hell have not lost my mind.

The reason I am calm is not because I don’t see the threat.

It’s because I see it clearly.

And I understand something history…psychology…and power all agree on:

Panic is not resistance.
Panic is fuel.

Fear…when unmanaged…is how authoritarian movements grow faster…make fewer mistakes…and push people into exhaustion and paralysis.

If this country is going to make it through what it is facing…we do not need more adrenaline.

We need clarity.
We need orientation.
We need people who can think past the next headline.

That is what this article is about.

Not denial.

Strategy.

And the calmer I become while everyone else spirals…the more certain I am that this is exactly the posture this moment demands.

Now, I’ll explain why.

Let me tell you something that will sound almost offensive if you’re anxious right now.

The more frantic everyone else gets…
the calmer I become. (Yes…really. But, it wasn’t always that way)

Not because I’m detached.
Not because I don’t care.
Not because I “don’t see what’s happening.”

But because I understand something most people never learn:

Mass worry is not a sign of danger.
It’s a sign of misallocated attention.

And whenever attention is misallocated…
opportunity quietly relocates.

Worry Is a Crowd Behavior…Calm Is a Competitive Advantage

Here’s an iron-clad truth:

When the masses panic…the professionals go quiet.

Why?

Because panic only feels useful.
It creates the illusion of engagement.

But panic does nothing except:

• Collapse time horizons
• Shorten thinking
• Hand leverage to whoever remains composed

That’s why markets crash.
That’s why media cycles accelerate.
That’s why power consolidates during chaos.

And that’s why I watch worry…the way a poker player watches tells.

Worry Always Means One Thing

Whenever you see mass anxiety spike, it means this:

People are emotionally over-invested in outcomes they don’t control
…and under-invested in levers they do.

That imbalance creates noise.

Noise creates mistakes.

Mistakes…create openings.

The Secret Most People Miss

Here’s the part no one teaches you:

Worry is not a response to reality.
It’s a response to interpretation….without orientation.

People aren’t afraid because things are bad.

They’re afraid because:

• Information is arriving faster than meaning
• Threats are named without pathways
• Authority appears frozen
• Nobody explains where real leverage still exists

So…their nervous system fills in the blanks.

Badly.

Why I Calm Down When Others Spiral

Because spirals always follow the same pattern:

1. Urgent headlines

2. Emotional amplification

3. Repetition without resolution

4. Catastrophic projection

5. Collective exhaustion

By Step 3, I already know something important:

The people driving the narrative have lost strategic clarity.

And when clarity disappears…power fragments.

Fragmentation favors those who stay steady…and hold fast.

Calm Is Not Complacency-It’s Control

Let’s kill a dangerous myth right now:

Calm does not mean passive.

Calm means:

• You can see second-order effects
• You can notice contradictions
• You don’t overreact to bait
• You don’t exhaust yourself too early
• You choose your pressure points

Anxious people burn energy everywhere.

Calm people apply force precisely.

The Psychological Truth That Changes Everything

Here’s a hard truth that will save you years of stress:

If a situation requires you to panic in order to survive it…
it was already lost long before you heard about it.

Real leverage never demands hysteria.

It demands timing.

The Media Will Never Teach You This

Because calm people don’t click as well.

Panic spreads.
Calm organizes.

That’s why:

• Every story is framed as a cliff
• Every development is “unprecedented”
• Every delay is “proof of collapse”

But professionals ask different questions:

• Who benefits from this fear right now?
• Who needs the public distracted?
• What’s happening quietly while attention is elsewhere?

Those questions don’t raise blood pressure.

They raise accuracy.

Why Worry Feels Responsible (But Isn’t)

Worry masquerades as virtue.

It says:

“If I stay anxious…I’m engaged.”
“If I stay alarmed…I care.”
“If I relax…I’m irresponsible.”

That’s emotional blackmail.

Worry…without strategy…is theater.

And theater never stops real power.

How You Can Shift Into the Calm Advantage (Starting Now)

This isn’t meditation fluff.

This is tactical emotional positioning.

Step 1: Slow Your Information Intake

Urgency is a sales tactic.
Limit exposure and increase digestion.

Step 2: Separate Signal From Spectacle

Ask: “What changed structurally?”
Not: “What feels scary right now?”

Step 3: Extend Your Time Horizon

Panic lives in days.
Power moves in months and years.

Step 4: Watch Behavior, Not Promises

Institutions lie.
Behavior leaks truth.

Step 5: Protect Your Energy Like Capital

An exhausted mind is easy to steer.

The Uncomfortable Truth

The people who look calm right now are not naïve.

They’re positioned.

They’ve accepted this:

History is not decided by who feels the most urgency.
It’s decided by who remains functional…the longest.

That’s not cynicism.

That’s survival intelligence.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

The next phase won’t reward outrage.

It will reward:

• Endurance
• Discernment
• Emotional regulation
• Strategic patience

That’s why I’m calm.

Because I know the moment everyone else is screaming…is the moment the smart moves become invisible to the crowd.

And invisible moves….are usually the ones that matter most.

Final Word

If you’re worried right now…don’t shame yourself.

But don’t worship the feeling either.

Worry is a signal…not a command.

And…the moment you stop obeying it blindly…
you join the small group of people who can actually do something useful with what’s coming.

#HoldFast

Back soon,

-Jack

Jack Hopkins

P.S.
Calm is not a personality trait.
It’s a trained response.

And once you learn how to access it on demand…you’ll notice something unsettling…

The world doesn’t feel safer.

But you do.

And that…changes everything.

P.P.S.
There is no “better time later” to get oriented, steady, and strategically informed.
Moments like this are exactly when paid subscribers matter…because clarity is never free…and panic is always expensive.

If you’ve ever considered stepping inside the paywall, right now is always the right time.