How to Never Worry—Even When the Country Feels Like It’s Coming Apart

Astronaut Jim Lovell commanded Apollo 13’s ill-fated 1970 mission and brought the crew home alive. He was one of the era’s coolest heads.

How to Never Worry—Even When the Country Feels Like It’s Coming Apart

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #732: Tuesday, January 13th, 2026

(A Jack Hopkins field manual for keeping your head when the country can’t.)

Let’s get brutally honest.

If you’re paying attention to what’s happening in America right now, you’ve got plenty of raw material you could worry about.

• Trump-fueled ICE is getting more aggressive…and the numbers show it.

• Inflation and interest rates are locked in a political cage match.

• Threats against judges have spiked so sharply Congress is boosting court-security funding

And…that’s before you even touch the day-to-day stuff: family…money…health… relationships…work…the future.

So this isn’t one of those airy little “just think positive” articles.

This is a combat guide.

Not for “reducing” worry.

For interrupting it on command…and then building a system so the worry process doesn’t get traction in the first place.

Because here’s the inconvenient truth:

Worry is not a mysterious force that “happens to you.”

Worry is a sequence. A mechanical…repeatable chain of events.
And anything with a sequence can be broken…at multiple points.

In short, worrying is something you do, and anything that requires you to engage in doing it…is something you can stop doing. It’s really as simple as that.

Now, you’re going to learn exactly where to cut the wire.

The Big Lie: “Worry Means I Care”

No. Worry means your brain is running a simulation and calling it “responsibility.”

Worry is not action.
Worry is not planning.
Worry is not moral virtue.

Worry is what happens when your nervous system thinks it’s helping…while it quietly burns your fuel and steals your present.

And…it’s extra seductive when the stakes are national…civic…existential.

Because worrying about “the country” feels like you’re doing something noble.

But worry has a dirty secret:

It makes you feel busy while keeping you powerless.

The goal here isn’t to become indifferent.

The goal is to become effective.

The Worry Machine (Know the Steps So You Can Stop It)

Worry usually runs like this:

1. Trigger (headline, comment, thought, doom-scroll, memory)

2. Catastrophe Draft (“This is going to get worse… we’re screwed… they’ll never stop…”)

3. Body Alarm (tight chest, shallow breathing, jaw, stomach)

4. Compulsion (scroll, refresh, argue, rehearse, ruminate)

5. False Relief (“At least I’m informed… at least I’m tracking it…”)

6. Hangover (exhaustion, irritability, hopelessness)

7. Repeat

Your job is to interrupt the process at Step 2, 3, or 4…fast.

Because once you hit compulsive behavior…the loop strengthens.

So here are your “cut the wire” tools.

The 60-Second Worry Kill Switch

(Use this the moment you feel the loop start.)

Step 1: Name it, don’t negotiate with it (10 seconds)

Say…out loud if you can:

“This is worry. Not reality. Not a plan. Not prophecy.”

Labeling creates distance. Distance creates choice.

Step 2: Force the body to stand down (20 seconds)

Do two physiological sighs:

• Inhale through your nose

• Tiny extra inhale on top

• Long exhale through your mouth
  Repeat twice.

You’re not “calming down.”
You’re flipping the physical switch that worry feeds on: arousal.

Step 3: Ask the one question worry hates (30 seconds)

“What is the next smallest action I can take that improves anything by 1%?”

Not “solve the country.”
Not “figure out the future.”

Just: next smallest action.

Examples:

• Text one person who’s spiraling and ground them.

• Donate $10 to a local org doing real work.

• Draft the email you’ve been avoiding.

• Turn off the phone and go for a 12-minute walk so you can think like a grown-up again.

Worry collapses when it’s forced to compete with action.

The 5-Minute Worry Interruption

(When the loop already has momentum.)

Get a piece of paper. Yes, paper.

Draw two columns:

Column A: “What I Can Control in 7 Days”

Write only things you can influence this week.

Column B: “What I Cannot Control in 7 Days”

Write the rest.

Now here’s the part most people skip:

Circle one item in Column A and write:

Next action (15 minutes or less): ________

Then do it.

This is not motivational fluff. This is engineering.

Worry thrives on vague…global…abstract threats.

This method forces specificity and imposes a time boundary.

And…in a moment where the national environment can feel chaotic…funding cliffs… institutional conflict…“what happens next?” uncertainty…your nervous system is starving for something concrete.

So…feed it concrete.

The “Ugly Truth, Steady Body” Protocol

(How to stay fully exposed to reality without getting chemically kidnapped.)

You don’t need less truth.

You need more capacity.

Because resilience isn’t hiding from the world.

Resilience is the ability to look straight at what’s happening…corruption… institutional stress…economic pressure…civic conflict…and not let your nervous system turn it into a personal emergency.

So we’re not doing “news avoidance.”

We’re doing arousal management under exposure.

Rule #1: You don’t consume news-you process it.

Most people “take in” news like it’s oxygen.

But it’s not oxygen. It’s stimulus.

So before you read a headline…you do a 5-second check:

Body Scan: jaw / chest / belly.
If you’re already tight…you regulate first (two physiological sighs). Then you read.

That one move turns you from a hostage into an operator.

Rule #2: Exposure without regulation is self-harm.

If you keep reading while your body is escalating, you’re training your brain to associate “truth” with “panic.”

That creates a terrible long-term outcome:

• You either become addicted to panic (doom-scroll),

• or…you start avoiding reality entirely.

Your mission is the third path:

Truth + calm physiology.

Rule #3: The Three-Headline Drill

Here’s how you build tolerance like a muscle.

1. Read one hard headline.

2. Pause and do one long exhale.

3. Say: “Information received.”

4. Ask: “What is this asking me to do…if anything?”

If the answer is “nothing,” you move on.

You are not refusing reality.
You are refusing involuntary arousal.

Rule #4: Separate “Signal” from “Sabotage”

Some information is real and actionable.

Some information is engineered to spike your cortisol…sell ads…and keep you looping.

So after a story, ask:

• Does this change my decisions in the next 7 days?

• Does it give me a concrete action, or just a mood?

If it gives you only a mood…you treat it like secondhand smoke.

You do not have to run from it.

You just don’t have to inhale it.

The Worry Prevention System

(So you don’t have to keep “stopping” worry all day.)

If interrupting worry is the emergency brake…this is the maintenance plan.

1) Install a “Worry Appointment”

This is a classic trick because it works.

Pick a daily 15-minute window:

“Worry time: 4:45–5:00 PM.”

When worry pops up at 11:12 AM, you say:

“Not now. 4:45.”

And you write the worry down in a single sentence.

Two things happen:

• Your brain feels “heard,” so it stops screaming.

• By 4:45, half of those worries will look stupid or irrelevant.

Worry is impulsive. Scheduling it removes its romance.

2) Create a “Response Ladder” for national stress

A lot of modern worry comes from feeling like you can’t do anything.

So we build a ladder…actions at different energy levels:

Level 1 (2 minutes):

• Donate $5

• Sign one local petition (from a real org)

• Send one supportive text to someone you care about

Level 2 (15 minutes):

• Call one rep office

• Write one short letter to the editor

• Share one factual resource with a friend who’s confused

Level 3 (60 minutes):

• Volunteer shift signup

• Attend a local meeting

• Help someone register / get rides / get connected (legal, civic, community)

Now…when the country feels unstable…you don’t default to doom.

You default to the ladder.

You become the kind of person whose nervous system associates “threat” with “response,” not “spiral.”

3) Replace “What if…” with “If X, then Y”

Worry speaks in “what if.”

Planning speaks in “if/then.”

So you convert it:

• “What if the economy tanks?”
  → “If my income drops, then I cut expenses by X, contact Y, and apply to Z.”

• “What if the government implodes?”
  → “If my community needs support, then I plug into these two local orgs and offer these three skills.”

This instantly moves you from helpless theater to prepared leadership.

The Anti-Worry Sentence That Changes Everything

Memorize this:

“I only think about problems at the same time I’m doing something about them.”

That one rule will save you thousands of hours of mental self-harm.

Because it forces the only two valid modes:

1. Action

2. Rest

Worry is the fraudulent third mode….the one that feels like action…but isn’t.

When You’re Worrying About the Country, Use This Filter

Ask:

“Is this a signal… or is it noise?”

A signal changes what you do.

Noise changes how you feel.

A shutdown deadline that affects services? Signal.
Threats against judges and court security funding? Signal.
A 47th hot take thread designed to spike your blood pressure? Noise.

Your mind has limited bandwidth.

Spend it like it’s cash.

The “No Mental Rehearsal” Rule

(The easiest way to stop worry before it starts.)

Most people rehearse disasters because they think it prepares them.

In reality…it trains their body to panic in advance.

So adopt this:

No mental rehearsal without a written plan.

If your brain starts running the movie, you stop it and say:

“Put it on paper or shut up.”

Then you write:

• The risk

• The probability (low/medium/high)

• The next action

• The deadline for review

If you won’t write it…it’s not planning.
It’s self-torment.

The One Habit That Makes Worry Shrivel

Daily physical movement.

Not because it “fixes everything.”

Because worry is a body state…pretending to be a thought problem.

A 20-minute walk lowers the baseline arousal that makes worry sticky.

If you want “immediately effective,” start here:

Walk first. Think second.

“But If I Stop Worrying, Am I Being Naive?”

NO.

You’re being trained.

Here’s the difference:

• Naive people stop worrying…and then stop paying attention.

• Powerful people stop worrying…so they can pay attention accurately.

Worry distorts perception.

It makes everything feel urgent…hopeless…and global.

And when a country is facing real stressors…economic uncertainty…institutional conflict…civic tension…distortion is the enemy.

Clarity is the advantage.

Your “Never Worry” Daily Script (Do This for 7 Days)

Morning (5 minutes):

• No phone.

• Two physiological sighs.

• Write: “Today’s one controllable win: ________”

Midday (10 minutes max):

• News check (facts only).

• Ask: “Does this change my next action?” If no, move on.

Afternoon (15 minutes):

• Worry appointment.

• Convert “what if” into “if/then.”

• Pick one ladder action.

Evening (10 minutes):

• Phone off 30 minutes before bed.

• Write: “What did I do today that proves I’m not powerless?”

Do this for a week…and you’ll feel something most people haven’t felt in years:

Internal authority.

Final Word

You don’t need to eliminate concern.
You need to eliminate the worry ritual.

Because the country does not need more scared spectators.

It needs people who can stay steady…think clearly…and take the next right action…without setting their nervous system on fire.

That’s how you “never worry.”

Not by pretending the world is fine.

By training yourself…to meet reality like a professional:

Calm body. Clear mind. Concrete action. Repeat.

#HoldFast

Back soon,

-Jack

Jack Hopkins

P.S. If this hit you right where you live…if you felt your shoulders drop even a little…then you already know what this is worth.

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