Today is February 1 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "Do you confuse association with causation?"  Those who navigate the chaos often work hard at understanding the concept: "Correlation is not causation.” In The Guardian, Nathan Green wrote “Correlation is not causation means that just because two things correlate does not necessarily mean that one causes the other. As a seasonal example, just because people in the UK tend to spend more in the shops when it's cold and less when it's hot doesn't mean cold weather causes frenzied high-street spending. A more plausible explanation would be that cold weather tends to coincide with Christmas and the New Year sales.”

Today is January 31 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is: "Are you a lead singer or a backup?" In the world of music there are lead singers and the equally important back-up singers. In a 2013 American documentary film entitled 20 Feet from Stardom Lisa Fischer, one of the back-up singers profiled, said: “I reject the notion that the job you excel at is somehow not enough to aspire to, that there has to be something more. I love supporting other artists.” As the Dalai Lama observed "People take different roads seeking fulfillment. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." Do you want to be a lead singer or a backup?

Today is January 30 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is: "Do you choose work that scares you?" College senior Parker Hall wrote to Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame stating “I can’t figure out what to do.” Rowe contradicted the “keep looking for the dream job” mantra and said: “Stop looking for the right career, and start looking for a job. Any job…And happiness does not come from a job. It comes from knowing what you truly value, and behaving in a way that’s consistent with those beliefs.” As Mary Tyler Moore said “Looking back on it, I realize that I have always chosen work that challenges me, because if I don’t go in to work a little scared, I don’t have any interest in it." 

Today is January 29 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "Are you engaging in self-determination?" People who navigate the chaos use a variety of strategies in order to engage in self-determination. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) was initially developed by Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan. SDT is an approach to human motivation that articulates enhanced performance, persistence, and creativity, arguably three critical skills everyone needs to succeed, best fostered by an individual developing a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In the words of Oscar Wilde "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

Today is January 28 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "How many dreams do you have?" People who learn to navigate the chaos understand the value of having so many dreams that they need two lifetimes to achieve them. The pursuit of one dream after another allows one to fully engage in life. One of the many reasons people lack enough dreams is because they fail to see life as John Gardner described it in his famous 1990 speech “Life is…an endless process of self-discovery, an endless and unpredictable dialogue between our own capacities for learning and the life situations in which we find ourselves.” Are you open to dreaming more and viewing life as an endless process of self-discovery? 

Today is January 27 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "Are you focused on the journey or next step?" While navigating stressful events, thinking about the entire journey can be very daunting. For example, asking “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?” contributes to the rise in mental health issues among college students. To help alleviate some of the stress, individuals should refrain from asking that question and simply ask “what is your next step?” As so many of the other navigate the chaos entries demonstrate, life is a journey and those who succeed learn how to adapt to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. 

Today is January 26 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "How often do you support your competitor?" In the 1936 summer Olympics American Jesse Owens fouled on his first two attempts in the preliminary round of the long-jump competition. German long-jumper Carl (Luz) Long told Owens to jump from several inches behind the take-off board. Since Owens routinely made distances greater than the minimum required, Long surmised that Owens would be able to advance safely without risking a foul. On his final qualifying jump, Owens jumped with at least four inches to spare and easily qualified for the finals. Owens went on to win the gold while Long won the silver medal. 

Today is January 25 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "How often are you certain?" In Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? Philip Tetlock concluded: “The average expert was found to be only slight more accurate than a dart-throwing chimpanzee. Many experts would have done better if they had made random guesses.” American choreographer Agnes de Mille noted “Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.” 

Today is January 24 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "How often are you pursuing perfection?" Perfectionism lowers the ability to take calculated risks, reduces creativity, and stifles innovation. Expecting perfection from yourself actually limits your ability to grow both personally and professionally. In Tal Ben-Shahar's book The Pursuit of Perfect he refers to negative perfectionism simply as perfectionism and to positive perfectionism as optimalism. For Ben-Shahar the optimist embraces the constraints of reality while a perfectionist rejects those constraints. Salvador Dali observed “Have no fear of perfection. You’ll never reach it.” 

Today is January 23 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "

Are you aware of what time it is?" 

 On the cover of his book The Pursuit of Happyness: Start Where You Are, entrepreneur Chris Gardner has a watch on each wrist.  Mid-way through the book he explains why. One day, Gardner, a stockbroker, arrived late to a meeting with a prospective client. He failed to close the account but took to heart what his prospective client told him, “Son if I can’t expect you to be on time, I can’t expect you to make timely decisions with my money.” From that point onward, Gardner started to wear a watch on each wrist so as never to be late again.