Confusion Causes Chaos: Why Our Brains Need Clarity

I’m confused. Are you?

I can’t keep up with chaos.

At first, the chaos was what was expected.

As shocking and abhorrent as many found it, at least I understood it.

The motivations, desires, and intent made sense to me.

But lately, I’m lost…

• One day we value freedom of speech and are critical of other nations’ practices. The next, we say we will arrest and expel those who engage in protests.

• One day we want to end an unjust war by an aggressor who desires to “saw the western world in half.” The next, we are engaging in diplomacy with the aggressor as they openly celebrate and praise the dismantling of democracy.

• One day we praise David, who has fought off Goliath for three years with only financial and equipment support. The next they are deemed disrespectful, ungrateful, and responsible for gambling with a world war.

I’ve been feeling a bit ungrounded recently. I don’t know about you, but so much is happening in the world and things are changing so quickly my brain is having trouble keeping up.

Today’s Challenge with Chaos, Change, & Confusion

It’s hard for our brains to understand and make sense of so many changes happening so quickly. Not to mention the ripple effects those changes are having on often unexpected areas of our lives and world.

Our brains and bodies rely upon clarity to operate effectively and efficiently. When we understand what to do, why it’s important, and how to do it, we typically execute with ease and enjoyment.

When things change, if we are communicated with clearly and understand how the changes impact what’s expected of us, we can be resilient and adapt. But when our experiences consist of constant chaos and confusion, it’s impossible to feel clear and grounded.

The more unpredictable and uncertain our world becomes, the harder it is for our brains to navigate it effectively.

As a result, we struggle to make decisions, solve problems, and consciously communicate with each other. It can feel like having fog in our brains that just won’t clear.

CEOs, entrepreneurs, and leaders are tasked with setting organizational direction and leading their people towards it. MBAs and billions of books on strategy and leadership have tackled this complex, challenging, and ever-changing responsibility. Doing so is difficult even in highly predictable and stable environments.

Setting direction and leading in an environment that is extremely unpredictable, volatile, complex, and chaotic is that much more challenging.

How do our bodies and brains respond?

At first, whether we have the knowledge or information necessary to fill in the gaps or not, our brains will still try to make sense of it all. They will fill in the gaps based upon past experiences. Our brains will make assumptions, draw conclusions, and cast judgement.

Our biases and beliefs will supersede the facts, and we’ll create a story that makes sense to us.

• For example, conservatives might watch the interaction between Trump and Zelenskyy and draw the conclusion that it was a brilliant strategy by Trump and JD Vance. That they anticipated Zelenskyy would try to make a case on American news against Russians and they had a brilliant plan to shut it down by arguing for diplomacy, criticizing a lack of gratitude, and claiming Ukraine is risking a world war.

• Alternatively, progressives likely viewed the same interaction but through a totally different lens. They walked away appalled at the abhorrent interaction and its clear lack of respect. They either viewed Trump as being triggered and reactive or as having set up Zelenskyy so they could attack him and weaken his negotiating power. Either way, they likely interpreted the arguments about gratitude as an unjustified attack, the approach of diplomacy as cozying up to an aggressor and blaming Ukraine for risking a world war as an unfair characterization of events.

What I laid out above is exactly the types of interpretations and reactions that have played out on social media and news outlets following the altercation. We see the same types of disparate views on the actions of DOGE, the speech by Trump, and the tariffs on Canada.

Depending on your brain’s patterns and pathways, the story that takes shape in the absence of facts is very different.

Even when confronted with facts, if they contradict our patterns and beliefs, we will try to remedy the disconnect. This is called cognitive dissonance. We can’t accept contradictory information so instead we do one of the following:

• Deny it - must not be true.

• Avoid it - don’t think about it.

• Trivialize it - it’s really not important or relevant.

• Blame others - find someone else to point the finger at.

• Justify it - rationalizing actions to make it acceptable.

• Seek new information - create or find information to justify their viewpoint.

• Change beliefs or behaviors.

How often are you seeing examples such as those listed here happening right now?

When confronted with uncomfortable and contradictory information, our brains will seek relief by denying, avoiding, trivializing, blaming, justifying, seeking new information, or changing their beliefs or behaviors.

These responses create their own challenges and hurt human interactions as well. The last one is the hardest…to get people to truly change how they think or behave.

When Chaos & Confusion Leads to Overwhelm

Eventually, when we can no longer make sense of the nonsensical, our brains and bodies become overwhelmed. With too many conflicting facts and too much information, our systems can become completely swamped.

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Head Brain Signs of Overwhelm

Our head brains experience cognitive overload or become overactive which can feel like spinning, constant rapid thoughts, racing to analyze, problem-solve, or make sense of the situation. We end up constantly seeking more information, rationalizing emotions instead of feeling them, and trying but struggling to suppress our thoughts. (I struggle with this one most!)

• Overthinking or analysis paralysis

• Difficulty making decisions

• Mental fog or shutdown due to cognitive overload

• Solutions: Slow down, journal thoughts, or use mindfulness to reduce cognitive overload.

Heart Brain Signs of Overwhelm

Our heart brains experience emotional overwhelm when we are feeling so many feelings so fast, we can’t process them. Ultimately, we become emotionally flooded so we suppress them to “feel fine,” seek reassurance from others, or shut down to avoid further distress.

• Feeling overly sensitive or reactive

• Emotional exhaustion, sadness, or despair

• Difficulty connecting with others or withdrawing

• Solutions: Acknowledge and express emotions in a healthy way (e.g., talking to a friend, practicing self-compassion).

Gut Brain Signs of Overwhelm

Our gut brains get frozen in fear unable to process so many perceived threats at once and go into survival mode (fight, flight, freeze, fawn). We find ourselves acting impulsively or aggressively, avoiding responsibilities or numbing with distractions, and feeling powerless or disassociating from the experience.

• Tightness in the stomach, nausea, or digestive issues

• Feeling stuck or unable to take action

• Strong impulses to escape or avoid the situation

• Solutions: Engage in grounding activities like deep breathing, physical movement, or nature walks to reset the nervous system.

Overwhelm Leads to Survival States

When our head, heart, or gut is in overwhelm, our bodies end up in survival states which only compound the problem. When constant chaos, confusion, and lack of clarity overwhelm us, our nervous system can activate fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses as a way to cope with the perceived threat.

Fight (Hyper-Control, Defensiveness, Aggression)

• Constantly trying to assert control over situations or people

• Reacting with anger, frustration, or irritability when things feel uncertain

• Arguing, blaming, or attacking others to feel a sense of power

• Working excessively or becoming overly competitive to maintain control

• Physically tense (tight jaw, clenched fists, rigid posture)

Example: A leader experiencing chaos at work may become overly demanding, micromanaging their team, and snapping at colleagues when things don’t go as planned.

Flight (Avoidance, Busyness, Escapism)

• Feeling the urge to escape the situation, either physically or mentally

• Staying constantly busy to avoid dealing with stress

• Avoiding tough decisions, conversations, or responsibilities

• Restlessness, anxiety, and difficulty focusing

• Engaging in distraction behaviors (overworking, over-exercising, excessive scrolling, binge-watching)

Example: A parent struggling with family chaos might dive into work or hobbies, avoiding home responsibilities because they feel too overwhelming.

Freeze (Shutdown, Numbness, Dissociation)

• Feeling stuck, paralyzed, or unable to make decisions

• Numbing out with excessive sleep, zoning out, or feeling disconnected

• Overwhelming fatigue or exhaustion, even after rest

• Feeling hopeless or unable to move forward

• Procrastinating or avoiding action due to mental overload

Example: Someone struggling with personal chaos might spend hours mindlessly scrolling on their phone or lie in bed all day, unable to motivate themselves to engage with the world.

Fawn (People-Pleasing, Appeasement, Loss of Self)

• Over-accommodating others to keep the peace

• Saying “yes” when they mean “no” out of fear of conflict

• Ignoring their own needs and suppressing personal opinions

• Feeling responsible for managing others’ emotions

• Becoming overly agreeable or trying to be “invisible”

Example: A team member in a chaotic workplace might agree to extra work they can’t handle just to avoid disappointing their boss or coworkers.

The more stress and distress we experience, the lower our tolerance for stress becomes which means we are more likely to perceive threats in our environment. We are more likely to react rather than respond to situations.

In this dysregulated state of survival, our neural networks are shut down and we are unable to access our full human intelligence. Our bodies are only interested in surviving, not in thriving (let alone creating clarity!)

Creating Clarity in a Chaotic World

The world isn’t going to get clearer just because we want or need it to. What can we do to better navigate these challenges?

We need to create clarity for ourselves. Creating clarity is different from allowing our brains to make up stories and excuses. We don’t want to fall into default patterns but instead get intentional about how we will navigate challenging and confusing topics.

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Rather than allow our biases and beliefs to create a story that may or may not be accurate, we need to access our full intelligence and wisdom. We want to wisely consider the topic or issue in a way that overcomes the issues we highlighted above.

Once we’ve chosen a topic, we want to make sense of it in the wisest most intelligent way possible.

Steps to Follow:

1. First, we need to do so from a place of coherence. If we are dysregulated, it will pollute our thinking and prevent access to our neural networks and wisest outcomes. To regulate our nervous system, we can use breathing, movement or sensory grounding to get into balance.

2. Then, we need to activate our neural networks - bringing them into their highest functioning state of creativity, compassion, and courage. By simply touching and connecting with our head, heart, and gut intelligences, we can bring them into their highest state of creativity, compassion, and courage.

3. Thirdly, we must use our full intelligence to process the topic. What do our heads really think? What do our hearts truly feel? What do our guts deeply sense to act on or identify with?

4. Next, we must become conscious of how our beliefs or ways of thinking might be impacting how we are viewing a situation. Are we trying to see it in a certain way or the wisest way? How might we view it differently? What beliefs do we have about this topic? What would we think if we had a different belief?

5. Then, we must become conscious of how our emotions or ways of feeling might be influencing how we are interpreting a situation. Are our personal feelings from our past experiences overriding the feelings of others? How are others feeling about this situation? Are we ignoring or dismissing their feelings?

6. Next, we must become conscious of how our actions or ways of behaving might be changing our experience of the situation. Are our behaviors or past actions/experiences influencing our current experience? Is our identity causing conflict with the situation? How is our identity impacting how we experience the situation? What if we had a different identity, how would it change our experience? (e.g. If you were young vs. old, woman vs. man, farmer v city dweller, religious vs. non-religious)

7. Finally, from a place of compassion, creativity, and courage - what is the wisest way to make sense of and understand the situation? What is the most compassionate, creative, and courageous way to view it? What is the most compassionate, creative, and courageous way to respond or take action based on these insights?

Reflection

• Select a topic you want to make sense of in a wiser way. Consider selecting something challenging but not so difficult that you will get too frustrated and be unable or unwilling to complete the exercise.

• Complete the steps above and see what wisdom emerges as a result.

• Reflect on the following:

Conclusion

I don’t believe things are going to get clearer or less confusing anytime soon. If anything, the more complex and dynamic the world becomes, the harder it will be to find the clarity our brains desperately need to make sense of our experiences. If we do nothing, we will end up in survival states as our primal instincts take over directing us into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn states.

Instead of consciously responding to challenges of chaos and confusion, we will be reacting to them based on our past patterns.

Our brains and neural pathways shape how we view and experience the world – the way we think about it, feel about it, and behave in it. It takes tremendous courage to be willing to engage consciously to consider our thoughts, feelings, and actions around the most challenging of topics.

Rather than complain about the chaos and confusion, we can choose to create our own clarity.

We can choose to consciously respond by engaging our full intelligences and challenging ourselves to think, feel and act in the wisest way possible. Rather than repeating patterns, wouldn’t it be nice to more compassionately, creatively, and courageously find ways to create the clarity we need to solve today’s challenges in a wiser way?

By consciously choosing to be more compassionate, creative, and courageous we have the potential to truly transform not only our experience but that of others with whom we share our lives. We can more wisely engage in ways that create clarity and connection and by doing so help humans and even humanity.