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Getting a Grip When the World Won't Stop Spinning

There’s a moment when everything feels out of hand—when plans unravel, and control slips through your fingers. Maybe it’s a tech hiccup while you’re live-streaming, or perhaps it’s the weight of navigating divorce, custody battles, or exponential growth in your business. Life rarely offers a single-threaded challenge. It’s a tangle, a maze, and it’s easy to get lost.

The temptation is to grasp harder. To hold on with white-knuckled intensity. But “getting a grip” isn’t what most people think it is. It's not about tightening control. It's about loosening rigidity.

Start by Changing the Meaning

What you make something mean determines everything. It’s a framing issue. Does an unexpected challenge signal failure, or does it whisper opportunity? Same event, different meaning. Ask better questions, and you'll find different answers. Spencer reminded us of that in his talk—what else could this mean? When you change what something represents, the world shifts slightly in your favor.

History is littered with figures who did this well. Spencer's mention of Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a case in point. She saw injustice not as an immovable fact but as a call to arms. Change the meaning, change the world. That applies whether you’re fighting for rights or fighting through a tough day at work.

Focus on What’s Here

It’s hard to see clearly when everything feels out of control. Focus often becomes a wandering compass, pointing at every potential disaster. But focus is malleable. It can be redirected. That’s why gratitude isn’t just a feel-good exercise; it’s a tool for regaining control. What’s working? What do you already have? Gratitude forces your attention onto what’s stable, and stability gives you a platform to stand on when things get shaky.

Move. Do. Act.

Change isn’t passive. Once you’ve reframed and refocused, it’s time to act. This doesn’t mean solving every problem instantly. It can be as simple as a breath, a walk, a decision to reach out for support. Movement, however small, breaks inertia. Action reclaims agency. When everything feels chaotic, small steps are acts of defiance.

Three Steps, Infinite Applications

Change the meaning. Refocus. Take action. This is how you get a grip—not by clutching tighter but by leaning into flexibility, curiosity, and momentum. When you learn to move with the world instead of fighting it, you become someone who thrives in chaos.

You might not always control the spin of the world. But you can choose how you respond. 

Get a grip, and keep moving forward,

Spencer Combs




About Spencer Combs:

Spencer Combs is a business leader and author of Momentum and Mastery: The Business Leader's Guide to Fastrack Unshakeable Profit, Productivity, and Purpose. With a passion for helping others transform their challenges into opportunities, Spencer offers unique insights through his events, coaching programs, and daily text messages.


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Connect with Spencer: www.spencercombs.com/social 

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Jacksonville, FL, USA

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