Every Friday, I share concise, actionable insights for growing your business, optimizing your time, and expanding your mindset. Co-author of multiple million-copy bestsellers.
Who Walks Out (2 Min Read) | Vol. 220
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September 11, 2026 | Read Online “Once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm’s all about.” — Haruki Murakami Who Walks Out Wendy and I had moved from New York to Austin the year before. Most of our friends were still there. I was at work when the first report came in. Someone wheeled a television into our meeting room, and we stood around it. A plane had hit the North Tower. A horrible accident. Then the second plane hit. We cried. We hugged. We prayed. Our world changed. My mom’s generation had John F. Kennedy. She can still tell you exactly where she was when she heard the news. September 11 was ours. Twenty-five years later, I still wonder about the people who made it through. Six months after the attacks, a Columbia researcher named George Bonanno surveyed 2,752 New Yorkers. Sixty-five percent reported one or no symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Even among those who were in or near the World Trade Center, more than half came through okay. That finding has held up. Grief. Injury. Disaster. Combat. Even the pandemic. Same pattern every time. Most people make it through. That's good news. What’s nagged at researchers for decades is that we still can’t tell who. Grit. Optimism. Toughness. All the traits we’d put money on don’t hold up when tested. Bonanno calls it the “resilience paradox.” Twenty-five years of good research, and the most honest answer is that we can't predict who walks out well. Which brings me to now. The storms we’ve been living through haven’t let up since 2020. A pandemic. Inflation. An election season that strained families and friendships. And now AI disruption. Everyone is carrying something. So what separates the people who come through from those who don't? The best answer we have isn’t a trait. It’s the willingness to adapt. The ability to read what’s in front of you, match your response, and change course when that response stops working. If you battle everything, you will burn out. If you accept everything, you get run over. The skill is knowing which situation you’re in. I wrote about this a few years back with the Agency Matrix. When do you ask for help, when do you act, and when do you accept? If you can match your approach to what you’re facing, your odds go up. You don’t get to decide when life will dump calamity in your lap. Just know, it’s coming. But who walks out is still being decided. One question to ponder in your thinking time: Where am I using the same response for every problem? Make an Impact! Not subscribed? Become a Twenty Percenter here. |
Jay Papasan
Every Friday, I share concise, actionable insights for growing your business, optimizing your time, and expanding your mindset. Co-author of multiple million-copy bestsellers.
PSA – If you’d like to do your goal-setting retreat with us, Wendy and I are hosting our final The ONE Thing Summit & Goal Setting Retreat virtually on November 13–14. It’s two half days, so you can book a hotel nearby, enjoy your mornings, and join us for the sessions. Every attendee gets our 40+ page workbook walking you through the process. It’s arguably worth the ticket price alone. Learn more here. October 23, 2026 | Read Online “Unspoken expectations are premeditated resentments.” –...
October 16, 2026 | Read Online “Instead of choosing between A or B, they figure out a way to have both A and B.” – Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, Built to Last The 50-Hour Tipping Point Anna was a leader at a large global company. She loved her job. She loved her team and her clients. In her first coaching session, she confided to Cyril Peupion that she was going to quit. Not right away. In six months, after her bonus hit. “The price I’m paying is too high,” she shared. She rarely saw her two...
October 9, 2026 | Read Online “One of history’s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations.” – Yuval Noah Harari Pull the Right Lever In the past two weeks, I’ve had the same conversation three times. A business owner tells me the year has been good. They’re profitable. Then they drop the bomb. They lost five figures last month. Three owners. Same story. They’re not alone. A lot of leaders are feeling the uncertainty right now. Sales slow down....