The art of harnessing chaos magic
The true gift of success isn’t eliminating chaos—it’s having enough chaos working in your favor that good things start happening more often than not.
Most successful people I know are masters of chaos magic. I don’t mean they are chaos; I mean they understand how to live in chaos, harness chaos, and use chaos in a restful way.
When I started on my path to success, I thought I’d eventually become like President Business from The LEGO Movie: structured, orderly, in control of everything. I pictured a well-oiled machine humming under my watchful eye, every piece in its place. But the reality turned out to be wildly different. The more successful I became, the more I channeled big Princess Unikitty energy.
People laugh when I say this but hear me out: Princess Unikitty is an absolute unit. Her kingdom thrives not because it’s orderly, but because she knows how to ride the waves of chaos, harness its energy, and create something magical out of it.
Unlike President Business, who exhausts himself trying to force order on a chaotic world, Princess Unikitty understands that the world is inherently unpredictable. Chaos isn’t a bug in the system; it’s the main feature of it. Her genius lies in not fighting it but channeling it productively.
This was a game-changing realization for me.
Many of the people I coach think that achieving success means finally being able to impose order on their lives. But that’s a trap. The true gift of success isn’t eliminating chaos—it’s having enough chaos working in your favor that good things start happening more often than not. It’s learning to harness the unpredictable and thrive in its flow.
Imagine a life where chaos no longer feels threatening. You wake up each day grounded in your purpose, open to the unexpected, and ready to turn unpredictability into progress. You trust your systems, your community, and your ability to adapt.
This is the essence of chaos magic: not controlling the storm, but dancing with it.
What is chaos magic?
Let’s get one thing straight: chaos magic isn’t about casting spells or invoking mystical forces. It’s about cultivating a growth mindset to approach the swirling, unpredictable mess of life with curiosity, confidence, and creativity. Chaos magic is the art of thriving in uncertainty, of turning the unexpected into an ally instead of an enemy.
Chaos is inevitable, especially for those who are building something ambitious. The more you grow, the more connections you make, the more decisions you face, and the more opportunities you create. Each of these adds complexity, and with complexity comes chaos. The magic lies in recognizing that this isn’t a problem to solve but a power to harness.
There was a time when I could have named every one of my customers and told you exactly when and where I met them. Now, with a much larger fanbase, and with so many potential touchpoints, it’s impossible for me to tell someone where I met them.
This is one of the many paradoxes of success: the more you achieve, the more chaos you attract…and that’s a good thing.
Imagine an entrepeneur who ships their first breakout hit. With the success of that launch comes a flood of new opportunities. At the same time, the demands on their time and attention skyrocket. They must now juggle deadlines, navigate public appearances, and keep their energy alive, all while managing a growing fan base. The sheer volume of moving parts creates chaos.
Growing a bigger audience helps your business in a myriad of ways, but the most important thing might be that it allows for more chaos to swirl under and around you. More people talking about your work allows for more moments of serendipity to collide and more good things to happen for you. Opportunities amplify when you allow more chaos to swirl around you.
Chaos is the natural byproduct of growth. Learning to thrive in it is the hallmark of lasting success. Instead of fighting against it, we must learn to harness that chaos to our benefit.
Despite its inevitability, most of us instinctively resist chaos. From a young age, we’re taught to value order, predictability, and control. Society celebrates the neatly planned, the perfectly executed, the tightly managed. Chaos, by contrast, is often framed as a sign of failure.
This mindset runs deep. Chaos triggers our fear of the unknown, our anxiety about making mistakes, and our discomfort with losing control. But chaos is also where breakthroughs happen. It’s the fertile ground of innovation, creativity, and growth. In order to access its gifts, you have to let go of the illusion of control and embrace the unpredictability.
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, but the key is learning to reframe these emotions. Ask yourself, What can this chaos teach me? or How can I grow from this?
Harnessing chaos: The C.H.A.O.S. Framework
In working with so many successful creators, and learning from their process, I developed a simple framework that can hopefully help you harness the power of chaos, learn to live with it, and use its magic to propel you forward.
This C.H.A.O.S. framework has five stages: Center, Harness, Adapt, Observe, Simplify.
Remember, harnessing chaos magic isn’t about being chaos. It’s about flowing with the chaos, aware and awake for opportunities when they present themselves, and being able to redirect its energy into productive outlets when you find them.
1. (C)enter yourself
The first step to mastering chaos is grounding yourself. When everything feels like it’s spinning out of control, your inner stability becomes your anchor. This might mean developing a daily ritual like meditation, journaling, or even a walk in nature to calm your mind and clarify your priorities.
Centering yourself isn’t about eliminating chaos. It’s about maintaining your equilibrium within it. Think of it like standing in the eye of a storm. The winds rage around you, but in the center, you remain calm.
2. (H)arness productive chaos
Not all chaos is destructive. Creative bursts, unexpected connections, and sudden opportunities can be incredibly productive. The key is learning to recognize the difference. Productive chaos adds energy to your life, while destructive chaos drains it.
When you encounter chaos, pause and ask: Is this moving me closer to my goals, or is it pulling me away? If it’s the former, lean in. If it’s the latter, let it go.
It’s very possible that you won’t know which bit of the chaos will be productive. In that case, try to isolate one bit of chaos, and start playing with it.
Which bit of the chaos seems fun to you? Which bit sparks your intuition? There are opportunities everywhere, so following the fun is a pretty good starting place, even if eventually it doesn’t lead anywhere. At least then you did something that was fun, right?
3. (A)dapt with flexible systems
Rigid systems break under pressure. Flexible systems bend and thrive. This means creating processes that allow for experimentation, iteration, and change. For example, instead of micromanaging every step of a project, set broad goals and empower your team to find their own solutions. Flexibility isn’t a lack of structure. It’s a structure that evolves over time, like one of those inflatable tube men waving their arms all over the place.
There is money everywhere if you look for it with intention. However, if we build our systems in a way that breaks instead of bends, we won’t be able to flow in ways that capture it. I spent many years pursuing paths that didn’t lead to money, mainly because I couldn’t even see the opportunities all around me. Then, when I did start to see them, my business was so structured that pivoting toward them would have broken my foundation.
When I started holding my ideas more loosely and allowing myself to evolve with time in easeful ways, I started making much more money and having more success.
4. (O)bserve and learn
Chaos is a powerful teacher, but only if you’re willing to listen. Instead of rushing to control the situation, take time to observe. What patterns are emerging? What opportunities are hidden within the mess? Chaos often reveals insights you’d miss in a more orderly environment.
This is why I’m so big on analyzing data. It’s not because I’m rigidly pursuing my goals. It’s because I’m throwing a lot of chaos at the universe and observing results.
When you run a science experiment, the only one who doesn’t know what’s going to happen is you. The universe already knows what’s going to happen when you combine certain things together.
Data is how I impose some amount of structure on experiments so I can repeat them. The universe is chaos, but it is often consistent chaos that can be harnessed in predictable ways.
I find something as simple as taking a few deep breaths helps center me on the deeper meaning behind a situation. Yes, things may be blowing up all around me, but there are ways to use those explosions to lift me up instead of letting them blow up in my face.
5. (S)implify to rebalance
When chaos becomes overwhelming, the solution isn’t to fight it harder—it’s to simplify. Cut back to what matters most. Eliminate distractions. Focus your energy on the essentials. Simplification isn’t about giving up; it’s about creating space for clarity and action.
Going back to the beginning and retracing your steps usually reveals the flaw in your process, and being fluid in your systems should allow you to backtrack to the problem and pick another path or abandon it completely. If something isn’t serving you, feel free to stop working on it. You can always pick it up later. Your intuition is probably telling you that you missed something, and you need to reenter the chaos to find out how to move forward.
We might think we know what’s going to happen, but even if we have run the same experiment a hundred times before there’s a small chance that you’ll get a wildly different result, which is fabulous and frustrating in equal measure.
The long-term benefits of chaos magic
Mastering chaos isn’t just a short-term survival skill—it’s a long-term strategy for success. Over time, chaos magic builds resilience, adaptability, and confidence. It makes you antifragile: instead of breaking under pressure, you grow stronger.
In practical terms, this means:
Resilience: You bounce back faster from setbacks.
Adaptability: You pivot gracefully when plans change.
Innovation: You find unexpected solutions and opportunities.
These aren’t just professional skills. They’re life skills, too. Chaos magic makes you better equipped to handle the inevitable unpredictability of life, whether in your career, relationships, or personal growth.
Remember that you’re the magician. Sometimes, magicians need to be chaos agents, but usually they stand in the center of a chaotic universe and wield that chaos to their benefit.
How do you know you’re mastering chaos magic? Here are some signs:
Emotional resilience: You feel less overwhelmed by unpredictability and more curious about what it can teach you.
Productive patterns: You consistently turn chaotic moments into opportunities for growth or innovation.
Greater impact: Your projects, teams, or creative endeavors thrive, even in uncertain conditions.
Increased confidence: You approach challenges with a sense of calm and capability, knowing you can handle whatever comes.
Here are a couple of exercises that might help you harness your own brand of chaos.
Chaos mapping: Write down all the areas of chaos in your life. Separate them into two categories: “Productive chaos” (opportunities, creative sparks) and “Destructive chaos” (energy drains, unnecessary distractions). For each item, brainstorm one action to harness or reduce it.
Controlled chaos challenge: Pick a routine area of your life—like your morning schedule or a creative project. Intentionally disrupt it for a week (e.g., work in a new location, experiment with a wild idea). Reflect on how the change sparks new insights or opportunities.
Post-chaos reflection: After a chaotic event, write down what you learned. What went well? What didn’t? What patterns or opportunities emerged? Use these reflections to improve your approach next time.
Chaos magic isn’t about controlling the uncontrollable. It’s about learning to dance with it. The most successful people I know aren’t those who avoid chaos; they’re the ones who embrace it, channel it, and turn it into fuel for their ambitions.
The next time life feels chaotic, remember, chaos isn’t a problem to solve. It’s an opportunity to grow. Be like Princess Unikitty. Channel the madness. Build your kingdom not in spite of the chaos, but because of it.
And when you do, you’ll discover the real magic: thriving in the unpredictable and creating something extraordinary along the way.
