Why the most radical move you can make in a loud world is to be quiet.

“As we navigate through life, there is so much noise, distortions, diversions and destructions… in the midst of it all never lose yourself. Have the ability to strike a balance in your self-belief, aspirations and authenticity. Approach everything with the truth, facts and Calmness.”

– Tendai Rugare

The world does not whisper; it screams.

If you pause for a moment—truly pause—you can hear it. The relentless cacophony of “shoulds,” “musts,” and “have-tos.” It is a landscape of fracturing mirrors, a thousand distorted realities begging for your attention. Every notification, every headline, every deadline threatens to pull us apart until we are nothing but scattered pixels in someone else’s picture.

We are living in the age of High-Velocity Noise. And in this chaotic symphony of distractions, we are forgetting the most important sound of all: the counter-melody.

It is quiet. It is steady. It is profound. It is the sound of you.

The Curator of the Soul

To create a masterpiece of a life, particularly in the breathless sprint of the modern era, we must stop acting like consumers of our own lives and start acting like curators.

A curator does not hang every painting they are offered. They select. They reject. They protect the gallery’s integrity. To reclaim your peace, you must reject the distortions and cling to the raw, unvarnished texture of your own truth.

This is not about checking out; it’s about tuning in. It is what we call The Art of Calmness.

Calmness is a Verb

There is a misconception that calmness is passive—that it is the absence of energy. On the contrary, true calmness is the mastery of energy. It is the eye of the storm. The winds may rage at 100 miles per hour, destroying everything in their path, but in the center, there is perfect, controlled stillness.

That is where the leader stands.

Take Tendai Rugare. As the Chairperson for AWFISHNET-Zimbabwe, she operates in an industry defined by unpredictability. Fisheries and aquaculture are volatile sectors—subject to climate, economy, and shifting tides. She carries the mandate of turning a sector into a billion-dollar economy while empowering women and youth on the ground.

The stakes are impossibly high. The noise is deafening. Yet, her approach to leadership is a masterclass in the Art of Calmness.

“As we navigate through life, there is so much noise, distortions, diversions and destructions,” she says. “In the midst of it all, never lose yourself.”

Tendai doesn’t ignore the chaos of the industry; she simply refuses to let it set her rhythm. “Have the ability to strike a balance in your self-belief, aspirations, and authenticity,” she advises. “Approach everything with the truth, facts, and Calmness.”

The Strategy of Truth

How do we apply this? How do we move from “surviving” the noise to “composing” our lives?

The Art of Anchor

1. Strip Away the Veneer When we approach life with “truth and facts,” we ground ourselves. Anxiety thrives on the “what ifs,” but peace lives in the “what is.” Authenticity becomes our anchor.

2. Become the Beacon When you refuse to be swayed by the diversions, you stop being a mirror reflecting everyone else’s stress. You become a beacon—a distinct, resonant signal that cuts through the static.

3. Compose, Don’t Just Consume Your challenge today is this: Don’t just survive the noise. Compose something beautiful within it. Let your self-belief be the rhythm and your authenticity be the rhyme.

The year isn’t over. The noise will try to convince you to rush, to panic, to fracture. Don’t let it.

Be the eye of the storm.