Most of us suffer not from our problems, but from treating every problem like a Category 5 hurricane.
In this segment from Stop Treating Every Problem Like a Hurricane, Ben walks through his complete 5-category framework for complaints — a system born from a conversation with his mom on a Cape Cod beach that helps you calibrate your emotional responses to everything life throws at you.
Category 1 (Light Drizzle): Wrong coffee order, red lights, pedestrians walking slowly → These are training reps. Smile and let it go.
Category 2 (Thunderstorm): Flight delay, spilled coffee, kid forgot lunch → Solve it fast with flexibility, not emotion.
Category 3 (Tropical Storm): Injury, job setback, marriage tension → Deserves real attention, but don’t catastrophize. It’s serious, not permanent.
Category 4 (Hurricane): Cancer diagnosis, divorce, house fire → Rally the crew. Your future is different now. Focus on who you’ll be on the other side.
Category 5 (Superstorm): Terminal illness, death of a spouse or child → Survival first. One foot in front of the other. “What now?” not “Why me?”
The core insight: Suffering is miscategorizing complaints. Wisdom is calibration — right emotion, right amount, right time. Not everything deserves the same response.
Chasing Excellence is an audience-supported project. To go deeper & to help us do even more, consider:
Subscribing to get our free posts or upgrading to receive the Daily Chase posts & access to our app.
Grabbing one of our books: Chasing Excellence, Unlocking Potential, or The ABCs of Being Happy & Healthy.
Supporting one of our fantastic show sponsors.
