Decision Making Principles: Why Restraint and Systematic Thinking Beat Reactive Responses in Markets and Life
- Sep 11
- 5 min read
Yesterday was another shocking day in America. In a community right next door to mine, Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking to students at UVU - gunned down by a shooter firing from the roof of a student building. Hours later, news broke of yet another school shooting in Colorado. Late last month, a young Ukrainian girl who had escaped the ugliness of war in her homeland was stabbed to death while riding a train in Charlotte. And not long ago, just blocks from my own home, a young father was beaten to death in a senseless road rage incident.
It's too much to take in. One tragic story is enough, but as such stories mount in every community, they create a picture of society on the edge - a pervasively agitated culture where anger, fear, and division are boiling over in every direction.
We're living in a time where everything feels inflamed. Politics, headlines, even ordinary conversations between family members or friends can ignite like dry grass in a windstorm. Outrage spreads faster than truth, fear takes root more quickly than hope, and division is more rewarded than unity. Every day seems to bring another reason to feel upset and unsafe.
It's no wonder people feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and ready to give up. Some retreat inward, some lash out, and others try to tune it out. But none of those responses seems to bring lasting healing. If anything, the fire continues to spread unchecked.
What's missing? We've tried to manage divisions in society with politics, policies, and programs, but none of them can cool hearts and minds already on fire, and where big money is made by fanning those flames. Outrage is now an industry. The louder the headline, the sharper the sound bite, the more profit it generates. More clicks, more shock, more division - more money.
It's like the wild west has returned digitally, but just as morally bankrupt.
The Wild West didn't become civilized by chance. In the early days, frontier towns were ruled by whoever was quickest to anger or had the fastest gun. Justice was personal, and revenge was the norm, just like now. But over time, that raging way of living wore people down. Communities realized they couldn't raise families, build schools, or run businesses living in a constant state of fear.
So law and order slowly began to take root. Sheriffs, judges, and town councils began to replace vigilantes. Churches and schools became the community's moral anchors, teaching restraint, honesty, and the value of neighborliness. As towns grew, prosperity demanded cooperation - trade needed peace to flourish.
The Wild West wasn't tamed by more violence or by rugged individualism alone; it was tamed by more restraint, by the rise of common values, and most importantly, by the return of faith and sense of community. It was when people chose order over chaos, family over isolation, and God over lawlessness that the frontier became a place where real civilization could grow.
We face a similar moment today. Our society feels like it's on the frontier again - inflamed, divided, quick to lash out where anger feels more natural than patience. But our society isn't going to "civilize" itself. Politics, policies, and programs are NOT going to fix all that's broken. What's needed is the same foundation that healed the frontier: the real human desire for order, for personal restraint, for family, community, and for God. It was never the six-shooter that was at issue - it was putting back what was missing in people's hearts.
The Wild West became sane and civilized not because violence ended, but because people decided they could have something better by personally living better.
Personally, I choose restraint, I choose family, and I choose God. So even in a world that's on fire, I hope to be in some small way, one drop that can help cool the ground that is becoming scorched beneath our feet. I refuse to let anger and fear define me or my future. I hope you do too.
Civilization can't be built by money, by its loudest voices, or its fastest guns. It's built by ordinary people like us who decide that peace is worth more than pride or unmitigated prosperity, that unity is worth more than division, and that faith is worth more than fear. It's how the frontier was tamed - and it's the only way our society is going to be healed. Not through another program, another politician, or another protest, but through the daily choices to live differently: to de-escalate instead of inflame, to forgive instead of retaliate, and to put God back at the center of our lives.
That's the proven path I know. Take it or leave it. But it seems clear that once people choose to leave it, the end results are plain to see.
Join Market Turning Points
The decision making principles that build civilized societies are the same principles that create successful trading careers. At Market Turning Points, we understand that sustainable market success comes from systematic thinking, personal restraint, and disciplined approaches rather than reactive responses to market volatility. Our community focuses on developing the character traits and analytical frameworks necessary for long-term trading success, recognizing that markets reward those who choose patience over impulse and systematic analysis over emotional reactions.
Our approach to market analysis mirrors the same foundational principles that transform chaotic environments into orderly, productive communities. Just as the Wild West required law, order, and common values to become civilized, successful trading requires systematic methodologies, risk management disciplines, and principled decision-making frameworks. We teach our members to build trading approaches based on proven principles rather than chasing the latest market trends or reacting to daily news cycles that create more noise than profit.
The Market Turning Points community attracts individuals who understand that true success - whether in markets or in life - comes from making difficult daily choices to live and trade differently than the reactive masses. Our members learn to apply decision making principles that emphasize long-term thinking, systematic analysis, and personal restraint in their market positioning strategies. Transform your trading approach through principled decision-making and systematic market analysis by joining our community of traders committed to building sustainable success through proven principles rather than emotional market reactions.
Conclusion on Decision Making Principles
The decision making principles that transform divided societies into thriving communities are identical to those that separate successful traders from the reactive masses who lose money in volatile markets. Whether facing societal chaos or market uncertainty, the solution remains consistent: choose systematic thinking over emotional reactions, embrace personal restraint over impulsive responses, and build approaches based on proven principles rather than chasing short-term outcomes. Just as the Wild West became civilized through the daily choices of ordinary people to live differently, market success comes from traders who consistently apply disciplined decision-making frameworks.
The parallels between building civilized societies and achieving trading success run deeper than surface similarities. Both require rejecting the immediate gratification of reactive responses in favor of systematic approaches that produce sustainable long-term results. In markets, this means avoiding the temptation to chase headlines, react to daily volatility, or abandon proven strategies during temporary setbacks. Instead, successful traders develop decision making principles that emphasize patience, systematic analysis, and the courage to maintain disciplined approaches even when market emotions run high.
The proven path forward - whether in life or markets - requires the same foundational choice: will we be part of the reactive masses who contribute to chaos and destruction, or will we choose the harder path of systematic thinking, personal restraint, and principled decision-making that builds lasting success? The answer determines not only our individual outcomes but also contributes to whether our communities and markets become more civilized or continue descending into reactive chaos. The choice, as always, remains ours to make through our daily decisions and the principles we choose to follow.
Author, Steve Swanson