The morning light over the Swiss Alps has a way of making the world feel quiet, even when the news cycle is screaming. I am sitting in my chalet, the one with the floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a panoramic view of the snow-capped peaks. My hazel eyes are fixed on a digital readout of the latest oil prices. I am dressed for a day of focus, wearing my signature purple suit and a crisp red tie. My golden shoes catch the reflection of the morning sun as I adjust my position. It is Friday, 13 March 2026, and the date itself seems to carry the weight of the global uncertainty we are all feeling. From the luxury of this mountain retreat, the chaos of the world feels like a distant storm, yet I know that the thunder is rolling closer to all of us.
We are currently moving through a period I have described before as the March Velocity. It is a time when events move faster than our ability to process them. Between the reports of ship attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the mounting questions regarding Pete Hegseth and possible US involvement in strikes on an Iranian school, the geopolitical landscape is shifting beneath our feet. It reminds me of the themes I explored in my previous piece, The 2026 March Velocity: Navigating Cyber Storms and the Green Fairways of Freedom. Back then, we were looking at the early signs of this turbulence. Now, we are in the thick of it.
The Friction of Global Energy
The Strait of Hormuz has long been the jugular vein of the global economy. To see a timelapse of the fall in shipping traffic there is to watch a slow-motion heart attack of international trade. As tankers are hit and oil facilities in Tehran see air strikes that cause black rain to fall, the price of oil has become the only metric that seems to matter to the markets. People are asking what on earth is going on with the oil price, and the answer is simple but terrifying. We are witnessing the physical manifestation of geopolitical friction. When the flow of energy is interrupted, every other system we rely on begins to stutter.
I recall writing about a similar concept in The Friction of Precision: CrossFit 26.3, the USS Ford, and the Zero-Dimensional Point of Failure. In that article, I discussed how even the most advanced systems, like a multi-billion-dollar aircraft carrier, can be brought to a standstill by a single point of failure. Today, the Iranian warship sunk by the US and the drones hammering Sudan gold and oil zones are those points of failure. The world’s reliance on Gulf oil and gas has been laid bare, and the fragility of our “just-in-time” civilization is no longer a theoretical concern. It is a daily reality for the Americans divided on the Iran war and the Iranians telling of strikes on oil depots that turn night into day.
For those of us who value financial freedom and agency, these disruptions are a call to action. You cannot control whether a drone hits a refinery in the Middle East, but you can control the resilience of your own income streams. This is why I always emphasize building systems that you own. When the Lloyds and Halifax apps show customers other users’ transactions, it is a reminder that big institutional systems are often less secure than we think. I prefer to use tools that empower the individual. For instance, managing your own digital presence through Systeme.io allows you to maintain your business operations even when the traditional financial world is wobbling. It is about creating a bunker of productivity amidst the geopolitical friction.
The Ghost Cars and the Shadow Systems
While the headlines are dominated by missiles and warships, there are other scandals that reveal the decay of our administrative systems. The ghost car scandal in France, which allowed one million illegal vehicles onto the roads, is a perfect example of how the “official” narrative can be completely decoupled from reality. It is a systemic failure of oversight that mirrors the “ghost estates” I have written about in the past. If you look at Reclaiming Irish Ghost Estates and the Sovereign Path Beyond Nio Stock, you will see how I have long tracked the way abandoned or fraudulent systems eventually collapse under their own weight.
Whether it is a million ghost cars in Europe or the ruins that Iranians who supported the war now fear they will be left with, the theme is the same: the loss of agency. We are being told that these systems are for our protection, yet they fail at the most basic levels. The UK asylum appeal backlog reaching a record high of 80,000 is just another symptom of the same disease. The world is becoming a place of long queues and broken promises. This is why I choose the luxury of the Alps and the clarity of a self-directed life. I want to be the one who decides how to navigate the March Velocity, not a passenger on a ship that is already taking on water.
The Human Cost of the Velocity
It is easy to get lost in the macro-level data of oil prices and military strikes, but the human stories are what stay with me. I read about the Iranian footballers who escaped to Australia to claim asylum and the British man charged in Dubai for filming missiles. These are people caught in the gears of history. Even here in my chalet, sipping a perfectly brewed espresso, I feel a romantic sort of melancholy for a world that seems to have forgotten how to be still. We see people like Jo Malone being sued for using her own name, or the tragic stories of identity theft and catfishing. It feels as though the very concept of “self” is under attack by the algorithmic slop of the modern age.
Trump’s comments about the World Cup and the mixed messages regarding the end of the war only add to the confusion. We are living through a period of “highly dangerous” remains, much like the Glasgow fire building that is set to be demolished. We are clearing away the old world, but the new one hasn’t quite arrived yet. It is a transition period, and transition is always where the most friction occurs. It is in these moments that I find the most value in my personal reflections. I believe that being goal-focused doesn’t mean ignoring the chaos; it means finding a path through it that preserves your dignity and your wealth.
Strategy for the Sovereign Individual
So, how do we handle the rest of this March Velocity? First, we must accept that the world we knew in 2024 or 2025 is gone. The rise of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader and the direct involvement of US military refueling planes in Iraq signify a new chapter of conflict. This is not a temporary dip in the markets; it is a fundamental restructuring of global power. To survive and thrive, you must be as mobile as the capital you seek to protect.
I often talk about the importance of digital sovereignty. If you are still relying on a traditional nine-to-five job or a single local market, you are vulnerable to the next black swan event. Using a platform like Systeme.io to build an international business is not just a luxury; it is a defensive strategy. It allows you to operate outside the friction of local political instability. My golden shoes are a symbol of that success, but the foundation of that success is the ability to see the storm coming and move before it hits.
The price of chocolate is slumping, cocoa farmers are struggling, and even the “smart” police stations in Ethiopia are being experimented with. The world is changing in ways both small and large. I intend to spend the rest of my Friday looking out at these mountains, planning my next move. There is a certain beauty in the precision of a well-executed plan, especially when the world around you is defined by the friction of failure. Stay sharp, stay focused, and remember that your agency is the only thing that cannot be taken from you unless you give it away.
As we watch the events in the Middle East unfold and the oil tankers navigate the treacherous waters of the Gulf, we have to ask ourselves: how much of our stability is built on sand, and how much is built on systems we actually control? If the lights went out in the cities tomorrow, as they are doing in parts of Iran right now, what would be left of your digital legacy and your financial freedom?
I hope you are finding your own version of the Swiss Alps this week, a place of peace and perspective amidst the noise of the 2026 Velocity. It is a wild ride, but for those with the right suit and the right shoes, it is a ride worth taking. I look forward to hearing how you are navigating these waters on my social channels. Until next time, stay golden.
What steps have you taken this month to ensure your personal economy is insulated from global energy shocks? When you look at the current geopolitical friction, do you see a world falling apart or a world being forced to find a new kind of precision?