It had been a hard week at work. After a year in which a remarkable number of things had gone well, I suddenly found myself in a series of difficult, disappointing conversations I had not expected.
Toward the end of an especially challenging day, I felt compelled to sit down in a roomy chair in our office, close my eyes and simply breathe quietly for a few minutes. Instinctively, I was seeking to calm my body and quiet my mind. If I didn’t take time to step back and reset, I knew my anxiety would begin to feel overwhelming, feed on itself and quickly spread to others.
When we’re feeling anxious and overwhelmed, we’re different people than when we’re calm and secure. In the latter state, our prefrontal cortex runs the show, and we’re capable of making informed choices. When fear intrudes, our amygdala and the lower regions of our brain take over, and we can’t think straight.
Fear contracts us. It’s the primary weapon of terrorists, who are so aptly named.
Think for a moment of how you behave at your best. Next, think about what you’re like at your worst, and how radically different those two selves are. They’re both “you.” But in one, you have the potential for deeply absorbed focus, creativity and deep connection to others. In the other, you are narrow in attention, inflexible in behavior and forever primed to fight or flee.
[For more of this story, written by Tony Schwartz, go to http://dealbook.nytimes.com/20...tive-workplace/?_r=0]
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