Managing Your Emotions in Tough Times

Leslie DicksonPosted by Leslie Dickson on March 30th, 2010 | 0 Comments

The reality is, times are tough. While there’s some evidence the economy is beginning to turn around, uncertainty still prevails in most business circles. Corporate leaders and small business owners alike are in a state of limbo, unable to make major business decisions until they have a better sense of where things are headed long-term. What is going to happen today, tomorrow, next year, and in the foreseeable future?

This is the question that causes sleepless nights, and the angst felt at the top trickles down through the entire organization. That, combined with incessant media hyperbole, creates a culture of tension and fear, leaving everyone with the deep, disquieting, single most important question: What about me?

Yet, from the executive suite to the plant floor, everyone is expected to show up day after day and do the job without complaining. It’s incredibly hard to remain emotionally intact in such circumstances.

At VoicePro®, we are toughing out these difficult times along with everyone else. And while we can’t give you strategic solutions to the monumental problems of the present economy, we can, from our own experience, offer suggestions for maintaining a sense of emotional equilibrium during these tough times. They include acknowledging your feelings and surrounding them with a healthy and positive framework.

Change Your Story

Your story is the internal narrative you have created about yourself. It’s the ongoing dialogue you have with yourself that defines you and controls how you handle triumph and how you face up to adversity. Just by changing your story you can impact what you feel—and in turn what you do.

According to Deepak Chopra, whenever you think, you are altering your brain chemistry. This means that your story, the story you tell yourself, creates neural patterns in your brain that become your reality. Negative thoughts over time turn into negative behaviors, and you become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Just as an athlete learns to perform physical feats through mental practicing, you can change your story by changing your thoughts and giving yourself new, more positive metal images.

Don’t Let Yourself Go Negative

Negativism will drain your energy. So when you catch yourself with depressing thoughts about yourself or your situation, stop. Go back and rephrase, removing the negative tone and replacing it with something more constructive. Keep it upbeat and in the present tense: I am managing my situation very well, right now, rather than, I will be able to handle it (in the future).

Surround yourself with positive people. Avoid the gloom-and-doom conversations at the coffee machine or in the lunch room. The moment people start talking about how helpless they are and how the deck is stacked against them, get up and go somewhere else.

Take the Time to Quiet Your Mind

It’s so easy to go into drive mode when you’re under pressure. In tough economic times, every sales pitch counts. Personnel issues take on an added dimension, because the lives of families are on the line. Even small changes in the bottom line are momentous. It’s tempting to give in to anxious thoughts and try harder and harder and harder, spinning your wheels until you’re emotionally exhausted.

Just as a parent does with a child, you need to give yourself a timeout. Take five minutes to sit quietly with your feet on the floor and your eyes closed. Relax the tension in your face, your shoulders, and your hands. Now, listen to your breathing. Breathe out, breathe in. Breathe out, breathe in. That’s all there is to it, just five minutes a day.

When we do this exercise at VoicePro® with workshop participants, the change in atmosphere is almost instantaneous. A calm settles over the room, and when the moment is over, everyone is focused and ready to concentrate on what’s coming next.

Act As If It Were True

In 12-step programs, it’s called “fake it till you make it.” The idea is that if you behave in a certain way, even if initially it feels forced, you will come to feel that way. Studies have shown that “faking it till you make it” can have an immediate—and surprisingly strong—impact on your emotions. So If you act calm, confident and assertive, you will eventually feel calm, confident and assertive. The altered neural patterns in your brain will have given you a new reality.

So straighten up, square your shoulders, and stand tall. Move with purpose, and smile as if you mean it.

Yes, the reality is, times are tough. But we don’t have to give in to anxiety or sink into despair. At VoicePro®, we’re writing our own story. You too can write yours, however you see it, however you want.

 Image by Piez

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