When things happen, do you get emotional?
I do!
Although these days I can usually calm myself down fairly quickly and coach myself out of a full blown tizzy or an unthoughtful reaction.
I thought it might be a useful discussion this week.
When I worked for Kip McGrath Education Centres I really appreciated working with Storm McGrath because he had the ability to be detached.
If something happened (and keep in mind, this was 20 odd years ago), and I got emotional, I knew my logic went out the window. You may know the saying, “When emotion is high, intelligence is low”.
Well fortunately for me, Storm was always logical and calm. I would go to him for counsel and he would listen, process the information and then share a logical considered response with me which I was able to action. In what we call the Primal state, I would never have been able to come up with the solution.
This week, one of my colleagues, Mark Kentwell, used a phrase which explained how Storm had been able to process my reaction all those years ago.
According to Mark, “It’s just data”.
When we receive feedback, it’s just data. It’s only information.
There is no need to get plugged into the information. That’s all it is.
As David Bayer says, “There is no suffering in the experience. It’s just an experience. The suffering comes from the meaning we give it.”
So, if you’ve found yourself suffering recently; becoming emotional when you needn’t be or losing it when you really need to keep it together, keep in mind Mark’s mantra, “It’s just data”.
Give it a go.
See if it makes a difference and helps you to get out of the Primal and into the Powerful state more quickly.
And if you’ve received some feedback that has caused you to react, remember, it’s just data. It’s only information. You can decide how you deal with it.
P.S. Are you in Newcastle, NSW? Are you interested to learn How Your Personality Affects How Well You Lead? If so, please join me on Wed 8th June 11:30am for lunch. I’ll be presenting an interactive session at The Lake Macquarie Business Women’s Network. I’d love you to join me.
https://businessgrowthcentre.org.au/networking-and-events/
P.P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.
