Jan 09 2012
PSYCHOPRENEURS
Think “Shrink”!
Are you a basket case business owner?
Let’s face it, fellow entrepreneurs, everyone is dysfunctional. The experts (whoever they are) proclaim to the universe of both trained and self-designated shrinks out there that everyone comes from a dysfunctional family. Well? Has it ever occurred to you that if each of us has a dysfunctional family, then each of us must also be… hmm?
Okay, so the sanity playing field is now level. So, going forward, let’s just accept that every entrepreneur (us included) is at least in part a psychological mess. Could it be the reason we tend to be so compulsive about so many things? Could it be the reason we tend to be over-stressed and over-react?
Maybe it’s why we jump so abruptly from one thing to another (vs. corporate guys who take the opposite extreme approach of belaboring and analyzing every issue to death, proving their mettle by seeing it all the way through to completion).
Success though is very much about balance, about keeping the highs and lows and the jumping around and the analysis paralysis on an even keel. Moderation is the king of balance. If, for example. we respond instead of react to words, actions, people, ideas , and situations, then there is no possibility of ever OVER-reacting.
Well, that makes sense, but isn’ it easier said than done? How do we get ourselves to respond instead of react when our fuses get ignited? Maybe get a longer fuse. Maybe keep your fuse away from ignition switches and spontaneous combustion dynamics . . . kind of like not putting yourself intentionally in harm’s way.
It’s a choice. Let’s try that once more with feeling:
IT’S A CHOICE! Choose how-to steps like these:
First aid techniques include cold water on your face (perhaps a cold shower, depending on circumstances), washing your hands, taking a couple of quick deep breaths, briskly rubbing your temples or the back of your neck, taking a walk around the block, or saying a prayer of thanks for what you have in your life today.
In police crisis intervention training, the number one objective of any “domestic call” (usually a family dispute, and the source of more police injuries and fatalities than any other type of call, including robberies and high speed chases!) is to physically separate the warring parties into different rooms or spaces.
A business derivative of this is to physically separate yourself from a conflict situation long enough to gain or re-gain composure. There is no purpose to be served by “toughing it out”. . . save that notion for your next movie script, or sports field heroics. Reacting and over-reacting have no place in business. None. Zero. Zip. Nada.
SHRINK YOURSELF OUT! Get in front of that mirror. Make an angry face and decide how that looks. Next, take a deep breath and briskly rub your cheeks and forehead for 5-10 seconds. Now smile your best, most genuine smile. How does that look and feel? How hard was to switch gears? You can do that whenever you want. Choice.
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Hal@Businessworks.US 931.854,0474
