Don’t panic. Act.
Early in my career, in my first management position, I was faced with a number of deadline-busting crises. The first few times, I panicked and freaked out. Having gotten that out of the way, I reverted to analytical thinking: what went wrong, why, what solution could best fix the problem, and how could we implement the solution?
After those first few times, I realized I could skip the panic phase and go directly to the analytical phase. And lo and behold, not only was that more productive, but it was also the key to calming down and getting off the emotional roller-coaster.
Today is a good day to panic
Tomorrow is election day, and we’ve all been told that if we vote for the wrong person, it will destroy American democracy.
Sounds like a good reason to panic.
Take away the lesson I learned in my 20s.
Skip the panic.
Can you do anything about it? (Maybe call your friend in a swing state and have a calm and trusting conversation.) If so, do what you can.
If you can’t, then work on something else.
Really. Panic isn’t good for you. Problem-solving is.
Enjoy your Monday.
Thank you very much for this, Josh. The question must always be, what do we need to do next. What’s in my power to take action and what are my steps to move forward? Freezing (like panic) is not the answer. Engaging our prefrontal cortex helps.
I hate the saying, “If there’s nothing you can do about it, there’s no point in worrying.”
That’s backward. It’s precisely when there’s nothing you can do about something that worrying is appropriate. If I have a special-needs child who will have no one to care for them after I die, and the child cannot become self-sufficient, then yes, I will worry. (I don’t, by the way)
Notice, I didn’t say worrying is useful. But why do people suddenly become utilitarians when advising about an intractable problem that belongs to someone else? If it happened to them, they’d panic.
A wise man once said, “Adversity is easy to bear.” Another man’s, I mean.”