President Trump was right to reprimand the reporter for focusing on the negative during his daily press briefing yesterday. At any time, let alone a time of crisis, concentrating on what is not working or going wrong will not boost morale or foster brain-friendly peak performance.*
Choosing to direct attention towards the positive, however difficult, is what will help people cope better with the uncertainty and challenges. This is not always easy, especially as the human brain is hardwired to focus on what is wrong for survival reasons.
Bad news sells. As we have seen universally across cultures, when the brain’s limbic system is activated and this is sustained, rational thought and collaboration go out the window, hence the panic-buying and stockpiling of toilet rolls.
You are doing brilliantly!
I sincerely hope that you are finding your new, temporary ‘normal’ and with the brain performance boost of this novel situation are discovering glimmers of light in the dark. Doing what is fun and energises you is even more important, as is having a break for your brain.
The brain and body are under immense stress: you may find that you are more tired than expected. Perhaps, one of the benefits will be that many people get much more sleep than usual (and catch up any sleep deficit), which will have massive health benefits across society. I predict that many commuters will not want to resume their long travel to work again, will change jobs and working from home will become more accepted.
How can I help you? FREE SUPPORT – just ask!
I’ve worked from home and coached clients virtually (telephone and video call) for over 16 years, frequently develop directors to manage virtual teams more effectively (often across continents) and support leaders to create brain-friendly peak performance so that they get more done faster and with zero stress. All from an overall vision of helping people to feel good about themselves – and more confident.
Therefore, please refrain from staying stuck or struggling if you are feeling overwhelmed or beating yourself up for “not doing enough”, as I can help you to move forward and support you to implement what works for you. You are unique. No one solution fits all.
Please email asking me for what you want and need during Lockdown. I will do my best to support you for FREE… and even direct you to online food suppliers in the UK, if like me, sourcing food is an ongoing trial!
I promise that I will answer you personally (not a robot).
*However, his communication could be made more brain-friendly by asking permission and requesting what he would like to see more of. 😉