How To Keep Calm And Carry On

• Apr 23, 2014
• Peg Calvario
• 0 comment

Have you ever experienced a day of emotional “frenzy” and all you want is to keep calm, manage your emotions and carry on?

Be honest.

The way we live is exhausting — from trying to juggle work and our personal lives, to people issues and our workload.  These “stressors” really do contribute to our emotional imbalance and exhausts our brain’s CEO region, the prefrontal cortex, which is the part that can calmly notice, assess and manage our emotions, and help us to carry on.

According to a positive psychology study, the largest variable in determining your level of life satisfaction is resilience – the ability to bounce back quickly from life’s small and large upsets.

Three ways to get your emotional balance back when you are knocked off by negative emotions:

1.  Take Care of Your Body, To Take Care of Your Brain

The best way to boost your brainpower is to exercise at least a little every few hours.  Not just a few good workouts every week, but 2-3 minutes of stair climbing, brisk walking, stretching or yoga every hour allows you to shift your focus to your heart and limbs for a quick brain break and recharge.

2.  Hit Your Brain’s Pause and Reset Button

Press your forefinger in the middle of your forehead and say “pause” outloud.  Keep your finger there while you take a few deep breaths, and then your brain will reset.   If your smartphone can “pause and reset”, so can you.

3.  Give Your Negative Emotions A Hug

Rather than resist or avoid our own suffering, the new science of self-compassion shows us that leaning in to fully experience emotions such as worry, sadness, or anger, and feeling compassion for ourselves, is far more effective.  Cross your hands over your heart and appreciate that you are suffering.  Your frenzy will settle just a little so you can keep on going.

So the next time you experience a “frenzy” rapidly approaching — hit pause, exercise and give yourself a hug.  Imagine how great you will feel!

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Peg Calvario

Peg Calvario is a highly respected executive coach, facilitator and consultant with extensive leadership and business experience. Sought after for developing successful strategies to increase leadership performance and achieve professional career results. Based in the Greater Philadelphia region, she also works as a key member of the coaching team for The Ken Blanchard Companies, BetterUp and Villanova University EMBA.

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