Stay Cool

Good morning,

Hurray - it’s Friday and Michigan is serving up a delicious sunny 79° today. In any weather, this morning’s Sunny Note is about staying cool under pressure. We all find ourselves in a pressure cooker more or less often, and a tough economy just turns up the heat.

So when the pressure hits – from lost keys to business deals – hopefully we all have strategies to help ourselves perform well. One of my favorites that’s indispensable in almost every situation is this:

Think first.

It doesn’t always have to be a big think. In a pressure cooker, often just a few seconds of thought can completely change our response from total panic to top performance. Sometimes it can be as simple as telling oneself, “I can handle it,” before diving into the situation. Other times, substantial thought must be invested in identifying the solution. Either way, the key is to make sure that thinking comes first.

For example, a basic technique I was taught years ago for handling media interviews is to repeat the question before answering it. Why? Simply to gain a few seconds to think, because once it’s on tape, you can’t take it back. The same applies in the presence of our family members, colleagues and customers, because although we can apologize, we can’t undo what we’ve said or done.

Happy thinking – and have a sunny day!

Clarity

P.S. “Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” Winston Churchill

P.P.S. Thank you for sharing Sunny Notes with others. New readers can visit This Link to add an email address to receive Sunny Notes directly each Friday or read prior Sunny Notes at clarity.tv.

Clarity Patton Newhouse
Metropolitan Lincoln Mercury
32000 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135313-670-7505
MetroMichigan.com