Focus on your left toe. No, not really.
Ever been in a bad mood? Personal brands and professionals like yourself, responsible for brand development, management, and improvement, can’t avoid tough times and bad days. Have you ever had moments where you just lost it and went into overwhelm; where everyone and everything were just driving you nuts? Most people don’t embrace and react favorably to rejection, disappointment, adversity, setbacks, and failure. In fact, most people wish they never heard of Murphy and his dumb law!
The law of averages
The law of averages, or however you wish to refer to the certainty that “shit happens,” can throw you into a tizzy and trigger emotions that cause stress, fear, or outright terror. Successful brands have their moments. Many brand products experience recalls (Toyota, for instance) that set off fireworks of anxiety throughout the organization, blemish the brand, and create a discomfort level for those responsible measuring 9.8 on the Richter scale. Many service brands go through similar situations (banks, for instance) where their brands are damaged and many people associated or responsible for this are not in the best of moods. And there are personal brands that fall from godlike status to crash-and-burn (Tiger, for instance), where it may take months if not years just to save the brand.
Change your focus
Your nerves are shot, your confidence is in question, your heart pounds 50 times the healthy average, and your stomach is erupting like a volcano heading straight for your throat. You’re not in a good mood. You know it and others know it. People who realize that you’re in the emotional danger zone are aware that if they come within 20 yards of you, they’ll cease to exist. And you know that if you don’t begin to control the emotional turbulence and manage your state of mind, greater disaster lies ahead. So what can you do to regain control over your emotions and then take the right constructive action to defend, protect, and improve your brand?
Did you…
▬ ever get angry as a child where someone told you to “count to 10?”
▬ ever see a baby cry and then someone wiggled a rattle in front of the baby who stopped crying immediately?
▬ ever have an intense argument with your significant other and suddenly you handed them a small box with a diamond ring or watch and opened it in the middle of the dispute… and instantaneously, without warning, no one remembered what the argument was about?
▬ ever watch something on TV and became so stressed that you took the remote and clicked to a comedy station and went from distress to a full belly laugh in less than a second?
These examples are known as “changing your focus.” This technique works wonders simply by shifting your attention away from what’s troubling you, and focusing instead, on something that is calming and distracting. What’s most exciting about this technique is that you can easily re-condition yourself to focus (or re-focus) on those things that will help you to stop dwelling on the problem, so you can relax to better resolve the issue.
Oprah suggests that you “Distract yourself. Put on music and dance; scrub the bathtub spotless, whatever engrosses you.” In other words, change your focus!
The Oprah Magazine, the Cover Headline read: How to Calm Down, Cheer Up; Oprah’s Guide to Soothing Your Mind, October, 2007.
Author:
Jay Block is an industry pioneer and the nation’s leading motivational career coach. Jay is a best-selling author of 15 books, including his latest blockbuster: 101 Best Ways To Land a Job in Troubled Times (McGraw-Hill). He has a 20-year record of success for creating and recreating the career management industry. His website is: www.jayblock.com
