Control The Narrative
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So often in the news we read something shocking from a corporate juggernaut and just like a Hollywood film we all hold our breaths to see what the corporation will say in response. Sometimes a CEO acts out brashly and responds right away with no consultation, sometimes we hear no response leaving us all wondering whether they even care in the first place, and then sometimes a corporation responds just right. This is called a Public Relations Crisis, something that has its own name and industry in fact, because it is that important to most big name corporations. Experts have studied and acted on years of research to determine what exactly is the perfect strategy, and yet we rarely if ever take their advice in a personal crisis. 

  Throughout our days inevitably we will have things come up that don’t go exactly according to plan, that’s what makes life interesting right…Well most of the time when we are knocked off track we can become emotional, angry, frustrated or just pissed. Naturally as human beings we look for ways to get the problem out of our control, blame traffic, our alarm clock not going off, or maybe a boss that isn’t giving us the opportunities to excel. This is all perfectly natural to feel after something goes awry, but remember that internal dialogue spinning in your head amidst crisis is training and creating patterns. Those patterns sense trouble and recognize our negative and passive response. Next time something bad happens our brains naturally will create that connection again, rewiring us to believe that this is the correct response to crisis no matter how big or small. 

  Just like a Big Fortune 500 corporation it is equally important to consult with your team before responding emotionally. Take the time to address the situation and see where you are at, respond quickly and think about next steps and how you can be a part of the solution or what you are doing to rectify the situation. The same way those corporations think about crises, so should you. By training our minds to take emotion out of the equation and rather lead with logic, we can more quickly become problem solvers. As we begin to practice responding to adversity with the precision and excellence of a whole industry behind us, small inconveniences no longer feel like the world is crashing down on us but rather like a drop of rain. Practice controlling the narrative within your mind and you will begin to see how big problems soon become small opportunities instead.