Choose your focus

It is easy and common to get stuck in overwhelm. Your heart racing, shallow breathing, and the feeling of being frozen in time. The limbic part of your brain takes over and sets off like a firecracker. You are stuck spiraling out of control, drama fills your thoughts with the worst possibilities, small things suddenly become huge.

It’s important to acknowledge where you are, how you are feeling and what impact it is having on you. Does it serve you well? What can you learn? What can you do different next time you feel this way?

When you get stuck in the drama of your thoughts, you cannot think clearly. There is limited chance of you having an insight, making clear decisions, or having the ability to solve problems. You need to shift away from those big emotions into a neutral or slight reward state in your brain. BUT your thoughts are spiraling…

The circuit breaker I often refer to helps you make that shift from your limbic (big emotions) to your pre-frontal cortex (working memory/decision making) part of your brain. You can practice this technique and make it a habit, so when you feel your thoughts spiraling into overwhelm, you create a habit to PAUSE. This pause creates space for you to take a deep breath, in for a count of five and out for a count of five. You label how you are feeling, to acknowledge your feelings. Then re-frame your thinking. How can you see this situation differently? What can you learn from this? Can you put a positive spin on it? What are you grateful for? Can you ‘sprinkle’ some perspective on it?

Once you are in a calm, neutral, or slight reward state in your brain you will be able to think clearly.  You need to have a higher level of self-awareness to be able to practice this technique because you will have to identify when you feel yourself heading that way.

Choose your focus, from overwhelming thoughts up into vision. Ask yourself, what does success look like? This question is powerful because it will activate both sides of your brain by encouraging creative thinking and, visualisation. It helps plan step-by-step what your vision looks like and how to achieve it.

Visualisation allows you to picture your best options, it can simplify your next steps, and sometimes surprise you with something you didn’t know you wanted. The more vivid you get in your minds eye, the more powerful the process can become. Explore not only what you see on the surface but also a level of detail, including how you feel in that moment.

This focused attention helps you see what is possible, many athletes use this form of mental conditioning, connecting the neural circuits in their mind by visualising their race or sports game. When these circuits activate it is as if you were doing the activity. Our mind believes what you tell it.

So, what does success look like for you?

Once your brain is playing nicely, in a friendly manner and not stuck in overwhelm. You can use this visualisation technique to work through a desired outcome, a new role at work, your next career move, or gain a broader perspective. Once you have completed your visualisation practice, make note of what comes up. Write freely, don’t stop for spelling or grammar, capture it all and then review your creation. Are there any standout words or feelings? Is there something you didn’t expect to see?

Once you have captured and reviewed your thoughts ask yourself…

What is one action I can take that will get me closer to my vision?