Responding vs. Reacting
Life has a way of throwing us curveballs, and the workplace is no exception. Surprises at work can be particularly jarring, since your job is (hopefully) pretty important to you.
In our office, we often talk about responding vs. reacting. When you respond to an issue, you think through it before you act. You carefully weigh the situation and act accordingly. When you react, you let your emotions get ahead of your logic, and sometimes you have a reaction that is less than great.
In her article, Maxie McCoy offers a few recommendations on how to respond instead of react to unexpected situations. We highlighted her main points below:
- Talk to an optimistic (and trustworthy) friend: It often takes an unbiased outside opinion for us to realize that something isn’t the end of the world. Talk to someone who you can trust, and make sure it’s someone who tends to be an optimist. They’ll probably help you put things into perspective.
- Embrace the change: Instead of thinking a big change is a negative, try to view it from another perspective. Positive change often comes from negative circumstances, so try to keep that in mind.
- Don’t think the worst: If you’re like me, it’s easy to catastrophize situations in your mind, and soon enough it feels like the world is ending. Remember that this too shall pass, and the calmer you are, the better you’ll be able to think of a logical solution.
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