I am regularly asked, what was it really like as a crisis negotiator?
I am always honest in my reply; it is much easier than it seems when looking from the outside, but the stakes are the highest possible.
It got me thinking, crisis negotiating is much like starting and running a business, and probably just like life itself;
None of us truly know what is ahead of us - We can plan, we can strategise, we can think about exit points, but unexpected things always come along and throw us off course. Understanding that most things never go exactly as planned provides us with comfort. It happens to us all, not just me.
The single best thing we can do in life is to connect with others - There are three ways to get things out of our head when we have difficulty resolving our challenges - talk, write, and read - with talking being the best option.
You are not alone - We often think that no one else has the same problem as us, that others won't understand what we are going through, that we are unique. You are indeed unique, but there is not one person on this planet who has not faced what seemed to them like a mountainous problem which they got through, and so can you too.
We are restricted by ourselves - Our brain is designed to keep us safe, to keep us within our neural pathways, to make us run in known patterns. Stepping outside our comfort zone is how we get over life's challenges, running to the fire with the necessary tools to put out the flames. Each of us possesses strengths that we do not know that we possess until we truly need them.
Our mind is not set - It takes effort to make changes in our life but not as much effort as you think it might. All it takes is to change our mindset because our mind is not actually set.
Now, is the right time to take action - Don't wait until a crisis negotiator answers your call for help, reach out now. Take on that challenge as soon as it arrives by talking, reading, and then writing.
Talk: Speak with others, not the ones who say "Stop worrying", "It's nothing to worry about", or "Worry is simply a wasted energy." Find someone else, someone who will sit, listen, and support.
Read: Go to reputable sites and read about how others overcame their challenges.
Write: Make a plan in writing with a pen on paper. It starts today, not tomorrow, for tomorrow is in the future and you are only ever in the present.
Let's talk!
Should I Say Sorry!
In times when a friend tells you some sad news, for many of us, our first response is to say how sorry we are.
The downside of using the word sorry is that your brain can register it as something meaningful to you, and that plays on your mind. I bet that when you have said sorry to someone you would have thought about the situation later in the day. Why, because sorry is such a personal word.
Additionally, for many of us, the word sorry has become a 'go-to' word, even when we haven't made a mistake.
In my opinion, the word sorry should is best used in two situations;
When you have genuinely made a mistake.
When you have a personal relationship with someone and they tell you about something bad that has happened to them.
So how can we use the words, I'm sorry, in a better way?
Extend your sentence: Say something like, "I'm so sorry for your loss", or "I am so sorry to hear that this has happened to you". That way your brain knows that it is not something personal to you.
Acknowledge their emotion:
"I can't imagine what that must be like."
"That must be terribly difficult."
"The loss of someone is never easy is it."
"Are you coping okay with everything?"
Then I leave a gap and wait for the other person to talk.
On most occasions, the other person responds by telling me how they feel. They may even shed a tear or two, and that is a good thing. If they do cry, say to them "Take your time". They will usually take a breath and regain control and be able to move on.
It is important to acknowledge an emotion in our daily conversations. There is a saying in crisis negotiating - 'Acknowledging an emotion disarms it' - and it does. It helps the other person to have someone acknowledge the situation and/or emotion that they find themselves stuck in. And, it also helps you by making you feel good about being able to help someone in their difficult time.
We are humans and for most of us, it's all about our emotions.
The word sorry is powerful and saying sorry is a good thing, if how you are using the word 'sorry' is working for you then by all means keep doing so.
Let's talk!
Change Why To How!
We often ask ourselves 𝘸𝘩𝘺 when things go wrong in our lives
"Why does this always happen to me, why do bad things always happen when I am a good person, and why can't I get what I want."
The next time something goes wrong, use the word how. How did this happen, how can we avoid this again, and most importantly, how can we move forward?
Apologies for the short post, busy times currently :-).
Stuck In A Rut?
Occasionally we get into a rut at work, three letters from the word RoUTine. Routine can lead to boredom, which can lead to complacency, and complacency can lead to accidents.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you're doing your job and thinking about other things, and suddenly, something happens that snaps you out of your thoughts? You're left wondering where your mind has been for the last 10 minutes, running on auto-pilot in a routine.
So how do we remain focussed? You get into rituals rather than routines.
A routine is where we are disconnected from what we are doing:
# Wake up.
# Brush our teeth.
# Have breakfast.
# Catch the bus.
# Start work.
# Coffee at 10.
# Lunch at 12... you know the drill!
A ritual is doing the same thing, but knowing the reason behind why you are doing these things; mindfulness.
I like to use the example of commercial pilots; before every flight they walk around the plane checking all of the bits are still where they should be, pushing the same buttons to ensure they still work, and checking the water, fuel, and oil. They do the same mundane checks before every flight, often many times each day. How do they maintain alertness? They 'think' about the reason why they are doing it.
So how do you change a routine into a ritual?
* Use a checklist to ensure that you don't forget anything.
* Have someone check your work as you do it.
* Use self-talk as you do your tasks by telling yourself why you are.
* Break patterns by changing the way you do your tasks.
Do you have a ritual that you like to use to keep yourself engaged and focused on your tasks?
Let's talk!
How To Help Our Young.
Here's what we can say about the increase in what I refer to as ADS: Anxiety, Depression and Suicide. The marked increase is, in most cases, due to one or all of three things;
Too much information - social media, Google, too many choices causing our brain to work faster. Not to mention, our devices having an impact on our neuro-wiring.
High expectations of ourselves - we strive to be the best, sometimes comparing ourselves to others. We must get the best marks, school reports are like performance appraisals, and perfectionism is increasing.
Social isolation - we don't talk face-to-face across the generations as we once did, we use devices more to communicate, and we listen far too much to the voice inside our head.
It is not necessarily the big things that impact us the most. It can be an accumulation of little things that make us more vulnerable when a big event does happen.
To counter this, introducing a few small changes can make a difference;
Reduce the use of technology - it's a balance between doing practical and tangible things in conjunction with technology.
Spend one hour across the day talking face-to-face with people - not just with friends and family, but also with; teachers, shop assistants, the hairdresser, with people of all generations.
C's gets Degrees - Slightly reducing our expectations, and making a plan to move forward following a disappointment might help mitigate the negative impact when we don't quite reach what we sought.
Get outside - Walk, run, bike, climb - exercise, play, sun, fresh air, each of these make a difference to our wellbeing. Join them together to make a massive difference.
Breathe - There are three breathing techniques we recommend, all done through the nose;
To manage anger - Take a deep breath, hold it while counting to 4 inside your head, breathe out fully, and count to 4 inside your head before breathing in and resuming normal breathing.
To reduce 'thinking' - Breathe in to fully expand our lungs at exactly 6 seconds, breathe out to fully deflate our lungs at exactly 6 seconds. Repeat this for 2 minutes, twice a day.
To sleep - take 9 deep breaths; for the first 3 breaths imagine really cold air going up one nostril (but you are breathing through both nostrils), for the next 3 breaths imagine really cold air is going up the other nostril, and for the last 3 breaths imagine really cold air is going up both nostrils.
The big hurdle as a parent can be getting our children to listen to us. Pushing on people can end up pushing them further away. Do some of the things listed above yourself, and maybe they will follow in time.
If it's the little things that impact us the most, then let's start with the little things - do one small thing daily to make a change.