Tag: problems

Overwhelmed

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What is your tactic when you fell overwhelmed?

Those moments when you cannot think clear, you have tens of forces from different places pushing on your skulls, and the amygdala is about to take control with your favourite version of fight, flight or freeze?

Moments like that happen many times throughout the days, and it is often enough to take a few deep breaths to get back on track. Ideally, you might take a full 5-minutes break to unplug. But that is not always possible, and so just breathing in and out for 4-5 consecutive times, focusing on the breath itself or on your belly going up and down, can do magic.

Give it a try.

Say it isn’t so

Fabrizio1 Comment

I have always been fascinated and vaguely astonished by the fact that, at times, communication is successful.

We do not put enough emphasis and preparation into it, and we have so many different ways to look at the world and interpret it, that it is quite a thing that two persons can come together at some point and understand each other.

What is your mental image of a tree? Of a car? Of a house? Of course, with such physical objects we often get past the ambiguity. But what with more complex concepts?

What do you think when you hear about honesty? And productivity? And work-life balance? What is your intent when you use words such as “democrat” and “republican”, “conservative” and “progressive” and “liberal”, “capitalist” and “communist”?

I promise you, it is different from how the person sitting next to you thinks about them.

And so, why are we not training for better communication? Why is this not a matter taught in school? Why are we left growing up under the false impression that everyone around us understands what we mean? And shares our same set of assumptions and priorities?

Communication is unorganized chaos for the most part, and when it succeed it truly is a work of magic.

In the middle

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As it often happens with complex issues, even the discourse around the current pandemic has been shrinked to a binary matter: economy vs (public) health.

And of course, as with any complex issue, there is much more to take into consideration. There is the problem of parents who are taking care of their kids full-time while also working. There is the problem of foreign students who can’t support themselves for the lack of part-time and seasonal jobs. There is the effect of high level of stress and anxiety on the general well-being, that clearly mostly affects those who already face difficulties in a normal situation (and not only in the US).

If we want to move past (and forward) this serious situation, picking a side is probably not the wisest thing to do right now. Let’s stay in the middle instead, let’s listen to and appreciate the various stories that are emerging, and let’s together envision a future where greys are not squeezed for the sake of polarization.

Obligation

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The reverence, adoration, awe reserved to people in leadership positions is what in most cases will make them lose their authority and power.

If you really care about the person, if you like them, want to work with them, want to learn from them, want them to stay in the job for as long as they decide to, then you owe them a challenge, a question, a contrarian point of view, a new idea, a plan they had not though about, a truth they did not want to hear. It is your obligation.

Not ok

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We are all facing an unprecedented situation, unrealistic expectations and an (even more than usual) uncertain future.

Let’s be kind with ourselves and each other, because things are very likely to not be ok for a while.

That’s fine, let’s do our best.