You don’t like it, but that’s the profession you chose. However, did you know that your first gut reaction will determine how you will handle it? It’s true. Your first thought sets in motion which parts of your brain are activated as you try to form a response.  

As technical person, your first response to a situation is likely to be negative. You think, “This is ridiculous. There’s nothing we can do. How could this be? There’s no way out. We’re stuck.” With this as your first gut reaction, you automatically engage your neural pathways to identify all kinds of reasons why you can’t do anything about it; how it is out of your control; that you shouldn’t have to put up with something so unfair. It’s not right, dammit!  

The problem with this first gut reaction is that it doesn’t get you anywhere. Regardless of how many reasons and excuses you contrive, you’re still left with the situation. What should you do? 

As soon as you are aware that you’re in the “why I can’t” mindset, interrupt yourself and intentionally rephrase the question to “how could I?” From the latest brain scanning technology, it demonstrates that you activate different parts of your brain that are creative and problem solving. You control whether your brain looks for excuses or solutions, depending on whether you’re in the “I can’t” or “how could I?” mindset.  

I expect that this week you’ll have numerous opportunities to test this out. Let me know if your first reaction was negative; if you interrupted your mindset, and if you were better able to deal with the situation. If you let me know, we’ll all learn from each other.