Eye of the Storm

I am blessed to work with leaders in education, medicine, business, science, and research. Each of these are high stress sectors--perhaps even more so these days. Those that work with me constantly hear the phrase, “eye of the storm.” As Lin Manuel Miranda tells us in Hamilton, “In the eye of a hurricane there is quiet.” It is easy to get tossed about on the crazy seas we face today. What can we do to keep our feet flat on the deck and be the eye of the storm?

Stoicism tells us that everything divides into things we control and things we don't. Yet we continually fixate on things we do not control. Think of a problem beyond your control that you are worrying about right now. Now imagine worrying about it for 24 hours straight without stopping. What will be different tomorrow? Nothing. Meanwhile you have missed the opportunity to impact all those things within your control.

How can we stop this unhelpful practice?

Focus on what you control. There are a host of ways you can positively impact your situation. Give these your time and attention. How do we minimize the negative psychological impact of constant troubling news?

Here are several concrete actions you can take:

1.     Don't get the news first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening. Start your day with something better and end it with something pleasant.

2.     Read your news instead of listening to it. Listening or watching the news puts the pace in their hands instead of yours.

3.   Limit yourself to headlines.

Do you really benefit from all the details? Knowing the headlines keeps you “in the know" without wasting time and raising blood pressure.

4.     Avoid social media as a news source and perhaps even altogether.There is a big difference between a news headline and an emoji-laden opinion. Which would you rather see:

“Leader makes unpopular decision”

or

“👀😩DAM💩HEAD🤦‍♂️ DECIDES 😤TO 💣🔥🌎‼️⁉😭🤮👎🏼

5.     Avoid doomscrolling. When Facebook switched from web pages to “infinite scrolling,” psychological distress went way up.

6.     Set boundaries when reading news or social media. Phones have timers. Isn’t 5 minutes enough?

There is the rubbernecking desire to watch the dumpster fire. But is it really worthy of your attention? Does it deserve a rent-free spot in your head?

There are some other big ideas to consider:

• Consider a “news fast”

• Declare one day a week “Media-free day”

• Look for the bigger picture (why is this happening for us; sometimes it has to get worse to get better; history is cyclical; we have survived a lot.)

• Donate to a cause

• Get outside (Hint: it’s still beautiful)

• Volunteer
  

Obsessively following bad news traps us in a cycle of anxiety, reduced well-being, and compulsive media use—while also making our worldview more negative and fear-driven. Being proactive makes us architect instead of victim. How can you change your world?

We need leaders that are “eye of the storm.” They serve as anxiety sponges and help us navigate the challenges each day brings. Think of Clara Barton in the carnage of a civil war battlefield, Churchill during the Blitz, Mandela facing apartheid or MLK on Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Eye of the storm.

You got this.