Down-regulate Stress

Down-regulating Stress and Dealing Constructively with a Toxic Boss

Our life is becoming ever more chaotic and our nervous system doesn’t have a capacity to deal with so much stress.
A clear understanding of negative emotions disables them.
There is a spectrum of techniques that we can use to defuse stress and calm ourselves down.
We need 3 sets of techniques:
              1.  Before the meeting
              2.  During the meeting
              3.  After the meeting.

1.  A beautiful day begins with a beautiful mindset. Proactively fortify your mind in the morning.
To the mind that is calm, the whole universe surrenders.  -  Lao Tzu
Gradually develop a habit to proactively attain peace of mind every morning.
The calmer we are in the morning, the less the stress factors affect us during the day.

2.  Calmness gives us power. Our calm mind is our ultimate weapon.
The person, who manages to stay calm in a difficulty situation, wins.
Staying calm allows us to better understand people’s emotions and the energy flow around us.
When we manage to calm down our internal chaos, the external chaos calms down.

3.  Do not let the words or behavior of other people destroy your inner peace.
Ignore negative words. May nonsense roll off us like water off duck’s back.

4.  Greet your boss cheerfully.
We need to train ourselves to ‘flip the script’, when we need it.
Do your best to preemptively ‘disarm’ your boss at the beginning of your meeting.
Emotions are contagious.
Start a conversation with your Boss on a positive note and with positive information.
Give your boss a subtle complement.

5.  Try to turn the unkind words into an appropriate good-natured joke.

6.  Delay your response. Never respond when you are angry.
A moment of patience in a moment of anger saves us a hundred moments of regret.

7.  Play stupid;  Play a fool
“Sometimes, you just have to play the role of a fool to fool the fool who thinks he is fooling you.”   -   Dr. Steve Maraboli

8.  Re-frame the situation. Consider your Boss a guinea pig who trains you to stay calm.

9.  Refocus on the bright side. “Every day may not be perfect, but there is something good in every day.”
Feelings are just visitors:  let them come and go.
Don’t hold to anger; it drains our energy. Let it go.
A person can self-induce positive emotions.    -    Человек может вызывать у себя положительные эмоции.
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”  -  William James
Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy our mind at the same time.
So, we can cure negative emotions by inducing positive ones.
We can cure or over-ride a negative emotion by inducing positive ones.

Down-regulate Stress.
Down regulation is deliberately practicing shifting our nervous system


10.   It has been proven that a smile, even a fake one, improves our mood.
The simple act of putting a smile on our face improves our mood.
The act of smiling triggers brain chemicals related to positivity, even when the smile isn’t genuine.

11.  Find a tense muscle in your body and relax it.

12.  Use positive self-talk. Say kind words to yourself. For example, say kindly to yourself:
“My boss likes and values me. I give myself a self-instruction to calm down.”    -    Я даю себе установку успокоиться.
Self-instruction techniques involve the use of self-statements to direct or self-regulate emotions.

13.  We nee to proactively install systems that will help us prevent some stressful situations in the future.
14.  Take action. Taking action reduces our stress level.


Vocabulary

to re-establish  -  устанавливать снова
peace of mind  -  душевный покой
capacity  -  способность, мощность
to deal (with)  -  справляться
to disable  -  отключать, выключать
to shift  -  переключать

mode  -  режим (работы)
technique  -  техника (метод)
to defuse  -  снимать напряжение
set  -  набор
mindset  -  психологический настрой
top surrender  -  сдаваться
gradually  -  постепенно
to attain peace of mind  -  обрести душевное спокойствие
to affect  -  влиять
ultimate  -  предельный
inner peace  -  внутренний покой
to flip the script  -  to change or reverse the established undesirable pattern
preemptively  -  заблаговременно, предвосхищая события
to disarm  -  разоружать
subtle  -  едва уловимый
appropriate  -  приемлемый
to delay  -  откладывать
regret  -  сожаление
to induce a feeling  -  вызывать чувство
to induce positive emotions  -  вызывать положительные эмоции
to self-induce  -  вызывать у себя
to occupy  -  занимать
to cure  -  лечить
to over-ride  -  задавить, замещать, перевешивать
consider  -  рассматривать
guinea pig  -  подопытный кролик
to prove  -  доказывать
fake  -  притворный
to trigger  -  вызывать
genuine  -  искренний
tense  -  напряженный
muscle  -  мышца
to prevent  -  предотвращать
Take action.  -  Действуйте.