Book Titles

Just as we can retrigger negative feelings by recalling negative feedback, we can extend our positive sustain by recalling positive feedback…

…we have control over – the way we interpret what happens, the meaning we make, and the stories we tell ourselves.

If we’re going to get better at handling tough feedback, we have to understand how emotions interact with, and distort, the stories we tell about what the feedback means.

When we are at our most engaged, most creative, and most energized, we achieve that delicious state of unselfconsciousness called ‘flow’.

If our stories are a result of our feelings plus our thoughts, then we can change our stories by working to change either our feelings or our thoughts.

Feelings skew our sense of the past, present, and future. They distort our stories about who we are, how others see us, and what the consequences of feedback will be.

Feelings affect not only how we recall the past, but how we imagine the future. When we feel bad, we assume we will always feel bad.

Fueled by emotion, our story about what the feedback says about us grows so large and damning that we are overwhelmed by it. Learning is the least of our worries; we’re just trying to survive.

…figure out how you tend to respond… – so that you can recognize your usual reaction and name it to yourself in the moment. If you name it, you have some power over it.

Think through in advance the worst that could happen, try it on emotionally, and reason through the possible consequences. … It’s a reminder that whatever the outcome, you’ll be able to manage.