Friday Note - Blowing your Lid
PJ McCaughn
Customer focused sales and manufacturing professional continuously achieving success thru perpetual curiosity, dogged determination and exceptional execution.
We all hit our limit at one time or another, and sometimes the resulting behavior we exhibit does not portray us in the best light.
I ended up in a situation last week that definitely brought out the worst in me. I was overtired, had a few drinks, was trying to be a good hostess and acted against my better judgement. I was put into a no-win situation, exited it pretty gracefully, and then proceeded to vent on social media in a wholly unacceptable way. I knew I had gone too far, but I blew my top and was in total b*#ch mode.
Fortunately, a good friend of mine saw my post and gently admonished my rant. To my horror, she was right. I removed the offensive post and started a dialogue with the individual I should have been dealing with on the issue from the start. I'm still not happy that it happened, but much more accepting of the situation we were all put into.
So - we all hit the wall once in a while. What next? How do we cope..........
- We can try not to be put into those situations to begin with. I was in charge of driving us home and I could have chosen NOT to stop. In fact, I should have chosen not to. I had stated maybe we should drive two vehicles for just that reason. Sometimes you just need to go with your gut and put your foot down.
- Do not allow the emotional state of those around you to sweep you away in the tidal wave. Hold onto mindful boundaries and access your true feelings before acting.
- When you realize that you are over reacting, STOP, slow down, take some deep breaths and reassess your position. Write the scathing e-mail if you need to vent, and then save it as a draft until the next day. Chances are, you won't really need to send it once you get some perspective, or you will find you want to edit your comments.
- Finally, forgive yourself for your imperfections. We are all human, and we make mistakes. Learn the lesson and move on to bigger and better things. Wallowing in it will just make you feel worse and creates a lot of unproductive internal stress.