Holding our breath
How are you breathing right now?
Shallow breathing? Not breathing at all? Normal regular breathing?
Some of us our ‘holding our breath’ – there is so much about which we do not know the outcome.
This has an impact on our ability to think clearly as less blood gets to the brain if we hold our breath. This may narrow our focus and choices as the pre-frontal cortex closes down to get more blood to the heart to keep it pumping under the perceived threat of danger from not knowing outcomes.
We humans are hard-wired for certainty – we love having a clear plan it makes us feel safe.
Having a narrow focus has an impact on our ability to trust our decisions about the future. So much today is unknown ….
o?? Whether we get that promotion or new job – we hold our breath
o?? Various major elections – we hold our breath
o?? Ongoing wars – we hold our breath
o?? Imminent UK budget announcement - we hold our breath
o?? Results of scans, biopsies, getting the all clear - we hold our breath
o?? Data from clinical trials or outcomes of funding rounds – we hold our breath
o?? Before a presentation – we hold our breath
o?? First pregnancy scan (and the others) – we hold our breath
Whilst waiting for outcomes a tension is created inside of us of which we may or may not be conscious. By breathing out we may relieve the tension, or we keep holding our breath till it is not just the brain that becomes fatigued, our shoulders rise to our ears, our gut tightens, physiologically we freeze, limiting our thinking, our actions and blocking creative flow.
Stories – fact or fiction?
Interestingly one area of creative flow that does not stop when we hold our breath is our ability to tell stories. Stories fill the gap between the not knowing and the knowing of an outcome.
When we don’t know the outcome all kinds of storytelling can occur, some helpful, some distracting, some anxiety-inducing, some not fact-checked at all, some useful and positive.?
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When I listen to clients making an assessment about their situation, their organization or about somebody, I ask:
‘Is that a grounded assessment?’ (?Newfield Network)
‘Do you have data to back up the assessment?’
And if they do it is easier to navigate a future path, if they don’t, they realize they have made up a story that might be holding them back – a limiting belief or an imposter syndrome story that is keeping them small, so they lose confidence and stay stuck. Or it could be an old cultural story they are holding on to that no longer serves.
Identifying the story and its heritage can provide such helpful data for navigating the unknown. And some cautionary tales are very wise, they are there to keep us safe.
So dear leader, are you holding your breath?
And what stories are you creating in the gap between knowing and not knowing that is either resourcing you and keeping you resilient in the period of ‘not knowing’? Or depleting your energy and limiting your taking the action towards your goals.
So let's keep breathing and creating new stories together
For more on ‘Navigating the unknown’ and creating new stories for a new era of leadership
contact [email protected] - +44(0)7980556014?
You may be interested in the HBR article How to Overcome Your Fear of the Unknown by Nathan Furr and Susannah Harmon Furr
AI Overview of Holding your breath:
The expression "hold your breath"?originated in the early 1700s?and refers to the interruption of normal breathing.?It has multiple meanings:
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4 个月It's interesting how our minds react to the unknown. We either freeze up overwhelmed with possibilities, or run because we don't want to imagine what is unknown.