How to Stay Calm in a Toxic Environment

Welcome back to my newsletter! This edition of the newsletter features strategies from Lisa Nirell, author of The Mindful Marketer, about how we can keep calm in today’s intensified work environment. If you are around later today, join me for my weekly Newsweek interview series, Better, today at 12 pm EST / 9 am PST/5 pm GMT. Today I’ll be speaking with Alexander Rose, executive director of The Long Now Foundation to talk about a topic near and dear to me, how to be a long-term thinker! We’ll be taking your questions and having an open conversation here - I hope you’ll join us!

If you are already thinking about your long-term goals, I have a strategic self-assessment that you can download to reimagine your schedule, learn how to focus where it counts, and create more time for the things that matter the most. You can download that workbook here.

From the blending of work and home life, the public addressing of systemic issues in the workplace, and the surge in remote work, the world of business has been taxing on virtually everyone. Lisa Nirell has practiced mindfulness for years and found not only does it help us stay emotionally centered and focused, but it can also make business more compassionate and marketing more authentic. Last week, Lisa talked with our audience about how to use mindfulness throughout the day, and what we can do to bring peace to the workplace.?Below are a few highlights from our talk, and if you’d like, you can watch the replay of our entire discussion here.

Listen to your body:

“I always listen first and foremost, not to my head, but what's going on in my body. When I'm feeling like something really needs to change because something is off or I'm in a toxic situation with a client or at work, the first thing I do is a body scan. Most of my stress is usually in my belly, my digestive system, but it could be in your neck. It could be a headache. It could be a shoulder ache. Don't give up the somatic experience to find out what your body is trying to tell you.”?

Confronting toxicity from management:

“The first choice you have is to sit down with one of the most trusted executives who might be saying [toxic] things, pull them aside in private and say, ‘here's what's happening when you do this. This is the impact.’ Let them respond, and just listen. They're either going to acknowledge it and say things differently, or they'll be in total denial. At that point, you've got a career choice to make, so see where the conversation goes and whether any of those executives are willing to accept and take ownership of the consequences of their actions. Then you will know from a career perspective whether you can have an impact. You can also put your head down and pretend it's not happening, which I never suggest, but some people do for security reasons, or option three, find a better work environment.”

The power of poise:

“Poise begins with a pause. Try to pause for one minute before your next big meeting, or as you're hopping from zoom meeting to zoom meeting, make time in between. Put a five-minute wedge in between your meetings and just stop and reflect and say, ‘I just finished this meeting.’ What worked in that meeting? What didn't work in that meeting and for my next meeting, what are my intentions? What are my answers? Take that pause. It could be a minute. It could be five minutes. That's going to help. Create those boundaries for yourself, you’re worth it.”?

Thank you so much for reading this week’s newsletter - and join me for my interview today with?Alexander Rose!

If you can’t make today’s interview, no need to worry! We always upload the interviews to my YouTube page. If you’d like to be notified when the newest episode is available, subscribe to my channel and you’ll receive a notification.

Wishing you health and success -?

Dorie