Letters to my 22 year-old self - Part XVI "Keep your fire doors closed"

The mind is a powerful force. It can enslave us or empower us. It can plunge us into the depths of misery or take us to the heights of ecstasy. Learn to use the power wisely - David Cuschieri

Dear Shawn -?

You are a deep thinker. Even as a child you can remember many nights when you would lie in bed for hours replaying your days, thinking about all that had happened and planning for the days ahead. This character trait has served you well by giving you the ability to think deeply and critically about decisions and helping you to avoid error due to impulse. However, it has also added pressure and anxiety to your daily life with a constant barrage of thoughts swirling through you mind.

To help you manage through this you have learned to visualize your brain as a large ocean liner with different cargo and passengers in different rooms. Just like an ocean liner the idea is to give all passengers (or thoughts in this case) ample room to stretch out their legs it but not at at the expense of another passengers comfort or safety. Mental fire doors are an essential safety mechanism that allow you to contemplate various ideas without letting any one concept spillover and upset the balance of the others.

It's remarkable to look at the benefits that fire doors can provide not just on ships but inside your mind as well:

1. Fire Doors provide compartmentalization containing fire and smoke in the original area where it was detected and delaying spread to other areas Mentally they keep thoughts contained to where they are useful and keep them from tainting other areas of your mind
2. Fire doors provide Safe Evacuation specific to escape routes, ensuring that passengers and crew can safely evacuate the ship. Mentally, they also allow you to focus on one specific thought process at a time allowing you to manage an issue to completion without sacrifice to the another
3. Fire doors provide Asset Protection aiding in Operational Continuity- Limit Damage: By containing fire to a specific compartment, fire doors limit the overall damage to the ship and its assets including critical systems necessary for navigation. Mentally, compartmentalizing different areas of thinking also allows for deep contemplation with the ability to minimize impact and affect to other areas
4. Fire Doors limit damage thereby reducing Repair Time: Limiting fire damage can reduce the downtime and repair requirements post-incident. Mentally, they allow for faster resets and quicker recovery when dealing with issues that are deeply emotional

Start organizing your thinking around this concept of “fire doors”. When a fire erupts in one area, focus and deal with it but recognize the impact of that focus and give yourself adequate time to recover. Recognize when one mental priority is spilling into another and create space to allow yourself to separate them with time, space and perspective.

If you enjoyed this write-up here are direct links to the rest of the series.

Part I - "Keep an eye on the gas gauge"

Part II - "What's the worst that can happen?"

Part III - "What's the ONE THING"

Part IV - "Navigating the ups and downs of a career in sales"

Part V - "Don't eat the marshmallow"

Part VI - "Not every mountain is Mt. Everest!"

Part VII - "Anchor your career with your towering strengths"

Part VIII - Do you choose the red pill or the green pill?

Part IX - "Managing your Monkeys"

Part X - "Attacked from Within"

Part XI - "The mirror does not lie…."

Part XII - "The Time Machine is broken"

Part XIII - “Don’t forget where you came from”

Part XIV - "Patience Young Grasshopper"

Part XV - "Slow Down and Embrace Empathy"