One of the most important, yet least intentionally developed, skills in the average person is how they respond to disruptive situations. What do I mean by disruptive situations? Anything you weren't prepared for or goes significantly different than you expected.
Now, these kinds of things happen constantly. It happens in conversations, schedules, and projects. It happens at work, at home, and all the places in-between. But, even though it happens all the time, the average person gets derailed by disruptive situations, and it can take them a while to recover before they're ready to respond with discipline.
It's nice when you can regroup, restrategize, and come back later with a well-developed approach after you get your mind right. Unfortunately, you don't always have time to recover before you respond. Life frequently unfolds in a way where you have to be ready to respond to something in the moment that you didn't expect and might not have prepared to encounter.
Disruptive situations are coming, probably multiple times this week. If you knew which ones were coming and when, you'd specifically prepare for them. But you don't know. Neither do I. You don't want to make a disruptive situation worse by responding poorly.
Think about this. In a disruptive situation, how quickly can you:
- Gain composure.
- Get clarity.
- Respond with disciplined skill.
That's the recipe: Expectation -> Disruption -> Composure -> Clarity -> Skill.
In a disruptive situation, skill gets diminished by lack of clarity, which happens because of lost composure. The mind races and panics, gets lost and quickly turns reactive. It's the traditional fight, flight, or freeze response you've heard all your life.
Your effectiveness in a disruptive situation is primarily the speed you can get yourself out of fight, flight, freeze, or from going to it at all, and instead respond with skillful discipline.
How quickly can you gain composure, get clarity, and respond with disciplined skill?Answer the call. Do the work.
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