Introduction

In any career, things sometimes go wrong. Perhaps you didn’t get the position you were hoping for, or you can’t understand why your team won’t take you seriously.

Whatever your adversity, there is one constant: Your beliefs will determine your experiences of this adversity as well as your interactions with others.

Flexible Beliefs and Adversity

Here’s something think about: How often have you felt adversities like the ones mentioned above derail you or make you behave in ways that you later regret?

If you’re like most people, you can think of many such examples. Times when the pressures and demands of work just became too much and you either lashed out at someone at work, or home, or just felt ready to quit.

Yes, you are not alone. And like most people, you might have wondered, how the heck do I avoid acting like this?

Well, one of the key principles of flexible thinking is that we tend to do poorly in the face of adversity if our reactions are not flexible.

Flexible reactions are driven by flexible beliefs.

Unfortunately, flexible beliefs are not always there when you need them. Often, people engage in rigid thinking.

Rigid thinking, in turn, disables your ability to think in a solution-orientated way. Instead, it activates the threat-processing centers of the brain, which shuts down goal-directed, complex thought.

The Brain and Threat Processing

The human mind is adapted for complex thinking. During stress and adversity however, it can quickly switch into threat mode which disables complex problem solving. Understanding the difference between threat and solution-focussed processing is key to controlling your response to adversity.

Our higher-order thinking is what distinguishes us from most other animals. Humans are able to think through complex problems, using language and numerical data, and come to conclusions that are forward thinking, and sometimes even revolutionary. The human brain devotes considerable energy and space to these functions. Under normal circumstances, it is very adept at thinking in complex and innovative ways.

However, there are also parts of the brain that are adept at survival and keeping us safe during dangerous situations.

These structures are ancient in an evolutionary sense, and can (and will) override more complex processes in times of stress.

In other words, when we are in danger or experiencing adversity, the more primitive parts of our brain activate, making complex thought difficult or even impossible.

This is called our stress response.

When you have a stress response, your body is readied for action, and your mind switches to what can be called threat processing.

Threat processing is different from solution-focused processing, which is the kind of thinking that helps us solve complex problems at work and in everyday life. And unlike solution-focused processing, threat processing doesn’t care about social nuance, courtesy, or complex, creative solutions. Instead, it serves one goal and one goal only: To protect you from threats and get you out of the situation, fast!

So, you can see how threat processing lies behind those poor interactions and reactions you’ve had when facing trouble at work!

How do we fix that? The short answer: Seek out a coach who understands how the brain and our thinking creates problems for us, and how to help you become better at flexible thinking.

If you’re interested in how my coaching approach can help you get to grips with threat vs solution-focused processing, why not call me or drop me a line?