Wednesday, November 20, 2019
3 ways to stay calm under pressure, according to a bomb disposal expert
3 ways to stay calm under pressure, according to a bomb disposal expert 3 ways to stay calm under pressure, according to a bomb disposal expert Weâd all like to know how to stay calm under pressure. Sure, I could pull a bunch of research studies on it and just summarize those for you. But that always leaves the lingering question: âBut does this stuff work in the real world?âSo who really knows about being cool as a cucumber under the most intense pressure imaginable? Iâd read that when top bomb disposal experts approach a device designed to kill them, their heart rate actually goes down. Folks, I think we have a winnerâ¦So I called a Navy EOD Team Leader.Navy EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) isnât like your average police departmentâs bomb disposal unit. These guys defuse torpedoes - while underwater. They disable biological weapons, chemical weapons⦠even nuclear weapons.For security purposes our friend requested to remain anonymous. Heâs been deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan and faced some things that are - quite literally - the stuff of nightmares. Repeatedly.So what can you and I le arn from him? How do you stay chill, keep your focus and make tough decisions when facing the most intense pressure imaginable?Letâs get to it . . .Avoid âthe rabbit holeâ and do a threat assessmentSomethingâs going wrong. Youâre worried and your mind starts to race. Your old friend Panic is nuzzling up to you and wants to snuggle. Your brain starts asking, âWhat if X happens? What if Y happens? What if? What if? What if?âNavy EOD techs refer to this as âthe rabbit hole.â And if you go down it, things are going to get very bad very fast. Hereâs our EOD Team Leader:With any device thatâs improvised we talk about ârabbit holes.â You can go down the rabbit hole of âWhat if they put in this? What if they included this bit of circuitry or this kind of switch or this crazy new device or circuit board or whatever?â The opportunities for people to construct new and ingenious and totally insidious IEDs is just infinite. Itâs possible when youâre looking a t the device to go down a rabbit hole of âIt could be this, it could be this, it could be these 10,000 different thingsâ¦âYou need to avoid going down the ârabbit holeâ and do what Navy EOD techs call a âthreat assessment.â That means looking objectively at the situation and asking, âWhat kind of problem is this?âThink about a similar situation youâve been in before that looked like this one. How did you resolve it? What worked? Maybe youâve never been in a situation exactly like the current one, but thatâs okay. Generalize. Youâve probably dealt with something that was kinda similar or youâve seen someone else do it.Leveraging experience is what makes the top Navy EODs able to stay calm and size up a terrifying situation before theyâve even approached the explosive device. Hereâs our EOD Team Leader:They develop this sixth sense about whatâs going on. Some of the guys had seen and prosecuted 300 or 400 devices. It was amazing what they co uld tell you before they ever saw the device. âThis device is probably just a pressure plate, maybe with an S and A switch. Thereâs a possible secondary back-up waiting for us if we were to go at it from this angle.â They would just be able to tell that from merely looking at the situation.Leveraging your prior experience (or the experiences of others) is what allows you to wrap your brain around a very frightening scenario and see it as just another version of a problem youâve solved before. And that allows you to keep moving forward when youâre scared.(To learn a Navy SEALâs secrets to developing grit, click here.)Alright, you dodged the rabbit hole and youâve done a threat assessment. But what mindset do you need to stay calm and focused before you act on this problem - or before you cut that red wire?Emphasize the positive and focus on what you can controlOur EODâs superior officer once told him a story about trying to defuse a mine while underwater - and r ealizing that he had become trapped, unable to move his hands or feet. What was the next thought that went through the chiefâs head?âIâm still breathing, so thatâs good. Now what else do I have thatâs going for me?âThatâs what you call âlooking on the bright side.â Steven Southwick and Dennis Charney studied resilient people for over 20 years. They interviewed Vietnam prisoners of war, Special Forces instructors and civilians who dealt with terrible experiences like medical problems, abuse and trauma. And what was one of the things that kept all of these survivors going? Optimism.By starting with the good, but staying realistic about the facts of the situation, our EODâs superior was able to stay calm and focus on what he was able to control and start taking steps toward resolving the situation. Our EOD friend explains:Heâs like, âIf you can wiggle your fingers, the line thatâs wrapped around you or whatever situation youâre in, if you can do one lit tle thing to make it a little bit better, then do that. If you can do another thing and then another thing, and then you can have cascading positivity as opposed to spiraling negativity.â You get to know the technical parameters of whatever job youâre doing and then you go, âIs this really an emergency? Yeah, but itâs really only an emergency if I canât find a solution. What is my next step to make this situation just slightly better?âAgain: He was underwater, unable to move his hands or feet, and was next to an explosive device. But he didnât see it as an emergency.It was only an emergency if he couldnât find a solution. Sound crazy?Youâre moving at 65 miles an hour toward a concrete wall. Scary? If that concrete wall is a natural bend in the highway and you can just turn the steering wheel of your car gently to the left, you wouldnât be frightened. In fact, you probably do it all the time without thinking about it. Not an emergency.Life and death stakes donâ t faze you if youâre optimistic and feel you have some control.(To learn how Navy SEALs and Olympians increase mental toughness, click here.)So now itâs time to act. You need to get in there and solve the problem at hand. How do you keep your cool and stay focused when youâre in the thick of it?The secret to calm and focus is knowing the next stepWeâre all scared of the unknown. Because then your brain turns to speculating. To worrying. And that takes you down the rabbit hole. The secret to calm and focus is simply deciding what you need to do next. That prevents the gap from opening up where the speculation and worrying grows. Hereâs our EOD Team Leader:When you have something to concentrate on, your mind can remain focused no matter whatâs happening. If there is some kind of device and you need to do something and youâre clearly in a hazardous situation, you knew what the next step was. If you were sitting there and had no idea what to do, that would be really terrifying. When you have the next step in your mind, then thatâs what you focus on.Maybe whatâs next is just a baby step. Thatâll do. Maybe you are so out of your depth that the next step is âask for help.â Thatâs actually a good one. You donât need to fix everything in one fell swoop. You just need to know your next step and you can keep it together.Now when you consider your next step, you want to think technically and specifically to resist panic. And be grateful you donât have to face situations like our friend did - when youâre 130 feet underwater and your breathing equipment fails:My dive rig was having a primary electronics assembly failure, meaning it was no longer actually providing me the oxygen that I needed to live. By definition this is an emergency, but when you know the way that system works, when you know that thereâs the manual override, that you can provide yourself oxygen and you can actually manually drive the rig, then I know what I ne ed to do to get myself out of this situation. When you think about it in those terms, which is to get away from the label of what this situation is and then get into what is technically going on here, then itâs a lot easier. Then you donât get focused on the fear. You get focused on âWhatâs my next step?âThe ancient Stoics avoided negative emotions by focusing on process, not outcomes. And thatâs what you want to do. Focus on your next step, and then the next step, and then the nextâ¦I know what some people are thinking: âBut what if I donât know my next step? How do I get my calm back if I lose it?âOur EOD friend has been there. And heâs been there with a bomb in front of him:The only time I ever really felt crippling fear was the moment that I lost sight of what my next step was. We were in a situation where there was a device and it was way more dangerous than what we expected. I had not done a good job because I had not prepared myself for the worst case scenario. For the first time as an officer, I was like, âI donât know what to do.â I was scared for my team. I was scared for myself.What should you do when youâre lost for a next step and your brain is filled with anxious thoughts? Thereâs an answer - one that Buddhist monks and PhD neuroscientists would agree on:Just consider those racing thoughts in your head and ask yourself, âAre they helpful?â And then make a decision.When I spoke to leading mindfulness expert Joseph Goldstein about how to deal with troublesome thoughts he said:This thought which has arisen, is it helpful? Is it serving me or others in some way or is it not? Is it just playing out perhaps old conditions of fear or judgment or things that are not very helpful for ourselves or others?And guess what our bomb disposal buddy did to resolve the situation? Heâs no mindfulness expert - but he knows what works when panic sets in. See if what our EOD Team Leader told me sounds familiar:Then I th ought, âThis is not helpful. None of this is helpful. What do I do now?â Then I thought, âThis is what needs to happen. We need to make this radio call. The guys down range need to be conducting this action. We need to push this group here. We need to move this group.â Then all of a sudden, youâre back into your rational thought and away from any kind of selfish fear.He asked if the thoughts were helpful. They werenât. And so, to the best of his ability, he just made a decision on what his next step would be. And neuroscience research shows that making decisions reduces worry and anxiety - as well as helping you solve problems.Via The Upward Spiral:Making decisions includes creating intentions and setting goals - all three are part of the same neural circuitry and engage the prefrontal cortex in a positive way, reducing worry and anxiety. Making decisions also helps overcome striatum activity, which usually pulls you toward negative impulses and routines. Finally, making decisions changes your perception of the world - finding solutions to your problems and calming the limbic system.(To learn the four rituals neuroscience says can make your brain happy, click here.)Your problems have been defused. Weâve learned a lot. Letâs round it up and learn one last secret from our EOD friend that can help you be ready for challenges before they ever occurâ¦Sum upHereâs what you need to know about how to be calm under pressure, from a Navy bomb disposal expert: Avoid âThe Rabbit Holeâ And Do A Threat Assessment: Ignore the âWhat if?â questions. Whatâs a similar problem youâve dealt with? Leverage prior experience to calmly size up challenges. Emphasize The Positive And Focus On What You Can Control: Take a second to think about just how dangerous driving a car actually is. But it doesnât faze you. A feeling of control makes all the difference. The Secret To Calm And Focus Is Knowing The Next Step: Ignore thoughts that arenât helpful. Make a decision. Focus on the next step and you wonât panic. Thereâs a saying about bomb disposal:EOD is the science of vague assumptions based on debatable data taken from inconclusive experiments with instruments of problematic accuracy by persons of questionable mentality.Cute, huh? Itâs an uncertain job with the highest of stakes. But it must be done. And so the people that do it canât sleepwalk through their job. A mentor of our EOD Team leader once told him:If you show up to work, you might as well bring yourself along.EOD techs donât walk around paranoid - thatâs the rabbit hole. But they are engaged.Want to avoid problems? Want to be calm under pressure when problems occur? Stay engaged.Thatâs your next step.Join over 285,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.Related posts:New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You HappyNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulHow To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior ExpertThis article originally appeared at Barking Up th e Wrong Tree. 3 ways to stay calm under pressure, according to a bomb disposal expert Weâd all like to know how to stay calm under pressure. Sure, I could pull a bunch of research studies on it and just summarize those for you. But that always leaves the lingering question: âBut does this stuff work in the real world?âSo who really knows about being cool as a cucumber under the most intense pressure imaginable? Iâd read that when top bomb disposal experts approach a device designed to kill them, their heart rate actually goes down. Folks, I think we have a winnerâ¦So I called a Navy EOD Team Leader.Navy EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) isnât like your average police departmentâs bomb disposal unit. These guys defuse torpedoes - while underwater. They disable biological weapons, chemical weapons⦠even nuclear weapons.For security purposes our friend requested to remain anonymous. Heâs been deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan and faced some things that are - quite literally - the stuff of nightmares. Repeatedly.So what can you and I le arn from him? How do you stay chill, keep your focus and make tough decisions when facing the most intense pressure imaginable?Letâs get to it . . .Avoid âthe rabbit holeâ and do a threat assessmentSomethingâs going wrong. Youâre worried and your mind starts to race. Your old friend Panic is nuzzling up to you and wants to snuggle. Your brain starts asking, âWhat if X happens? What if Y happens? What if? What if? What if?âNavy EOD techs refer to this as âthe rabbit hole.â And if you go down it, things are going to get very bad very fast. Hereâs our EOD Team Leader:With any device thatâs improvised we talk about ârabbit holes.â You can go down the rabbit hole of âWhat if they put in this? What if they included this bit of circuitry or this kind of switch or this crazy new device or circuit board or whatever?â The opportunities for people to construct new and ingenious and totally insidious IEDs is just infinite. Itâs possible when youâre looking a t the device to go down a rabbit hole of âIt could be this, it could be this, it could be these 10,000 different thingsâ¦âYou need to avoid going down the ârabbit holeâ and do what Navy EOD techs call a âthreat assessment.â That means looking objectively at the situation and asking, âWhat kind of problem is this?âThink about a similar situation youâve been in before that looked like this one. How did you resolve it? What worked? Maybe youâve never been in a situation exactly like the current one, but thatâs okay. Generalize. Youâve probably dealt with something that was kinda similar or youâve seen someone else do it.Leveraging experience is what makes the top Navy EODs able to stay calm and size up a terrifying situation before theyâve even approached the explosive device. Hereâs our EOD Team Leader:They develop this sixth sense about whatâs going on. Some of the guys had seen and prosecuted 300 or 400 devices. It was amazing what they co uld tell you before they ever saw the device. âThis device is probably just a pressure plate, maybe with an S and A switch. Thereâs a possible secondary back-up waiting for us if we were to go at it from this angle.â They would just be able to tell that from merely looking at the situation.Leveraging your prior experience (or the experiences of others) is what allows you to wrap your brain around a very frightening scenario and see it as just another version of a problem youâve solved before. And that allows you to keep moving forward when youâre scared.(To learn a Navy SEALâs secrets to developing grit, click here.)Alright, you dodged the rabbit hole and youâve done a threat assessment. But what mindset do you need to stay calm and focused before you act on this problem - or before you cut that red wire?Emphasize the positive and focus on what you can controlOur EODâs superior officer once told him a story about trying to defuse a mine while underwater - and r ealizing that he had become trapped, unable to move his hands or feet. What was the next thought that went through the chiefâs head?âIâm still breathing, so thatâs good. Now what else do I have thatâs going for me?âThatâs what you call âlooking on the bright side.â Steven Southwick and Dennis Charney studied resilient people for over 20 years. They interviewed Vietnam prisoners of war, Special Forces instructors and civilians who dealt with terrible experiences like medical problems, abuse and trauma. And what was one of the things that kept all of these survivors going? Optimism.By starting with the good, but staying realistic about the facts of the situation, our EODâs superior was able to stay calm and focus on what he was able to control and start taking steps toward resolving the situation. Our EOD friend explains:Heâs like, âIf you can wiggle your fingers, the line thatâs wrapped around you or whatever situation youâre in, if you can do one lit tle thing to make it a little bit better, then do that. If you can do another thing and then another thing, and then you can have cascading positivity as opposed to spiraling negativity.â You get to know the technical parameters of whatever job youâre doing and then you go, âIs this really an emergency? Yeah, but itâs really only an emergency if I canât find a solution. What is my next step to make this situation just slightly better?âAgain: He was underwater, unable to move his hands or feet, and was next to an explosive device. But he didnât see it as an emergency.It was only an emergency if he couldnât find a solution. Sound crazy?Youâre moving at 65 miles an hour toward a concrete wall. Scary? If that concrete wall is a natural bend in the highway and you can just turn the steering wheel of your car gently to the left, you wouldnât be frightened. In fact, you probably do it all the time without thinking about it. Not an emergency.Life and death stakes donâ t faze you if youâre optimistic and feel you have some control.(To learn how Navy SEALs and Olympians increase mental toughness, click here.)So now itâs time to act. You need to get in there and solve the problem at hand. How do you keep your cool and stay focused when youâre in the thick of it?The secret to calm and focus is knowing the next stepWeâre all scared of the unknown. Because then your brain turns to speculating. To worrying. And that takes you down the rabbit hole. The secret to calm and focus is simply deciding what you need to do next. That prevents the gap from opening up where the speculation and worrying grows. Hereâs our EOD Team Leader:When you have something to concentrate on, your mind can remain focused no matter whatâs happening. If there is some kind of device and you need to do something and youâre clearly in a hazardous situation, you knew what the next step was. If you were sitting there and had no idea what to do, that would be really terrifying. When you have the next step in your mind, then thatâs what you focus on.Maybe whatâs next is just a baby step. Thatâll do. Maybe you are so out of your depth that the next step is âask for help.â Thatâs actually a good one. You donât need to fix everything in one fell swoop. You just need to know your next step and you can keep it together.Now when you consider your next step, you want to think technically and specifically to resist panic. And be grateful you donât have to face situations like our friend did - when youâre 130 feet underwater and your breathing equipment fails:My dive rig was having a primary electronics assembly failure, meaning it was no longer actually providing me the oxygen that I needed to live. By definition this is an emergency, but when you know the way that system works, when you know that thereâs the manual override, that you can provide yourself oxygen and you can actually manually drive the rig, then I know what I ne ed to do to get myself out of this situation. When you think about it in those terms, which is to get away from the label of what this situation is and then get into what is technically going on here, then itâs a lot easier. Then you donât get focused on the fear. You get focused on âWhatâs my next step?âThe ancient Stoics avoided negative emotions by focusing on process, not outcomes. And thatâs what you want to do. Focus on your next step, and then the next step, and then the nextâ¦I know what some people are thinking: âBut what if I donât know my next step? How do I get my calm back if I lose it?âOur EOD friend has been there. And heâs been there with a bomb in front of him:The only time I ever really felt crippling fear was the moment that I lost sight of what my next step was. We were in a situation where there was a device and it was way more dangerous than what we expected. I had not done a good job because I had not prepared myself for the worst case scenario. For the first time as an officer, I was like, âI donât know what to do.â I was scared for my team. I was scared for myself.What should you do when youâre lost for a next step and your brain is filled with anxious thoughts? Thereâs an answer - one that Buddhist monks and PhD neuroscientists would agree on:Just consider those racing thoughts in your head and ask yourself, âAre they helpful?â And then make a decision.When I spoke to leading mindfulness expert Joseph Goldstein about how to deal with troublesome thoughts he said:This thought which has arisen, is it helpful? Is it serving me or others in some way or is it not? Is it just playing out perhaps old conditions of fear or judgment or things that are not very helpful for ourselves or others?And guess what our bomb disposal buddy did to resolve the situation? Heâs no mindfulness expert - but he knows what works when panic sets in. See if what our EOD Team Leader told me sounds familiar:Then I th ought, âThis is not helpful. None of this is helpful. What do I do now?â Then I thought, âThis is what needs to happen. We need to make this radio call. The guys down range need to be conducting this action. We need to push this group here. We need to move this group.â Then all of a sudden, youâre back into your rational thought and away from any kind of selfish fear.He asked if the thoughts were helpful. They werenât. And so, to the best of his ability, he just made a decision on what his next step would be. And neuroscience research shows that making decisions reduces worry and anxiety - as well as helping you solve problems.Via The Upward Spiral:Making decisions includes creating intentions and setting goals - all three are part of the same neural circuitry and engage the prefrontal cortex in a positive way, reducing worry and anxiety. Making decisions also helps overcome striatum activity, which usually pulls you toward negative impulses and routines. Finally, making decisions changes your perception of the world - finding solutions to your problems and calming the limbic system.(To learn the four rituals neuroscience says can make your brain happy, click here.)Your problems have been defused. Weâve learned a lot. Letâs round it up and learn one last secret from our EOD friend that can help you be ready for challenges before they ever occurâ¦Sum upHereâs what you need to know about how to be calm under pressure, from a Navy bomb disposal expert: Avoid âThe Rabbit Holeâ And Do A Threat Assessment: Ignore the âWhat if?â questions. Whatâs a similar problem youâve dealt with? Leverage prior experience to calmly size up challenges. Emphasize The Positive And Focus On What You Can Control: Take a second to think about just how dangerous driving a car actually is. But it doesnât faze you. A feeling of control makes all the difference. The Secret To Calm And Focus Is Knowing The Next Step: Ignore thoughts that arenât helpful. Make a decision. Focus on the next step and you wonât panic. Thereâs a saying about bomb disposal:EOD is the science of vague assumptions based on debatable data taken from inconclusive experiments with instruments of problematic accuracy by persons of questionable mentality.Cute, huh? Itâs an uncertain job with the highest of stakes. But it must be done. And so the people that do it canât sleepwalk through their job. A mentor of our EOD Team leader once told him:If you show up to work, you might as well bring yourself along.EOD techs donât walk around paranoid - thatâs the rabbit hole. But they are engaged.Want to avoid problems? Want to be calm under pressure when problems occur? Stay engaged.Thatâs your next step.Join over 285,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.Related posts:New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You HappyNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulHow To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior ExpertThis article originally appeared at Barking Up th e Wrong Tree.
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