{"id":351,"date":"2021-10-14T05:44:46","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T05:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/?p=351"},"modified":"2021-10-14T05:44:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T05:44:46","slug":"how-to-unfreeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/","title":{"rendered":"HOW TO UNFREEZE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Header.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Header.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Header-300x114.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Header-768x292.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the last edition of <strong>The Wire<\/strong>, we talked about \u201cbrain freeze.\u201d We said that when we face abnormally profound emotional spikes we may experience an \u201camygdala hijack,\u201d a phenomenon where our brain shifts so significantly towards its emotional processing centre that we go \u201cblank\u201d in our frontal cortex (the logical centre). We considered two significant reasons why this happens:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Conscious\/subconscious fear that one of the unique, individualised pillars of our self-esteem is at risk, and<\/li><li>A reminder (trigger) of past emotional trauma.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In this edition, I\u2019d like to share a few thoughts of action steps we can take to mitigate brain freeze both before and when brain freeze hits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1.\u00a0 Know why brain freeze happens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, as odd as it may sound, being aware of what\u2019s happening to you in the middle of a brain freeze is surprisingly empowering. When we lack such understanding, we may be hit with the double impact of the <strong>causative <\/strong>emotion that provoked the brain freeze as well as by the <strong>resulting<\/strong> emotions we feel from experiencing the brain freeze itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is akin to those who struggle to take tests. Coming to a question for which they\u2019ve forgotten the answer, many experience a partial\/complete amygdala hijack as a result of the emotion they feel about the potential of negative consequence. But because they now are \u201cunable to think,\u201d they \u201cfreak out\u201d even more. The secondary emotion of \u201cfreaking out\u201d adds greater emotion to the mix, escalating the brain freeze further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When we\u2019re in the middle of an amygdala hijack, the name of the game is to de-escalate emotional volume or intensity.<\/strong> If we can understand the neuroscience behind brain freeze, it becomes easier to avoid worsening the situation with additional emotions. Every little bit helps. So, the first step in dealing with brain freeze is to simply be aware of why it happens and to use that knowledge to resist the urge to pour additional emotion into the ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2.  Know why your brain freeze happens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next step of addressing brain freeze is to use your own historical data to identify the types of situations which trigger brain freeze for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is important on two accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, it will help you prepare for potential brain freeze situations in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, just as having a greater understanding of the neuroscience behind brain freeze helps us resist adding more emotions into the mix, prior self-awareness of <strong>your <\/strong>root causes (triggers) may offer the same benefit. Knowing the \u201cwhy\u201d behind <strong>your <\/strong>unique freeze algorithm not only helps you to be prepared, it empowers you with a greater sense of control because you have a better idea of what is happening. And that, in turn, aids in limiting a secondary emotional response. As we\u2019ve said, by avoiding further escalation of our emotions as a <strong>result<\/strong> of the brain freeze, we can address the emotion(s) which <strong>caused<\/strong> it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3.\u00a0 Consciously dial the emotions down<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We know that <strong>amygdala hijacks happen because of emotional spikes<\/strong>. So, the <strong>key is to find a way to dial the emotions down<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What works for each individual varies, but the core principle is that we need to find a way to reduce the intensity of our emotions to regain access to our frontal cortex as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In my coaching conversations with executive leaders struggling with brain freeze, I\u2019ve seen a <strong>variety of strategies work for different people<\/strong>, but here are a few to help you get started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Take a deep breath with the <strong>conscious<\/strong> intent of calming down.<\/li><li>If you have clarity on why the emotions are spiking (see #2 above), you may be able to quickly \u201ctalk yourself down\u201d with a quick internal conversation such as, \u201cMike, you\u2019re having a brain freeze <strong>because<\/strong> you tend to get triggered in very high stakes meetings. Calm down. You can do this.\u201d<\/li><li>I\u2019ve seen the age-old adage of \u201ccounting to 10\u201d work well for several clients simply because it provides a few seconds (time) for the emotions to dissipate.<\/li><li>If you\u2019re working in team, there are additional options. If\/when brain freeze hits, if you can quickly pass the conversation over to a teammate (e.g., \u201cI think Tom is best equipped to answer that question.\u201d), you can buy yourself the time you need to pull yourself together.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Have you ever experienced brain freeze?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you think back to that\/those case(s), what do you think triggered it\/them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Looking forward, what strategies would you like to try as an experiment to manage \u201cbrain freeze\u201d in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What to do when brain freeze hits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emotional-intelligence","category-performance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>HOW TO UNFREEZE - The Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HOW TO UNFREEZE - The Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What to do when brain freeze hits.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-14T05:44:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Thumbnail.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"259\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mf_resource_P8xC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Wire\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Thumbnail.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Thumbnail.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":259},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/\",\"name\":\"HOW TO UNFREEZE - The Wire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-14T05:44:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-14T05:44:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4d4f438e149a6528b543259d262b58e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"HOW TO UNFREEZE\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4d4f438e149a6528b543259d262b58e\",\"name\":\"mf_resource_P8xC\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f63629ed9e4b34cedaabffc43c5de9c08aff2d96479286dd188c970f00c16a38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f63629ed9e4b34cedaabffc43c5de9c08aff2d96479286dd188c970f00c16a38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mf_resource_P8xC\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/author\/mf_resource_p8xc\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"HOW TO UNFREEZE - The Wire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"HOW TO UNFREEZE - The Wire","og_description":"What to do when brain freeze hits.","og_url":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/","og_site_name":"The Wire","article_published_time":"2021-10-14T05:44:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":259,"url":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Thumbnail.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mf_resource_P8xC","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/","name":"The Wire","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Thumbnail.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Ice-Thumbnail.jpg","width":400,"height":259},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/","name":"HOW TO UNFREEZE - The Wire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2021-10-14T05:44:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-14T05:44:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4d4f438e149a6528b543259d262b58e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/how-to-unfreeze\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"HOW TO UNFREEZE"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e4d4f438e149a6528b543259d262b58e","name":"mf_resource_P8xC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f63629ed9e4b34cedaabffc43c5de9c08aff2d96479286dd188c970f00c16a38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f63629ed9e4b34cedaabffc43c5de9c08aff2d96479286dd188c970f00c16a38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mf_resource_P8xC"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/author\/mf_resource_p8xc\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364,"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions\/364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikefisher.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}