The Snitch

Master your emotions and save the discomfort of having to wear a box over your head.

Emotions are often a messy and sordid affair. At work, being overly sensitive affects your work productivity and harmony with your co-workers. But when under control, emotions can take your work performance and power of persuasion to greater heights. Mastering your emotions can also give you a big leg-up in a competition.

In the book Full Throttle, Gregg Steinberg spills some strategies to supercharge your performance at work through emotional mastery. Here are a few suggestions:

Discover your inner Tiger (Woods)

True happiness is a verb, says Steinberg. It involves meaningful endeavors that inspire us from the heart. Tiger Woods epitomises authentic happiness living a life of meaning that gives him inspiration to do more and to be a better person.

Steinberg recommends making a “tiger list”, where you write down a list of all the meaingful contributions your job has made to yourself. Ask yourself if your job has made a meaningful contribution to your company, and how does your job make a meaningful contribution to you. Put the list somewhere in your office, and when you’re feeling stressed or depressed, take a glance at it for a jolt of needed motivation.

Serenity now

Let serenity be your advantage at work. When finding serenity at the workplace, you first need to gain wisdom to recognise the difference between aspects of your business life which you have control and no control over. Next, place them into two categories: Can Control and Cannot Control. For the Cannot Control list, crumble up the paper and throw it away. Hence, when you start thinking unproductive thoughts, say “trash can” to yourself.

Also, focus on what you can control by devising one strategy for each worry on your Can Control list. For example, if you have a strategy to take on extra work, stay late but make sure the work is of the highest quality. Following a specified strategy will give you a greater sense of control over the situation and reduce your anxiety.

Find your joy spot

Sometimes, we get so caught up in work that we forget to have fun. With this, Steinberg suggests laughter. Laughter puts you in a better mood, and increases your work productivity as your mental capacities increase. A good chuckle can also produce a relaxation response. So when things go awry with work, you can choose to feel angry, or you can decide to laugh at the difficulties faced at work and in your life.

Leap above boredom

Steinberg believes that boredom is on the flip side of flow. Boredom is caused by the lack of challenge, where you cannot achieve flow unless you’re appropriately challenged at work. Ask yourself if you can add more seminars to your schedule, or increase your quota to be more challenged. In short, fight boredom by making it your mission to add challenges to your job.