Mindset and Maintaining Control

Have you ever wondered how some people keep their cool no matter what happens to them?

Life is hard, and we all experience stressful moments. How we react during those moments determines the outcome. Stuff happens during those unexpected moments. While driving our cars, sometimes we get flat tires. Maybe the washer and dryer breaks. Our kids get sick, or we experience traffic jams. We have bad days at work. I have experienced plenty of those moments in my lifetime. Our mindset will cause us to either react or be proactive. My family ancestor Noah Webster defines mindset as a mental attitude or a fixed state of mind.

Let’s dive into everyday life and how we can all use mindset to stay in control and manage stress. Maybe you’re working in a job that you hate. What would happen if you developed a discipline that helped you be great at the job you hate? Imagine what that would do for you in a job you love. We all have experienced working jobs we hate. Most people work those every day. Our mindset can prepare us to achieve greatness in anything. So discipline is a learned habit. Over time, it will help you be better at anything you do. So, how does that relate to staying in control and managing stress?

Many years ago, while raising my two sons and a daughter, all on my own as a single dad, I experienced a stressful moment. We were heading home from seeing a movie. There was a bee in my car, and my daughter freaked out and screamed. That startled me. I reacted by turning the wheel, and my tire hit the concrete abutment. This caused a flat. Now, I didn’t panic because I never do. I called for a tow truck, then we drove home. I didn’t allow the situation to mess up my day or cause further stress or panic. Life will always kick us in the six. It’s not what happens when we get knocked down. It’s what we do ‘when’ we get up that counts.

One time I was working as a night clerk at a gas station when around 2:30 AM this guy walks in wearing a long dark coat. He got a cup of coffee, then walked up to the counter. When I told him the cost, he said that it was too much for coffee. Then asked me if I’d like that coffee thrown in my face. At that moment, I knew what kind of person I was dealing with. So immediately, my mindset switched from working and observing to self-defense. He then pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. Now, being a veteran I knew from looking at the gun, it was not real. It looked like he bought it in a store, then took it home and painted the red tip to black.

Long story short, I talked with the guy who lost his job and was just angry at life. He spent five years in jail. This an extreme form of a stressful situation. I never showed panic. I spoke in a calm tone and de-escalated the situation. If you are around people like that, don’t show anger or panic. They will feed off of it.

We learn discipline. It is like a muscle. When we go to the gym, we work out many times until it becomes muscle memory. Our minds are like that. The more we practice mindset and mental control, the more it becomes like muscle memory. Exercise is a great way to manage stress. I’ve been active all my life. I ran track and cross-country in high school. I ran long distances after my military service because it kept me healthy, and I enjoyed it. I’ve worked out in gyms. I trained hard for years in martial arts. I would always run on treadmills before martial arts to warm up my muscles. While training in martial arts, I also hiked in the mountains. I earned not only my Black Belt. Then my 2nd Degree Black Belt in martial arts. So exercise is a great way to relieve our daily stresses.

I taught myself how to meditate. Meditation is another way to relieve stress. So our mindset and our mental discipline play a role in how we stay in control and manage stress.

For more information or to listen to my podcasts. They can be found at: True Stories and Motivation Academy