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You know those people who stay calm when everything's falling apart...

Clive Griffiths
Clive Griffiths
— 1 min read

You know those people who stay calm when everything's falling apart
... they're not born different.

They've just figured out their triggers before their triggers figured out them.

Most of us walk around completely blind to what sets us off.
We think we're rational actors making conscious choices.

Then someone uses a certain tone, or the meeting runs long, or we get an email with a particular subject line, and suddenly we're reacting like a live wire.

The pattern's always the same:

Trigger hits → emotion floods → reaction follows.

By the time you notice what happened, you're already three moves deep into a conversation you didn't mean to have.

But here's what those unflappable people know, triggers aren't mysterious forces of nature. They are:

Predictable.
Observable.
Manageable.

So start paying attention to when your emotional temperature spikes.
Not what you think about it afterward, but the moment it happens.

What just occurred?
Who said what?
What changed in the room?

Your body knows before your brain does:
↳ tight shoulders.
↳ shallow breathing.
↳ that little clench in your jaw.

These aren't random. They're your early warning system telling you something just pushed a button.

Write down what you notice for just a week. You'll start seeing the same handful of situations showing up again and again:
↳ the micromanager who checks in every hour.
↳ the colleague who never finishes their sentences.
↳ the client who starts every request with
.

Once you can predict your triggers, you can prepare for them. And once you can prepare, you can choose a different response.

Your goal isn't to become emotionless. It's to become intentional about which emotions you let drive the bus.

#relentless"

LinkedIn PostsLI-2025

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