Stop It, Vanessa!!!

Sometime around 2005

I yelled really loudly, and slammed my hand down on the table.

STOP IT, VANESSA!!!

We were working with a cool, small group of managers using Ed Freedberg's concept of Self Management. I've used Dr. Freedberg's material for a long time and love it!

We were working with Freedberg's ideas of short, internal interventions to offset some of the problematic things our brain and body can do to us that hinders being our best.

The one we had just focused on was having our internal 'self manager' tell us to 'STOP IT' when we got going with catastrophizing some work situation. As our thoughts and words might run away, amplifying all the bad and potential bad of the situation, the idea was to have our internal self manager observe this and then tell us to 'STOP IT'! A pattern break kind of thing.

So we had just covered this stuff with our group and then we were talking about real work situations. Vanessa, an awesome participant got going on some work situation. She was on a verbal highway and not obeying speed limits!

So I slammed my hand down on the table and yelled 'STOP IT VANESSA!!!'

She jumped; and stopped. She looked at me, her eyes wide, her mouth in a shocked '0'. We stared at each other for maybe 10 seconds.

She smiled and said 'Oh my, I just did it didn't I?!?' She laughed, we all did.

We all learned something that day!