Optimally managing new and uncertain situations requires implementation of skills, strategies, and tactics within the framework of the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete.
Dr. Darin Davidson partners with Learner+, a CME/CE reflective learning platform for healthcare providers. For the opportunity to reflect on this article and earn CME/CE credits, Launch here. Check out all past articles which are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits.
For downloadable, actionable strategies and tactics to leverage biology in the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance, visit the resource store, Launch here. Chapters are arranged by topic so those of interest can be selected and each are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits through Learner+.
Across all domains of life, we will often encounter new and uncertain situations. These can occur within the pursuit of health and wellbeing as well as sustainable high performance. In addition, these scenarios may present themselves across each of the three pathways, specifically, internal, external, and relational. The framework provided by the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete provides actionable strategies and tactics to leverage our biology when we encounter these scenarios.
It is important to recognize that when we encounter uncertain and novel situations this is often associated with shifts in our biological state. Inherent within these situations, irrespective of the domain in life in which they occur or across which pathway we may encounter them, the commonality is that they present the potential for cues of uncertainty, risk, and threat to arise. As has been discussed throughout this article series, when we encounter such cues our biological response is often a shift towards activated, attacking, anxious, overwhelmed, and shutdown states. As has also been discussed throughout this article series, when we experience such shifts in our biological state, this is not conducive to the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
It is likely that we have all experienced situations across many domains of our life and across each of the three pathways which meet the common conception of new and uncertain situations. Within the domain of high performance, this may take the form of playing in the championship game for the first time or playing against a superior opponent for the first time. In the pursuit of health and wellbeing, this may occur in response to situations in which we experience a new challenge to our overall health, exposure to a new social situation, or when we are placed in a new physical surrounding and environment. While the specifics of each of these scenarios may differ, the commonality is the impact upon our biology. On account of the associated cues of uncertainty and, perhaps risk or threat, we will experience a shift towards protective and defensive states.
When we encounter these situations, the manner in which we respond will strongly influence whether or not we are able to optimally pursue whatever objectives are related to the domain in which we encounter the situation. For example, if we encounter new and uncertain situations within pursuits of sustainable high performance, our ability to leverage our biology in response to this experience will strongly determine whether or not we are able to continue to perform at our highest level. This, in turn, will strongly influence whether or not we are successful in meeting our overall objectives. Similarly, the manner in which we respond to new and uncertain scenarios within our pursuit of health and wellbeing will largely determine our ability to be successful in this domain as well.
As it is inevitable that we will experience new and uncertain situations, it becomes important to utilize the somatic practices and psychological skills within the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete to leverage our biology in these scenarios. It is also necessary to recognize the inevitable and inherent biological state shifts that are likely to occur in response to these novel and uncertain situations. With this understanding in mind, we can then develop strategies and implement tactics to best position ourselves to manage these inevitable situations while still pursuing health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
When we understand that these new and uncertain situations are likely to result in shifts towards activated, attacking, anxious, overwhelmed, and shutdown states we can recognize that it is important to implement somatic practices in these scenarios. As has been discussed throughout the article series, when we experience these biological state shifts the effectiveness of our psychological skills is reduced. Therefore, it is important to first utilize somatic practices to regain an element of anchored and grounded state prior to reintroducing psychological skills.
It is also important to strengthen our baseline anchored and grounded states and enhance our nervous system flexibility. These attributes allow us to reduce to the extent possible the inherent biological state shifts in response to the cues associated with new and uncertain situations. This strategy allows us to be best positioned to manage the inevitable new and uncertain scenarios we will encounter.
In addition to the strategies described above, it is also useful to develop specific psychological skills to implement in new and uncertain scenarios once we have restored an element of anchored and grounded state. Given the inherent uncertainty associated with new situations, providing our biology with predictable cues can be extremely helpful and lead to shifts towards anchored and grounded states. For example, when we are exposed to uncertainty, it can be useful to place our attention and focus upon elements under our direct control. This can only be optimally effective once we have reestablished anchored and grounded states through the use of somatic practices. Once we have achieved this by placing our focus and attention on factors and tasks which we can directly control, we can reintroduce cues of certainty and predictability. For example, when we experience an uncertain situation we can first utilize somatic practices, such as breathing, to reestablish anchored and grounded states. We can then place our focus and attention on particular tasks which are under our direct control. For example, within a high performance domain, we might utilize breathing in order to reestablish anchored and grounded states. Following this, we may emphasize performance of a physical skill which we directly control and are able to perform with high proficiency. This will provide predictability and cues of anchoring and grounding to our biology. This will further lead to strengthening of our anchored and grounded states. A related strategy is to place our attention and focus on the process of performing tasks rather than the ultimate outcome. As we have a greater degree of control over the steps we take in the pursuit of an objective than we do over the ultimate outcome, this perspective provides a similar shift in biological state.
A similar strategy to the one described above with respect to focusing on factors and tasks which are under our direct control can be implemented within numerous scenarios and experiences in the pursuit of health and wellbeing. For instance, if we are exposed to a new or uncertain environment, we can restore anchored and grounded states through the use of breathing and then perform a specific skill with direct attention placed upon that which we directly control. This is a useful strategy across the internal, external, and relational pathways.
In our pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance it is inevitable that we will experience new and uncertain scenarios and situations. If we are to push the limits of our potential, it is unavoidable that we expose ourselves to such scenarios. Without doing so we would remain stagnant in our growth and not be able to increase our potential and push the limits of our capacity. Given the inevitable reality of exposure to new and uncertain situations, it becomes important to develop strategies and tactics whereby we can utilize the somatic practices and psychological skills within the Practices of the Healthcare Athlete to best manage these scenarios. In doing so, we are able to optimally leverage our biology under uncertain or new situations to pursue health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance.
To learn more, including about biologically complementary coaching for healthcare professionals and others in high demand domains, please visit www.darindavidson.com.
Dr. Darin Davidson partners with Learner+, a CME/CE reflective learning platform for healthcare providers. For the opportunity to reflect on this article and earn CME/CE credits, Launch here. Check out all past articles which are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits.
For downloadable, actionable strategies and tactics to leverage biology in the pursuit of health, wellbeing, and sustainable high performance, visit the resource store, Launch here. Chapters are arranged by topic so those of interest can be selected and each are also eligible for reflections and CME/CE credits through Learner+.