Different people choose different ways to stay healthy when anticipating the possible impact of future challenging events. The following pages explore one approach to managing your emotions in such situations.
This piece draws on an article written by Amanda Ripley for the Washington Post one week before the 2024 US Presidential election. It describes how people can manage their emotions before a potentially challenging event.
Different people may be waiting or worrying in different situations. Here are some examples.
They may be worried about the outcome of a decisive election in their country;
They may be waiting for the results of a biopsy that will reveal the extent of an illness;
They may be concerned about the possibility of losing their job after a takeover of their company.
How to deal with such situations? Amanda Ripley describes some of the strategies outlined by Kate Sweeny, a psychologist, who has studied how people manage such situations in a positive way.
Kate has used certain terms to describe this approach. One of these is ‘preemption’. These describe the process of being proactive and taking preemptive action to manage your emotions in the situation.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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