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Your Fight-or-Flight Response Can be a Good Thing at Work — Here's How to Take Advantage of It There's a constant battle between your brain's need to keep you safe and your ambition to see yourself shine.

By Mark Klekas Edited by Mark Klekas

You're sitting at your desk, it's a nice day outside and you just washed down a blueberry bagel with some coffee. Sounds like a typical Tuesday, right? Suddenly, your blood starts pumping adrenaline, and you can hear your heartbeat in your throat. Your fight-or-flight has kicked in, but no physical danger is in sight. What happened?

Related: New Neuroscience Reveals the Best Way to Form Powerful Habits That Stick

It's a terrible, overloading sensation, and everyone has felt it at odd times in the workplace. One minute, you're rational and calm; the next, you have tunnel vision and cannot articulate your thoughts. This primitive response, typically reserved to get us out of life-threatening situations, can spill over into our everyday work life. We know it's not always something we can control, but the question is: How do we use it to our advantage?

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