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?
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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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Why does it happen?
The first thing to know is there is a difference between perceived fear and real danger. Unfortunately, our behavior is shaped by perceived fear more than we realize. Real danger rarely occurs, yet perceived threats can flip the switch to the fight-or-flight part of your brain. Your body cannot tell the difference but responds the same way.
Many things can trigger your fight-or-flight response at work, and it's sometimes a matter of anger and frustration. But more likely, it deals with how your body has been conditioned to deal with chronic stress and anxiety.
The 2022 Stress in America report by the American Psychological Association found that nearly 76% of Americans said they had experienced health impacts due to stress in the prior month. What's more alarming is 27% of adults said that most days, they are so stressed they can't function, according to the report.
The problem is that most of us can't switch it off; if we can, it quickly comes back on, creating a roller-coaster ride of emotions. How easily it comes on is directly linked to how we've learned to process possible threats. This is based on numerous factors, including upbringing, chronic stress, genetics, personal experiences and hormone levels. Remember, the brain's key purpose is to sustain life, not keep you focused on achieving your goals. When your body goes into self-preservation mode, you default to maintaining the status quo and nothing more.
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When is it ever a good thing?
However uncomfortable it may be, the fight-or-flight response can be necessary for your professional growth. Your brain views your goals as a threat because it requires too much energy to process the unknown factors surrounding it. This could trigger your fight-or-flight response because the goal is outside your comfort zone. At the very least, it signals that you are facing something you see as a threat.
There's a constant battle between your primal brain's need to keep you safe and your own ambition to see yourself shine. Examples of helpful fight-or-flight responses in the workplace include overcoming public speaking fears, working up the courage to ask for a raise, closing a deal and other high stake conversations.
When your body is physically reacting to a goal or stepstone you want to achieve, this is a good indicator you are heading in the right direction. Having the actual fight-or-flight response is not helpful at the moment, but it helps tell you what skills you might need to develop in order to handle this situation better.
What happens if we leave it unchecked?
There's no more painful way to live than fighting against your primal instincts. And, as we've discovered, nutritional deficiencies, inflammation, medications and more can amplify and even trigger your fight-or-flight response. When you address these problems first, managing the psychological side becomes much easier because you spend less time in fight-or-flight mode. Repeatedly experiencing fight-or-flight can manifest all types of unusual behavior that can sabotage your success, including:
- Avoidance behavior: Avoid meetings with colleagues or your boss to avoid or postpone certain conversations.
- Mood changes: Acting uncharacteristically or moody due to stressors.
- Increased anxiety: More symptoms of anxiety could be present as your body is trying to cope with perceived threats down the road.
- Identity shift: Switching to thinking you're the kind of person who just doesn't reach their goals or get what they want.
Looking out for it can be helpful
The thing that your fight-or-flight response does very well is helping you prepare for any "threats" that are coming your way. It's a way for your body to let you know what is happening is important to your well-being. However, awareness is key. It's important to know how every situation will affect you and if facing a possible fight-or-flight response is necessary to get what you want professionally. Look at it as a way to pre-assess future situations. It's possible to overcome the response and rewire your brain to think about those situations differently.
By thinking logically, we can slow our heart rate and lower our blood pressure after our fight-or-flight response has been engaged. This is the best state of mind when working on your goals. This way, you can make rational decisions and assess future consequences calmly, rather than in a state of fear that may cause you to make unwise decisions you later regret. If you happen to trigger your fight-or-flight response at work, take some time afterward to calm down, gather yourself and understand why you think it happened. If it is tied to something professional, use the experience as a tool to help navigate yourself in the future.
This article is excerpted from Ben Angel's Unstoppable second edition, now on Entrepreneur Bookstore, or purchase it via Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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