HBR Emotional Intelligence Ultimate Boxed Set (14 Books) (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series)

11

Managing the Critical Voices Inside Your Head

By Peter Bregman

At 8:20 a.m., my 12-year-old daughter, Isabelle, was rushing to meet her ski group. She was 20 minutes late and stressed: She takes her skiing very seriously and was training for a race in a couple of days.

Near the competition center, she ran into one of her coaches, Joey. He looked at her, then his watch. “If this were a race day,” he told her, with a disapproving scowl, “I would tell you to turn around and go home.”

His words stung, and she burst into tears. A few moments later, she was greeted by another one of her coaches, Vicky, who saw how stressed she was.

“Honey, don’t worry,” she said. “This isn’t a race. It’s okay that you’re running a little late. You’ll just catch ...