Halloween heebie-jeebies

Have you got job Halloween heebie-jeebies? Not just songs by Louis Armstrong and Little Richard, heebie-jeebies is a phrase, widely attributed to cartoonist Billy DeBeck*, meaning a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, depression or illness. Anxiety is often associated with other people and our reactions to their behaviour. We have choices here…

 A very wise and sensible manager once said to me, “Why are we continually surprised when people act according to type?”  When we let the wrong people in, we open ourselves up to being hurt. It’s about choosing who you let in.

We feel hurt when someone responds to us in a way we could have predicted, allowing them to affect us negatively. Your hypercritical friend asks to read your latest blog: you could predict that they will find fault and undermine you but you let them read it anyway. The predictable happens and you feel hurt and not good enough.

If we take responsibility for the way in which we respond (ability to respond = responsibility), we take back control of the situation and of the outcome. You could say no to the friend asking to read your blog – don’t let them in – or you could let them read it and prepare yourself for the resulting criticism, get ready to shrug off the negative but see if there are any learning points. Two options, both of which put you in control, you’re ready to respond in your own way.

Don’t let the spooky season get to you, however, if you do have Halloween heebie-jeebies, think about chatting with a coach to work through them. Find me at crescendocoaching.co.uk

* most famous for creating Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (no connection with the search engine).