Man who is stressed and rubbing his temples with his fingers, sitting at a desk in front of a computer.

Jeffrey is already dealing with a demanding workload when he gets an email from his boss saying: “You’re going to lead 3 more projects.”

He is stressed by this news, looks at the clock, and realizes he only has a few minutes before his next meeting.

During the meeting, Jeffrey is impatient with his coworkers, frequently sighing and rolling his eyes. The group discusses Project Z and vote on whether it should move forward. Jeffrey can’t imagine leading another project and votes against it.

If Jeffrey had felt calmer, then he would have asked more questions and come to understand that he could have a supportive role. As a result, he would have voted in favor of Project Z.

Let’s rewind back to when Jeffrey gets the email:

He reads the email, gets stressed, looks at the clock, realizes he only has a few minutes before the next meeting. In order to feel better and think clearly, Jeffrey needs to understand what he is feeling.