#38 How to Stay Calm Under Pressure

Anybody can look calm when life is easy. The real test is the first ten seconds when everything goes sideways.

It's my birthday, and I'm getting into something every dog owner, parent, and leader needs: how to stay calm under pressure. Pressure isn't the problem. It's what pressure reveals. Your dog already knows this, because he reads your nervous system and feeds off your energy long before you say a word. A reactive dog is so often standing right next to a reactive handler. In this one I walk through the calm-under-pressure formula, a simple breathing reset you can run in real time, a piece of scripture that's been sitting with me, and a few stories from my years as a first responder. Dogs are the easy part. We're the hard part. Let's work on us, for them.

What you’ll take away:

• Why pressure doesn't create your character, it reveals it
• The breathe-don't-bark reset (and the 4-2-6 breath) you can use in the moment
• How your dog reads and mirrors your nervous system
• Training for recovery, not perfection, so you bounce back faster

Listen, then come grow with us in the UPX community over at unleashedpotential.ca. One rep at a time.