Understanding and handling your triggers

Many of us may find it useful – and very interesting, perhaps – to ponder our reactions to situations, events and experiences that have been significant in our lives.

 

The process is also indisputably relevant to many different levels of communities from families, villages, towns and nations to broader regions.

Businesses, companies and conglomerates are governed by the same considerable force: the action/reaction-defining triggers in life.

And those triggers sometimes spark powder kegs, so powerful and explosive are the results or reactions under certain circumstances.

Charles Duhigg, in The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, reflects on cues, habits and rewards as the determining factors in our choices of our “Habit Loops”.

These develop when our brains choose which habits are worthwhile and we tend to stick to them.

Each of us, if we spend some time considering why we have done certain things or reacted in specific ways, is likely to identify some sort of trigger as the root cause of the behaviour.

Those sparks and catalysts would be clearly identifiable to psychologists and others trained in the field of human behaviour, but we would all arguably benefit from a more acute awareness of “what makes us tick”.

Those gifted members of the creative fields like art, writing, music and dance rely strongly on inspiration, experiences and “wow” moments to spark or trigger their creative juices.

They are possibly the closest to the vibrational level associated with creativity.

But the fields of architecture, engineering and research in many areas arguably incorporate many of those defining experiences too.

Two commentators who made significant observations on the role of triggers in the operations of the creative types, contributed the following:

“The best ideas will eat at you for days, maybe even weeks, until something, some incident, some impulse, triggers you to finally express them.” – Criss Jami, Killosophy.

“The creative process is mysterious; a conversation, a ride in the car, or a melody can trigger something.” – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

Each of us has travelled our own distinctive path with unique experiences, and our environmental influences have shaped our outlooks on life and, perhaps, also planted and nourished the mechanisms that control our triggers.

Certain key events are likely to have played a major role in determining the sparks and catalysts of particular import.

Peter A Levine reflected on the devastating effects of unresolved trauma on our habits and outlook on life, including possible addictions, poor decision-making, physical pain and self-destructive behaviours. There is little doubt that an awareness and understanding of the triggers that spark certain actions and reactions at all levels in society will help to facilitate more considered and sensible responses to situations and circumstances.

As individuals, families, companies and regions, we would all be better off if those significant catalysts were handled intelligently.

On a global scale, there are few issues as alarmingly significant as the trigger potential reflected in climate change.

Ban Ki-moon refers to the triggering of conflict, large-scale migration, rising sea levels that put the survival of all small island states at risk, and threats to peace and security at the UN level.

And for each individual, Mehmet Oz captures an aspect of the reality of our makeup in describing our genetics as loading the gun, while our lifestyles pull the trigger.

A better understanding and handling of the triggers in life would certainly make our planet a more harmonious and accommodating place, and our individual paths much more tranquil.

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