What Kind of Egg Are You?

Sometimes bad economic news tends to spill over the transom. From layoffs to inflation, troubling news can fully consume our background consciousness. With that uncertainty comes feelings of anxiety and panic, denial and complacency, or even opportunity and hope. Surmounting pressures from all angles can leave us feeling like delicate eggs about to crack.

For decades economists have studied the relationship between shifting market conditions and emotions. Surprisingly, these emotions are not the mere byproduct of market cycle stages but a contributing factor preceding each stage. In this explanation of market cycle sentiment, Naj Srinivas of Fisher Investments walks through these emotional chutes and ladders.

In this way, the worst of times are as much a manifestation of our collective actions as are the best of times. In light of this, knowledge of shared emotional states is one way to better predict what might happen next. Illustrated in the video below by Freedom in Thought, neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett's Theory of Constructed Emotion depicts how one that masters their emotions, masters all of their future realities.

While it's easy to adopt collectively held emotions, there lurks greater benefit in examining why a population might feel a certain way––and then breaking from the norm to better anticipate what comes next.

There’s much to be gained from stepping into uncertainty to address difficult emotions that shape our outlook on organizational team culture or even economic tidings. Team intelligence hinges on the ability to exhibit such awareness. By seeking new perspectives, we can better control emotions and simultaneously close the gap between perception and reality. We can become a leading voice to the ears of others.

While under pressure, some may crack, only to be scrambled or fried. Others, however, learn to hatch and thrive. What kind of egg are you?

“The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.”
― Joseph Campbell