In demanding seasons, many leaders notice the same question surfacing: How do I stay centered when everything around me feels uncertain?

One helpful way to see emotional health is as something trainable.

Like strength or endurance, it responds to practice.

With attention and repetition, capacity grows.

When it's neglected, it weakens, like an untrained muscle.

Last week reminded me that emotional resilience is something we need on demand, and we need to train for it.

I noticed how my body reacted before my thoughts did, and how my ability to lead in the next hour relied on routines I practice.

There’s a parallel in technology that’s useful here.

When a system slows down, a restart restores function.

Emotional equilibrium works much the same way.

Small resets, practiced consistently, help leaders restore themselves and build capacity.

Here's a simple framework with three sensors to help you notice when your equilibrium is drifting, and some options to help you restore it.

Pick the practice that fits your context and time, and refine these over time.

Awareness won’t fix everything, but it will provide useful, actionable information.

Choose one to practice.

Short Regulation (2–5 minutes)

Use when early signals appear or you need to stabilize quickly.

Longer Resets (10–20 minutes)

Use these to restore usable energy and clarity.

Re-Anchoring (anytime)

Over time, these practices build capacity the same way training a muscle builds strength.

If emotional resilience strengthens with practice, what are you currently reinforcing, intentionally or unintentionally?

If you'd like more tools like these, reply and let me know which one you’d like to explore. This is exactly the kind of grounded leadership we practice every week in the Better Leaders Better Schools Mastermind and the Ruckus Maker Club.

Emotional health comes from having practices that help you reset and return strong, again and again, especially when things get hard.

When something catches you off guard — a difficult email, tough feedback, an unexpected problem — your body responds before your brain catches up.

Heart rate spikes.

Breathing shallows.

Blood moves away from your prefrontal cortex and toward your limbs.

This is useful if you're being chased, but it’s terrible if you're trying to lead.

Here's something to try: give yourself five minutes before you respond or decide.

Set a timer, and go for a walk, breathe, look out a window, get some water.

Don't try to solve anything.

Just let your nervous system recalibrate.

What actually changes in five minutes?

Your heart rate drops, often as much as 15-20 beats per minute.

The adrenaline that flooded your system starts to clear.

Your brain's executive functions come back online.

The problem is still there, but your ability to see it clearly returns.

The wild part is, your first reaction often feels like clarity.

But real clarity shows up after the chemical surge passes.

Try it once this week.

Notice the difference between what you wanted to say immediately and what you're able to say after the pause.

That gap between reaction and response gives you the space to respond instead of react.

The five-minute rule trades speed for accuracy.

What you gain is perspective.