Negotiating with a cougar with unprepared grace

I don’t know if you’ve seen the video of a cougar who followed a hiker outdoors recently. But it’s been making the rounds among a lot of my friends who regularly spend time outside.

If you haven’t seen it, it basically shows how a cougar decided to follow a hiker because he had accidentally encountered one of her cubs. She followed him for a good six minutes while making sudden movements here and there to make sure the hiker is far enough from her babies—before she finally turned around.

Aside from the obvious fear of having this gorgeous and terrifying animal follow you around, the real questions are:

• What should you do if you’re faced with a high-stakes situation?
• Can both seemingly opposite sides mutually benefit from the encounter? And,
• How can you make the impossible seem possible?

Things can seem like a hopeless cause if you’re faced with an impossible decision—at work and in life. 

And yet:

• Running for your life is not always the best answer. Cougar or otherwise, all experienced adventurers (and business owners) I’ve talked to, always talk about not making any sudden moves.
• Doing exactly what they’re doing and returning their moves can get you killed—literally and figuratively. And,
• Doing the hard things, like walking slowly and taking things minute by minute, is even harder when you’re faced with your fears.

I talked about this recently when Authority Magazine interviewed me to chat how to survive stressful situations.

If we’re honest, these are things that happen to us all the time—in big and small ways. It might be that:

• We had a busy week and you had to go into an important call or meeting that you had little or no time to prepare.
• We made a mistake and someone called us out on your mistake.
• We've done all we can but some haters still share scathing words about you and everything you’ve worked so hard on.

What WOULD you do then?

And I talk even more deeply on this episode about:

• The steps to take when you’re totally unprepared for something.
• The 3 things you need to think about when faced with opposition.
• Ways you can clear your head before you face your fears.
• How to find ways to survive impossibly difficult conversations on-the-go. And,
• Hidden ways to do things your way without ruining your chances.

Listen to the podcast for the full breakdown and be sure to hit FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE.

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