I've had my moments of wanting to bury myself under the covers and not come out until this nuttiness is over! In this current unpredictability, I've discovered that my recent PhD in psychology is way more valuable in answering this than my MBA. In fact, I'm offering a free teleclass this Wednesday, October 1, Creating Inner Security in Uncertain Times: Smart Career Moves to Make Now.

From the mind-body psychology perspective, most people have one of four responses to shock and trauma: fight, flight, freeze, or faint.

In terms of fighting, I see a lot of people wasting a lot of time pointing fingers and laying blame for the economic mess. That provides only temporary relief, and in terms of emotional contagion, fighting spreads insidious, unproductive anger. Some people catastrophize and want to take flight, and have the urge to pull totally out of the market. Especially if you have more than fifteen years until retirement, you'll want to think twice before gambling on a big sell off. Another response is to freeze, and just get paralyzed, unable to do anything, due to fear. That doesn't leave you much room to respond. Finally, fainting is to collapse and play dead. Hmm, being non-responsive seems unwise.

So, what to do. First, I'm not going to get on my b-school soapbox and advise you what to do with your money and investments. But I do think it's a good idea to inoculate yourself against the fear that the media generates by reducing your diet of stories about the current situation. Don't stay uninformed, but don't adopt one of the four shock and trauma responses. Instead, I want to advocate four healthy responses: Get conscious. Get connected. Get courageous. Get calm.

Get conscious about your money. Not just how you budget and spend it. But also about your habits around finances. We all have unconscious patterns in how we act around financial matters. We need to integrate our "shadow" selves, in Carl Jung's terms. Around money, those patterns tend to be: acting naively, not acting at all, becoming victims of circumstances, going to "war" with imagined "enemies" over economic situations, adopting a martyr stance, gambling, falling into pseudo-spiritual patterns of acting as if money doesn’t matter at all, or oppressing others with money. When you become aware of your tendencies, as uncomfortable as they may be, you're able to shift them. And instead of acting unconsciously, you can learn about money and investments. And you can discover how to use your skills and talents to transform and manifest your own financial reality.

Get connected to community. We humans are wired for connection, and we especially need it in times of change. Actually, we're wired for connection, While connecting virtually is nice, there's nothing like the in-person handshake or hug to let someone know you care. Do something nice for someone. Take a genuine interest in the people around you. Not just for selfish reasons, so you can get a job if your company lays you off in the next few months. But for the long-run, so that you're not alone. This is a great time to go to industry events and mixers, and to join in social events that interest you. Find "your peeps" so you know you have places where you belong.

Get courageous. Look, if (and that's a very big if) everything is going to hell in a handbasket, why not take that risk you've always wanted to take? Especially if that risk still allows you to take care of your basic physiological and safety needs, ala Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. And, even if the world's not going to hell, this is a vital time to stand out. Make your mark. Be visible and show initiative. Start up a project or effort that really matters to the bottom line, where you’ll help improve profitability, productivity, or time to market. If you don’t know what that might be, ask your customers or your management about the biggest problems they face, and help them to find solutions. Do this using skills you enjoy using. And assert your boundaries so that you are not putting in tons of overtime. Manage your energy, not just your time.

And finally, get calm. Breathe. In and out. Slow and deep, instead of the fast and shallow way we usually do when we're stressed. Fortunately, breathing is one of the things that happens automatically. Thank goodness we don't have to put in on our "to do" list every day! But, we're seldom aware of our breath. And it's an amazing resource for getting calm. Set up a ritual to do nine slow, deep inhalations and exhalations every 30 minutes. When you're feeling fearful, your breathing capacity can drop 30% or more, which means you're cutting off oxygen supply to your brain, and your thinking gets fuzzier. You can clear your mind with meditation, too. It's a great way of helping you to release non-essential thoughts and get grounded and centered. No, you don't have to shave your head and wear flowing robes to practice. You can start by focusing on your in and out breath and compassionately noticing and naming your thoughts as they drift through your mind.

I've come to understand that despite my desire to control everything, uncertainty is a constant in life. These four principles have helped me to weather some pretty intense times in my own life. I'll be sharing more about them in Wednesday's teleclass.

So, what are YOU doing to cope with the economic stress and uncertainty that lies ahead?