How to Stay Clear-Headed While You’re in the Middle of It
Train yourself to stay present and self-aware—even during tough calls or high-pressure meetings.
You’re mid-call, and something shifts.
The stakes rise.
Your heart rate ticks up.
Someone challenges you—or the moment just tilts slightly off-center.
You’re still speaking. Still performing.
But inside, you can feel it: the system is wobbling.
In moments like this, most people do one of two things:
They power through, hoping clarity comes back later.
Or they go blank, losing the thread while pretending not to.
Neither works. Not in real life. Not when it matters.
What you need isn’t more focus.
It’s the ability to stay aware of your thinking while it’s happening.
That’s recursive presence.
The ability to track your own mind in motion—without freezing up or checking out.
Use this prompt to build the skill:
I’m going to describe a moment where I felt slightly overwhelmed—but kept going. Help me rewind and show me what I was tracking consciously, and what I was ignoring. What was I actually attending to? What did I miss? Help me see what it would look like to hold a second layer of awareness without losing flow.If you have a transcript of the meeting from an AI assistant, drop it into the thread.
You’ll get sharper insights—and start using transcripts for something that actually helps you think better.
But you don’t need one. Just describe the moment in plain language.
This is how you shift from surviving the moment to operating inside it.
Not as an actor.
As a clear mind within the field.
Recursive presence.
→ This post is part of the Phase Transitions “Sharp Under Pressure” Series.
Read the full intro and explore all 15 tools here:
15 Practical Tools for Staying Sharp Under Pressure →