Harnessing the benefits of an agile mind—what I call “switch craft”—can be transformative. It’s important to remember that we are active stewards of our own well-being, rather than passive victims of change and so we must actively manage our approach to life. Switch

There is much evidence that we need a range of approaches on hand to deal with life’s challenges.8 But range is not enough, we also need the agility to choose the right one for the right moment. This is the essence of switch craft.

Respect the process: growth occurs at its own pace, and you should not try to force it. An internal shift in identity is essential: you can only adapt to new circumstances by changing inside. Accept yourself for who you are and what the process of change entails. Lower your expectations about what you can and can’t do during this period.

Mental agility: The capacity to be agile and nimble in how you think, act, and feel so that you can navigate your way through all sorts of terrain, the rough as well as the smooth, and adapt well to changing circumstances. The science shows that agility is made up of four distinct components—what I call the “ABCD of agility”: Adaptability, Balancin

What I call a “sticky” attentional system can lead to a rigid mind. It’s like when you notice a spider and it’s impossible not to keep checking back to see what it’s doing. The same goes for our innermost thoughts, emotions, and actions. Once we think of a distressing thought it’s often difficult to pull our mind away from it. This mental stickines

Having now coached many people to improve their performance in both sport and business, I have seen the benefits that improving agility can bring time and again. This has also dovetailed with what I am finding in the science lab. I have coined the term “switch craft” to illustrate this essential psychological talent, and the evidence for its effect

Uncertainty is the only certainty.

I was never convinced that this “high alert” theory was the whole story.6 In some of my own studies I was noticing that the main problem for anxious people was not actually scanning for threat, rather it was in struggling to pull attention away from a threat once it had been detected. This difficulty in disengaging attention from a threat is very d

an agile mind drastically improves your chances of success and happiness. But the flip side is also true: an inflexible mind fuels anxiety and stress and a “stickiness” that can torpedo your life.