Ten Coping Strategies for Crisis

By Linda Cole, author of Resurrecting Anthony: A True Story of Courage and Destination

1.      Recruit and accept help and emotional support through family and friends.  Do not try to weather the crisis alone.

2.      Confide in your primary physician.

3.      Be positive.  Be proactive.  Your attitude will contribute greatly to the outcome.  Educate yourself and be involved as much as possible.

4.      Recognize that “This too shall pass.”  You will have a “normal” life again, although it may never be as it was.

5.      Find your mental “get-away” for particularly traumatic moments.  Example: Envision yourself floating on calm water.  Block out all distractions and center yourself.

6.      Focus on others.  Do not internalize.  Who else needs your help during this crisis?  How can you help those around you?

7.      Stay busy.  This is a bad time to be idle.  Don’t sit home alone.

8.      Exercise regularly.  Walk, run, bicycle thirty minutes every other day.  The endorphins released will help you mentally and emotionally.  Your sleep will improve.  Your body will be stronger and you will feel more in control.

9.      Sleep.  Get a good night’s sleep.  Your body and brain need the recuperation times.  If you are exhausted, you will be less effective at a critical time.

10.  Eat well.  Eat well-balanced meals, lots of fruits and vegetables, good proteins and complex carbohydrates.  Your body and mind are in a state of hyper-stress.  They need useful nutrients, not chemicals, processes and additives that sap your strength.

Finally, you will have moments that you can’t avoid.  Find a place; mine was in the closet, where you can really cry.  Let it come.  But set a limit, perhaps 4-5 minutes.  Afterward move on.  Do not dwell.

Linda co-authored her first book, Resurrecting Anthony: A True Story of Courage & Destination, which tells the story of her 12-year-old son’s heart attack and brain injury. A look back over the decade since the event helps the reader see how her once perfect family survived the devastating loss of a child and how a new family has come to be. Linda is also CFO of Anthony Cole Training Group, a successful company that builds sales cultures within organizations nationwide.

Tony graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in Education. A scholarship athlete, upon graduation Tony leveraged his experience to coach Iowa State University and University of Cincinnati athletic teams. He then spent more than 15 years in sales and sales management positions in the exercise equipment and insurance industries.

This unique combination of coaching and selling led Tony and Linda to launch Anthony Cole Training in 1991. An immediate success, by the end of 1998, the little company of two grossed half a million dollars. However, when their twelve-year-old son became severely brain injured the company down shifted for several years. In 2003, having adjusted to a new life and family, the company began to grow once again. Tony is CEO and President of Anthony Cole Training Group, which serves companies nationwide, bringing new life to sales organizations.