How to notice when work has triggered you—before one email, comment, or meeting ruins your whole day.
Conscious presence is slowing down enough to notice when you are triggered and see the automatic threat response your brain is offering before you act on it. That awareness gives you space to choose what you do next.
This does not make a toxic boss, ridiculous politics, or an impossible workload acceptable. It gives you enough awareness to separate what happened from what your mind is making it mean—and choose what you want to do next.
Awareness is the first step. Creating space is how you turn that awareness into a clearer response.
Your boss sends an email. A coworker makes a comment. A meeting goes badly. Before you know it, you are angry, defensive, questioning yourself, or replaying the moment for hours.
Conscious presence is noticing that automatic threat response while it is happening. You slow down long enough to see the thought, story, and reaction your brain is offering before you act on it.
The goal is not to never get triggered. The goal is to catch it before it runs the rest of your day.
Once you can see what is happening, you can use The Power of Creating Space to decide what you want to do next.
Before replying to the email: noticing that you are furious and giving yourself time before you answer.
During the meeting: catching the thought that everyone thinks you are incompetent before it becomes a spiral.
After the conversation: recognizing that replaying it all night is not helping you decide what to do.
Before walking through the door at home: noticing what you are carrying so work does not spill onto everyone else.
The Power of Conscious Presence is Liz Jolley’s philosophy for recognizing a triggered reaction before it controls what you say, what you do, or what you carry home.
High-achieving women are often excellent at solving external problems. The harder part is seeing what their own brain does when a boss criticizes them, a coworker leaves them out, a meeting goes badly, or the workload becomes impossible. Without that awareness, one hard moment can turn into hours of anger, self-doubt, overthinking, or dread.
What happened is real. Your automatic interpretation is not your only option.
The Power of Conscious Presence creates awareness: you notice what is happening inside you.
The Power of Creating Space makes that awareness usable: you pause, examine the thought, and choose your response.
Grounded Self is the lived outcome: you become more steady, confident, and self-trusting in difficult moments.
It can look like noticing the rise of irritation before it spills onto your child. Catching the thought that is making one email feel like a personal attack. Feeling the pressure of a hard meeting without letting it decide who you become for the rest of the day.
It is the moment you stop and say: something is happening inside me, and I want to meet it consciously.
Pausing before answering the text that triggered you.
Recognizing that the pressure you feel is not only in the situation, but in the story your mind is telling about it.
Choosing not to carry the emotional residue of one room into the next.
Returning to your values, your intention, and the woman you want to be before you respond.
If your boss is toxic, the politics are ridiculous, or someone keeps crossing a line, they may be the problem. Conscious presence is not pretending otherwise, making their behavior acceptable, or deciding everything is your fault. It helps you notice your reaction so you can choose the response that protects you and moves the situation forward.
You can be angry, disappointed, or fed up—and still choose what happens next.
Awareness gives you choices. Your next step may be speaking clearly, setting a boundary, documenting what happened, or leaving. Grounded Conversations helps you prepare when the next step requires saying something difficult.
Awareness helps you see what is happening inside you. Practice helps you respond differently when the difficult email, conversation, or decision is actually in front of you.
Separate what happened from the thought, meaning, and automatic threat response shaping the moment.
Pause before replying, shutting down, overexplaining, or carrying the problem home. Decide what would actually help.
Repeated awareness and practice help you become steadier and more self-trusting, even when work is still difficult.
The Power of Conscious Presence helps you see the reaction. The Power of Creating Space helps you choose what happens next. Your Grounded Self is who you become through that practice.
When your boss gets under your skin, the politics make you furious, or you cannot stop replaying what happened, you need more than advice to “let it go.” You need a practical way to notice the trigger, get out of the spiral, and decide what to do next.
Stop Hating Your JobFree weekly webinar
Already know you want personal support? Explore 1:1 Coaching with Liz.
