The study found that biases towards focusing on and remembering threatening or negative words and situations – and interpreting ambiguous situations negatively – were tightly connected in those who struggled with depression and anxiety. For example, triggering a traumatic memory is more likely to make you focus on and interpret negativity around you. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to regulating your emotions, so it’s important to pay attention to the situation and what you are feeling, and then act accordingly. With practice and patience, you can maintain the emotional-awareness required for switch craft. Learn to trust your gut. Endless self-help approaches claim to have the answer. It's important to be mindful, we are told, and to stay in the moment. Sometimes, we are advised to keep going no matter what, to be 'gritty'. Others tell us that adopting a 'growth mindset' is key. On the other hand, those who were happy and thriving were able to think about negative things without experiencing all the other negative biases. In other words, they were more agile in their thinking, leaving them in a more open and flexible frame of mind.

Discover how expanding and improving your mental agility--your ability to flex your thoughts, feelings, and actions--can transform your life, bolster your resilience, and foster your zest for living.

We are surrounded by uncertainty. We are constantly bombarded with choices, then left to wonder how things could have been different. What if we had married a different person? Chosen a different career? Even simple day to day decisions can leave us overwhelmed. Paddi turned his life around by finding a creative and agile response to his stressful situation. This ability – called mental agility – is the first pillar of switch craft. You could also try to change your way of thinking entirely. Maybe try to see things as if from an outsider’s point of view, or look at the bigger picture. When dealing with the complicated situation, Jennifer was able to understand and control her own emotions, while also accurately interpreting the emotions of others. It’s in this way that knowing your emotions can give you the agility to take a particular action to achieve the desired goal.

Sara added: "It’s always been an aspiration of mine to bring out a book in craft, and it’s something that I’ve been asked about too so I hope you love it!" Intuition is the unarticulated, almost imperceptible gist that you get in a situation. That feeling that something isn’t quite right, or that something is about to happen, that you can’t explain, but know to be true. In these summary, you will learn how to hone your switch craft by building and maintaining its four basic pillars. Through mental agility, self-awareness, emotional control, and intuition you can learn to flourish in this complex and rapidly-changing world.A good start is to expose yourself to as many different experiences as possible. The more data you have to draw from, the more useful your response will be in a new or complex situation.

Here’s a small exercise you can do to start being more situationally aware. Place a coin on the upper-left-hand corner of your desk. Tomorrow morning, and every morning after, move it to a different corner. While this may seem deceptively simple, it will slowly train you to be more aware of your immediate surroundings. Over time you will start to shift this awareness to other aspects of the environment. Firstly, try to listen carefully when you hear something you don’t agree with, without interrupting or ridiculing. Second, keep in mind that your ability isn’t fixed and unchangeable – change and improvement is always possible. Finally, celebrate your failures. Use them as learning experiences, and take those lessons on board.

Things to Make with Books

Whether or not this strategy of emotional manipulation contributed to her release eight days later, it certainly empowered her and helped her through the stressful ordeal. And her agile and creative response highlights the third pillar of switch craft: Emotional awareness. Caroline said: "Congratulations Sara on your new crafting book. Can’t believe you’ve not had one out sooner. I’ve followed you from the start of your crafting journey, can’t wait for the book".