---
id: "action-regulate-emotions"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["¶15"]
tags: ["emotional-intelligence", "crisis-management"]
related: ["framework-tough-calls", "quote-what-matters-right-now", "concept-manufactured-instinct"]
action: "During high-pressure decisions, consciously ask yourself: 'what matters right now and only right now?'"
outcome: "Reduced emotional noise and improved clarity, allowing preparation and pattern recognition to surface as 'instinct.'"
speakers: ["Alan McCall", "Adrian Wolfberg", "Johann Bilsborough", "Ricard Pruna"]
sources: ["execution"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-execution"
originDay: 8
articleStem: "hbr-cl-77-new-data-using-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/new-data-on-how-were-really-using-ai"
sourceTitle: "New Data on How We’re Really Using AI"
---
# Regulate emotions by focusing on the immediate present

**Action:** During high-pressure decisions, consciously ask yourself: **'what matters right now and only right now?'**
**Outcome:** Reduced emotional noise and improved clarity, letting preparation and pattern recognition surface as 'instinct.'

Borrowing from elite sports coaches, business leaders facing high-stakes decisions should actively practice emotional regulation. By forcing cognitive focus entirely onto the immediate present and stripping away past regrets or future anxieties, leaders can more effectively read the room and make clear-headed choices. This is the 'During' phase of [[framework-tough-calls]], grounded in [[quote-what-matters-right-now]], and it is precisely how [[concept-manufactured-instinct]] gets executed in the moment.