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Responding with your best, when you’re feeling your worst, is known as grace under pressure. Learning to stand tall and face obstacles head on can work to your advantage in any stressful situation: from a traffic jam to a tense meeting to a tough workout.

Your ability to cope can be quantified by what author and self-help guru Paul G. Stoltz, Ph.D., CEO of Flagstaff, AZ-based PEAK Learning, Inc., calls our “Adversity Quotient,” or AQ.  Essentially, your AQ determines how much control and hopefulness you can maintain during difficult times. It underlies all other facets of success; it predicts how well you cope with stress, as well as your ability to surmount anxieties of any sort.

Improve your AQ by applying these three empowering strategies.

1. Scenario: Stressful work day.
   Strategy: Take regular “breathing breaks.” A simple way to deal with stress is by learning to breathe. Deep, diaphragmatic breathing is what elite athletes use to control pre-event tension. This is in contrast to panting, which turns on your “fight-or-flight-response” and increases your stress level. Spend your lunch hour outside of the office. Take a brisk walk to a nearby park or café, breathe in the fresh air, enjoy each bite of your meal and then return to your desk chair.
2. Scenario: Possible corporate layoffs.
   Strategy: Reassure yourself that you are in control. Vow that you will rise to any occasion; you have in the past and can do so now. Don’t panic. Instead, try this: Think about your proudest accomplishment.Now, mentally step back in time and recall the challenge you had to face to achieve that goal. Draw inspiration from that pivotal moment in your life. If you could get through that, anything is possible.
3. Scenario: Missed an important meeting.
   Strategy: Take responsibility. Don’t just react. The word responsibility essentially means that you have the ability to respond however you want in any given situation. Playing the blame game and pointing fingers at your co-workers, your job, your spouse, your kids — whatever — disempowers you. Take control of your life; change your destiny.