Downshift Rising Energy
Slow your actions when a crisis drives everyone else's energy upward
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Downshift Rising Energy is Boyd Varty's crisis-regulation rule: when the emotional and physical energy of a situation moves upward, deliberately bring your own energy downward. The method does not mean becoming passive or moving slowly when speed is required. It means replacing louder commands, ego protection, and frantic repetition with steadiness, clear observation, and controlled action. A calmer leader can diagnose the real obstruction, select the next useful move, and keep the team from compounding the emergency. Boyd learned the rule when a firefighting drill became a real runaway-fire risk and his escalating commands did nothing to solve a hose blocked beneath a tractor tire. He has applied the lesson to crisis situations ever since.
Origin
Boyd Varty derived the rule after a firefighting drill at Londolozi exposed the limits of louder commands and performative confidence. He described it on The Tim Ferriss Show.
Core principles
- 01Treat rising group energy as a cue to slow down
- 02Replace performative intensity with steadiness
- 03Regulate yourself before directing others
- 04Use failure as a prompt for reflection
How to run it
- 1
Detect the climb
Notice when voices, movements, urgency, or fear are accelerating. Treat that rise as a regulation signal rather than an invitation to match it.
Pro tip Use your own impulse to shout or repeat yourself as an early warning.
Watch out Do not confuse emotional acceleration with the need for genuinely rapid physical action.
- 2
Bring yourself down
Create slowness and steadiness in your body, voice, and attention. Stop performing confidence and recover enough composure to see what is happening.
Pro tip Reduce the pace before adding another instruction.
Watch out A calm appearance without actual observation is only another performance.
- 3
Find the obstruction
Look for the concrete mechanism producing the failure. Separate the physical or operational cause from the surrounding emotional noise.
Pro tip Inspect the system from source to output instead of assuming the team needs more motivation.
Watch out Repeating a correct command cannot fix a blocked system.
- 4
Direct one clear move
Give the smallest clear instruction that changes the situation. Keep your delivery steady enough that the team can execute it.
Pro tip Prefer a specific action over a general demand for urgency.
Watch out Do not flood the team with multiple simultaneous corrections.
- 5
Reflect after control
Once the situation is stable, examine what the failure exposed about preparation, leadership, and the system. Turn the ego injury into a reusable lesson.
Pro tip Name the cue that will trigger a calmer response next time.
Watch out Reflection during an unresolved emergency can become another form of delay.
In the wild
During a drill, Boyd's team faced a growing thatch fire while only a trickle came from the hose. Boyd answered the pressure by shouting the same commands more loudly. The real cause was simple: a tractor tire was parked on the hose, pressure was building behind the kink, and releasing it knocked down the hoseman and sent the hose flailing.
→ The failure taught Boyd to lower his own energy when a crisis is driving everyone else's upward.
Common mistakes
Matching panic with intensity
Raising your volume and speed can add emotional energy without adding useful information. Regulate first, then direct.
Performing the role
Imitating a powerful leader's walk or manner does not create operational competence. Attend to the system rather than the image of command.
Repeating a blocked command
More force at the instruction layer cannot overcome a physical obstruction. Diagnose the mechanism before escalating.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders, responders, and facilitators who must make useful decisions while other people's stress is climbing.
Not ideal for
Situations where slowing down would mean delaying an already-known, time-critical safety action.
From the transcript
“it's very few people who know how to bring the energy downwards when the energy is moving upwards.”
“If you can figure out how to when literally energy is moving upwards start to create a slowness and a steadiness about your actions.”
“ever since that day I've been I've been focused on when when the energy is climbing trying to slow it down.”
From the episode
#832: The Return of The Lion Tracker — Boyd Varty on The Wild Man Within, Nature’s Hidden Wisdom, and How to Feel Fully Alive
Boyd Varty