1. Realize that in fact, all hell is breaking loose in your business and your life. Don’t deny it. Recognize you are in a storm. Denial is dangerous because you can’t manage what you refuse to acknowledge
2. Accept it. This is the first step to a successful outcome. Don’t panic! A panicked brain is a shut-down brain. This is human physiology. When you respond overwhelmed with panic, your brain registers danger and dumps a load of Adrenaline, Norepinephrine, and Cortisol into your blood. This hormone cocktail is awesome when you need to run from a ferocious, starved lion but if you‘re not burning off this boost of energy with a quarter-mile sprint, all that firepower is redirected to your conscious reasoning. This could cause you to “blow an emotional gasket” which studies have shown is not the best mindset for effective decision making. Worse still, it takes hours to days to burn off all those fight or flight hormones. In the end, recognize that you do have a choice on how you respond to extreme situations. Choose calm. Make it a habit. Now, breathe deeply and count to 10.
3. Control the control-ables. Let go of the rest. You don’t control other people’s responses, other people’s integrity, interest rates, inventory, weather, or epidemics. Obsessive worrying, complaining, or focusing on it might feel like you’re doing something but you’re procrastinating. This is mentally exhausting and does not move you toward your solution. It’s simply wasting more time and energy. Focus on what you control.
4. Don’t tough it out alone. This is the time to reach out to your tribe. Don’t have a tribe? Great! Knowledge is power. Put, find my tribe, on the to-do list. We were designed for the community. We all do life best when we do it with a team. This is the time to reach out to the people who care about you and let them know you need support, encouragement, and a safe place to vent. If you think that’s a sign of weakness… well, you need #5
5. Get rid of the story you are holding onto with a vice grip about this situation that does not serve you, like, “Asking for help is a sign of weakness” or “When I ask for help, they always screw it up”, “If this happens, it is going to ruin me”, “I will never recover if I lose this opportunity”, “I will lose my clients if I don’t handle this immediately.” Let all those lies go. All they are doing is adding fuel to the stress bonfire you are creating in your body. You are literally going to go up in smoke if you don’t stop clinging to those tall tales. Now is the time for levelheaded thinking. I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “I’ve had a lot of troubles in my life, most of which never happened.” Don’t make things worse by catastrophizing. Stay in the moment.
6. Delegate and ask for HELP! If it doesn’t absolutely have to be done, put it off. If it does not have to be done by you, delegate it. If it must be done by you, and there’s no way you can complete it on time, seek help.
7. Prioritize and organize. In an emergency, you need to focus on what needs to be done first. Be like a slingshot and pull back and get your eye on the target and off the distractions. It might feel like you are going backward because you are but that’s only so you can go forward faster. So, pull back and with the goal clearly in mind decide on a plan of action that puts the most important time-critical tasks first then just execute.
8. Give yourself a TIMEOUT. Literally, pull yourself out of the madness and take a break. You are fooling yourself if you think that you can do this without breaks. You can’t. If this was a physical workout, you wouldn’t think twice about taking the time to recover and refuel. Give yourself a reasonable timeout to have a meal, take a nap, a walk, or read something you enjoy. You will be more effective when you come back to your work.
9. Practice the habit of AMOR FATI. Love that this very thing is happening. Contained in this very obstacle is a gift. You are growing. This very situation is making you better. This is going to be an incredible victory story; something super hard that you overcame. Stick in there, kid. It really is all good.
10. Don’t miss the opportunity that this is. This will not last forever. Most opportunities come to us disguised as disasters or worse, hard work. This is a season. Look at it from that perspective and treat it like the harvest it is. Yes, the work is frontloaded. You have a choice- hard now, and easier later, or easier now and harder later. Pick the one you like better.
Cathleen Mancino is a Peak Performance Sales and Leadership Coach specializing in helping clients make impactful presentations that get clients motivated to make decisions! For more information or to schedule a private session with Cathleen, visit www.theslingshotmethod.com or schedule an introduction by clicking here https://calendly.com/mybestslingshot/15min