Yesterday, a client said to me, ‘How do you manage to stay so laid back? When I can’t do everything I’ve planned, I still find myself very frustrated. Sometimes I feel that I’m running out of time—not to achieve greatness, but to just get done all the things that need doing. I know you’re in the same situation, but it doesn’t seem to affect you.’

Part of my answer is that I burned myself to the point that I don’t over-commit the way I used to, but mostly my solution falls under the heading of “head-games.’

Years ago I learned that overcoming a bit of frustration would heighten my feelings of accomplishment and success, but more than a bit would leave me feeling that it (no matter what “it” was) was hopeless.

Then, one time when I was super stressed, I really got to thinking. What really would/did happen if I didn’t get something done? My boss/clients would holler, but, lo, no thunderbolt shot down from the heavens to incinerate me; the sun continued to rise in the east; and the task was still there at the dawn of the new day.

Since that finally sank in, I find it much easier to prioritize and schedule me (both biz and personal) by applying what I call the Thunderbolt Theory of Importance.

Since then, I’ve been a lot happier and rarely stressed. I find very few things stand up to my Thunderbolt Theory, so I have very little that falls in the do-or-die category—of course, this applies to my clients, also. Knowing that I can’t let a thunderbolt hit them, either, keeps me from making commitments that I can’t realistically meet. It doesn’t always work, but it sure helps!

What do you do to reduce your stress?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 3:30 am and is filed under Business info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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