I went for a run the other day and not because a bear was chasing me. Perhaps against my better judgment, I’m training for the Indy Mini. The Mini is a half marathon that includes a path through the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I guess you could say I’m forcing my fitness and racing worlds to collide, even though it includes a ridiculous amount of running.
So I was pounding the pavement (Is that what the pro runners call it? I’m trying to fit in here) and up ahead, I saw that the sidewalk was uneven. From afar, it looked way worse: corners jutting out in all directions in what was appeared to be nothing less than a concrete death trap.
Like a ninja, I quickly formulated a plan to run out into the street, avoid the cars and then return to the safety of the sidewalk once my life wasn’t on the line. But as I got closer, I realized it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. The distance had made it look way worse and it was actually fine. As in, one-side-step, quick pivot, death-avoided fine.
For some reason, it reminded me of an incident a few weeks back when I was driving to a meeting and saw a giant line of cars up ahead. Convinced I was going to be late, I was just about to find a detour when the line started moving. The “jam” I anticipated wasn’t there and I arrived at my meeting... early.
Someone once told me about an interview they had read, asking seniors about the things they regretted most in life. A comment from one of them has stuck with me ever since: “I most regret worrying about the things that never happened.”
As you look at your life and your business, what are you worrying about unnecessarily? What are you seeing as a giant mountain (or concrete death trap) that’s actually just a small side-step? What are you making a detour from that’s just creating unneeded stress or work for you?
Over the next week, make some mental notes – or actually write them down if it helps you – and notice any patterns where you’re creating extra stress for yourself. This could be mental (aka testing out the durability of your worrywart pants) or physical (constructing tasks that won’t contribute to the true goal) or even emotional (negative self-talk or allowing your emotions to drive your decisions instead of staying focused on what is truly right for you or your business).
Here are a few helpful ways to make it happen:
Take notice of which category most of your stress is coming from: mental, physical or emotional.
Notice any specific phrases you use on a regular basis. Things like, “I’m worried about…” (mental), “If I don’t get this done…” (physical) or “I just can’t do…” (emotional). By speaking to yourself this way, you’re bringing these things to fruition and it might be completely unnecessary.
When you feel like you’re overwhelmed or unequipped for a certain situation, make a list of the things that you CAN control. Keep in mind that there is only one person in this world that you can control. If you don’t know that that’s you, please contact me and let’s do some coaching.
Create a list of evidence to support your ability to handle this obstacle. Write down all the times you can remember being proud of yourself, or achievements you’ve earned or any time you can recall thinking, ‘Hell yes. I did that.’
Finally, remember to give yourself grace. There’s no such thing as perfect and you can waste a lot of time aiming for perfect, which will only detract from the awesome thing called life right in front of you. There’s no manual for this ride and all you can do is the best you can do. If you screw up, admit it. If you do something great, celebrate it. If you fall down twice, get up three times. And when you see an obstacle in the road ahead, make sure it’s really what you think it is before you get hit by a car trying to avoid a crack in the sidewalk.