Planning or Stressing Ahead

I was talking with a small business owner about leadership challenges and during our conversation he brought up a phrase that I had never heard. Admittedly he had just thought of it while we were talking: stressing ahead.

We all have many thoughts going in our minds and multiple tasks we are responsible for. As we look at our week we can unconsciously fall into a mindset of stressing ahead instead of planning ahead.

Stressing Ahead

Leaders see all that needs to be done, but instead of planning ahead we assume a stressed mindset. Here are three signals that you may be stressing on top of or instead of planning.

Reactive

Leaders that are reactive live in the urgent and important arena. This is the area where we constantly react to the most urgent needs. When you hear a leader saying, “I’m constantly putting out fires,” then they are most likely leading reactively. There are seasons of this, but when this is the norm, you create an environment ripe for unnecessary stress.

Anxious

Sunday night comes and we start thinking of the week ahead. The leader who stresses ahead experiences a rising sense of worry and overwhelm. This sense may manifest in multiple anxious behaviors. Our thoughts impact our feelings which impact our behavior. A stressed and anxious leader creates the same in his or her team.

Focused on the Unimportant

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things that are beyond the power of our will.” Epictetus

When we lead ourselves and others by focusing on what we cannot control or which is of little or lesser importance we raise our level of stress. If the issue facing us is minor and we focus on it longer than it deserves then we will turn something minor into a major issue and create a stressful environment. Can you control it? If the answer is no, then move ahead and quit worrying.

Planning Ahead

What can we do to stay out of the stress mode and in the planning mindset? Here are three ideas I hope will help.

Proactive

Leadership expert John Maxwell often says leaders see more before. Leaders who plan ahead see what needs to be done and create the margin to accomplish it. This proactive approach will help the busy leader see the busy task list and prepare both mentally and purposefully.

Strategic

The leader who has a planner’s mindset is strategic in his or her approach. They look at the time ahead of them and prioritize their schedule in a manner that helps them strategically move toward their goals. This strategic thinking prevents them from becoming reactive and allows room for the inevitable interruptions.

Calm and anticipation

Through strategic, proactive planning a leader can limit anxiety. Calm and positive anticipation replaces anxiety as the leader eagerly looks ahead to the plan he or she has set. Yes, work comes that we don’t want to do, but by being proactive and purposefully strategic we manage the unwanted work by completing it when it won’t drain us or delegating it to those who are better at it.

As a leader which do you tend to do: stress or plan ahead? What is one action step you can take today to plan and lead yourself and others more effectively? Need help thinking into that then contact me for a no cost thirty-minute thinking partner session. Lead well.