The Real Way Out of Overwhelm is to LIGHTEN UP!
We take ourselves too seriously. We really do. We think that somehow the world turns on our opinion of things. When I was working at a real estate company in Hawaii, I had a fairly high opinion of my role in the company. Now don’t get me wrong, it is a good thing to be entrepreneurial in your job and go to work every day thinking like a business owner about your contribution.
But on the other hand, don’t think if you get hit by a Mack Truck on the way to work, the company will fold. In my case right now (as my company is me), that IS true. But the industry of Professional Speaking and Authorship will go on merrily without me.
At the real estate company, we had a serious deadline for a project. There were 18 offices throughout the country and we were working to put a new Health Insurance plan in place. I was working 7 days a week on this project. Some nights I would leave the office around 10PM and be back at work at 6:30. Hey – I was IMPORTANT!
Then I had a family emergency. I left for a week to attend to something a might more pressing than paperwork: my fathers’ funeral. I returned to the office more subdued and more thoughtful about the importance of day-to-day work. While the circumstances of my leaving were not humorous in the least, the discoveries I made when I returned to my “all-important job” were.
In my absence, my staff figured out how to get postage in the meter. The Partners figured out how to get their Admin Assistants to get work done. My HR staff figured out how to meet payroll without me. And – to my chagrin – my secretary brightly informed me that she had contacted the Insurance Company, explained the situation and they had extended our deadline another month! I had been killing myself to reach a deadline that was, after all, flexible!
And worse – my husband found the washing machine, the kids figured out how to make dinner, and the dogs got fed. Harumph. Looks like I wasn’t all THAT important! At least not for those things that had caused so much stress. And, I notice that company is still humming along, 18 years after I left! As a matter of fact, the owner just gave $24 million to University of Hawaii to support the School of Business… so, as I always say, “Life goes on within you and without you!”
The real lesson was in the funeral I had just attended: NOT ONE person celebrating my Dad’s life ever mentioned his in-basket, his deadlines, or the number of hours a week he worked. They just talked about his heart, his love of people, and his laughter.
So – lighten up a bit. Laugh every day. Give others a chance to learn by delegating to them. Step away from the workload and get some perspective. Maybe the deadlines are flexible, OR non-existent!
Take care of yourself!
Beth
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Beth Terry, CSP, is a Certified Professional Speaker and author. She has presented programs to hundreds of thousands of people in 6 countries, and she could even come to YOUR company. Topics include Managing Change, Managing Stress, Managing People, and Managing Yourself !
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