Anyone else having a stressful start to 2024? Stress in short bursts can be a good thing as it enables us to act quickly and get things done. Our ancestors needed that stress response to run from tigers or any number of other things that could kill them, but today, it’s the stress that will end up killing us.
Stress has become a normal state for many business leaders in America, right along with divorced and overweight. Coincidence? If we step back and look at the overall picture, we can see that stressing about the thing is killing us faster than the thing itself. If it takes all our energy to keep something from completely crumbling at work; maybe it needs to crumble so it can be rebuilt to operate sustainably. Maybe the thing has just outlived it’s value, and will fall out of relevance regardless of your efforts. If you step back even further, you realize that this is the normal cycle and nothing stays relevant forever.
If you’re involved in a startup, great; maybe you need to spend a couple years stressing over every detail in order to give it the best chance of surviving. The rest of us need to evaluate what to do with the thing that’s stressing us out. We either need to change it or change ourselves and manage that stress effectively. Give yourself some grace and realize that someone trusted you to make decisions and that not all of those decisions are going to work out to a positive, regardless of how much you stress over it. Maybe your personality and your current career path can’t work in harmony; if you’re constantly stressed, that’s a good possibility.
What’s the worst that could happen if you fail or decide to change course? You get another chance to find a path that allows you to live the most meaningful life possible, which is different for everyone. When you feel stress building this week, reflect on whether it’s worth it, or if there’s even anything you can (or even should) do about it. Remember, you’ve got one shot to live the life you want!
Austin Senecal: Start Small 