Pause, breathe & prioritise
“If you find yourself drowning in a flurry of storms take time to step back, breathe and follow your prioritised to-do list.”
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Pause, breathe & prioritise
A whole lot of things happened this past week to remind me of the importance of perspective. Great leaders seem to possess an almost uncanny ability (and discipline) to step back and observe the bigger picture, and then decide on critical actions. In business this means the ability to extract oneself from the daily drama, keep an eye on the destination and navigate the ship to get there.
As you know, this is not always easy to do and is especially difficult when those pesky storms hit, either in the form of internal disruption, such as loss of a key staff member, or external challenges outside of our control, such as higher interest rates, fires, floods and pestilence!
In my own experience, the skill in getting quickly through these storms is to stick to routine, both inside and outside the business, so that I can stay on course no matter what is coming at me. Routine calms the mind and helps to organise even the most chaotic situations.
The routine of a prioritised to-do list means that I can stay aware of the important tasks and am motivated to always be focusing on these leadership functions. I find this keeps my eye on the important actions and although I do inevitably deviate from it sometimes, the list prevents me from straying too far or for too long.
In the same way, being in leadership demands that I am fit and well, and for good reason global leaders have daily health, wellness and fitness routines. So, with this in mind this week I added back into my morning routine the fabulous Wim Hof guided breathing exercise which energises and balances the emotions and helps to set me up for a great day ahead.
With a morning breathing meditation, a good dose of cardio exercise plus my prioritised to-do list I’m ready to start the day, and pretty much be able to tackle whatever comes my way – be it an unexpected flurry of storms or a smooth ride in calm beach weather!
So if you find yourself drowning in a flurry of storms, perhaps you too can take time to step back and observe the whole picture of the business, add some breath work into your morning routine, make and follow your prioritised to-do list.
