Stress in Leadership Roles – Defeat It

Continued from Part 1: Stress in Leadership Roles – Identify It

TURN-DOWN

When you were younger, Mom and Dad most likely taught you the phrase “JUST SAY NO” as a response to being peer-pressured into something you knew was bad. As you grow older and take more control of your own choices and consequences, you start to forget this rule. Suddenly your “NO” becomes “YES” or “OK” even when you know full well that you’ll probably regret making the decision later. One of the most common myths is that leaders who look and act busy must be important and competent. However, effective leaders usually master the art of working smarter, not harder. Conquering this step is a little tricky, because it requires subjective analysis on your part to decide what to delete from your schedule. Before enforcing the JUST SAY NO policy, make a list of the general categories requiring time during your day, which may include work, family, church, sports, vacation, etc. Rewrite these categories with the first one being the most important to you and use this list as a guide for every decision you make when scheduling new activities. Your list will probably be different from others who demand your time, but the point is to have one and stick to it. You’ll be surprised how much you can accomplish by saying NO to activities on the bottom of your priority list.

RELAX

Why list this step separately from SLEEP? Sleep and relaxation are really two different activities. Sometimes normal amounts of sleep do not leave us feeling relaxed the following morning, but it is possible to relax during the day without sleeping. This is a step that is best accomplished by scheduling “rest breaks” for your mind. For example, someone who finds reading as a relaxing pastime may schedule time to read for fun at certain points in the day (ex. During lunch break). Sleep quiets your body and relaxation calms your mind, but both feed off each other. Sometimes it is difficult to discern whether you need more sleep or more relaxation time. Before trying to analyze the situation, just begin scheduling consistent times for each step and watch how your body responds. As your body adjusts to YOUR new schedule, you will start to associate specific stress-induced symptoms with certain behaviors.

EXERCISE

This step is often the hardest, because you tend to group exercise in the same category as grocery shopping or cleaning house. You don’t necessarily enjoy doing it, but it just has to be done. However, there are many benefits to following and maintaining a consistent exercise program, one of which is stress reduction. By now you’ve probably noticed that the first three concepts involve controlling our daily schedules, and exercise is no exception. Motivate yourself to make it a regular part of your life by scheduling specific days and times for exercise. Long-term exercise not only improves physical health, but also mental and emotional health. In many cases, physical symptoms of stress are directly related to changes in mental/emotional health. 3 The key to sticking to your exercise program is to pick activities you enjoy. Think of exercise as “scheduled recreation time” rather than a chore.

In addition to reducing stress, these four words share something else in common: they are verbs requiring ACTION on our part, not merely emotions or state-of-mind. Action distinguishes leaders from the rest of the group. Remember that taking on leadership roles also means taking on responsibility as a role model. Stress-reduction will not only benefit you, but also your organization. As a Toastmaster, you seek to improve public speaking skills, but that is only the beginning. You also learn to apply the communication and leadership principles to every aspect of your life. The sad part about stress is that you cannot eliminate it, but you can control how you respond to it. Rather than spending wasteful hours trying to eliminate every problem in life, think about your priorities and place them ahead of your problems. Live each day one hour at a time according to your priority schedule, but still anticipate interruptions. You only have one life to live and as a leader, you have power to improve the quality of your own life and the lives of your team members.

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