Today I woke up and felt great. I had a great night’s sleep, I went for an early morning ride and ate a delicious breakfast. Now I feel ready for anything. Today I’m a pigeon! As with any job, however, there are days where I feel I’m the target, when things don’t go smoothly, where work keeps coming in, as my time runs out. On those occasional ‘statue’ days, I have to show resilience in the face of challenge and remember that one bad day doesn’t change that much in the long term.
We often feel as if we are pulled in a million different directions. And being overwhelmed means we abandon goals and get caught up in an out-of-control roller-coaster. If this is happening to you, if the balance has swung so much that you feel frozen, unable to avoid what’s coming your way, here are my top three tips for what you can do:
Make sure you take time to regularly reflect on what’s really important in your life and to ask whether your day-to-day activities are a real reflection of your top priorities.
- Pay attention to your personal development goals and cultivate the habits and practices needed to succeed.
- Make conscious decisions to take control of those areas of your life that you do have power over, namely your own emotions, your priorities, time management practices and your personal development.
When we feel in control, we are much more able to deal with whatever life throws at us. We can’t control every aspect of our work-life, but we can maintain some control over what happens by recognising and appropriately responding to our own emotions. So, shrug off those ‘statue’ days and move on.
