How to Use Stress for Advantage when Making Decisions
“Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face.” Nelson DeMille
3 ways to use stress for advantage:
#1. Schedule decisions.
Stress tells you to wait.
The longer it takes to decide, the more stress you experience. If you feel a little stress about making a decision today, wait a day or two and you will feel more.
Create a decision-making schedule to solve the seduction of delay.
Divide decisions into discreet units.
- In the morning gather information.
- In the afternoon invite input from others.
- Tomorrow morning – after sleeping on it – make the decision.
- Sit with your decision for an hour or two.
- Declare your decision to relevant people.
Note: The timeline suggested above is too short for decisions with broad impact.
#2. Evaluate weight.
Very few decisions are life or death, but stress makes them that way.
Stress wants you to treat all decisions equally. Life doesn’t hang in the balance when choosing mashed or baked.
Stress wants you to forget that most decisions can be modified or undone.
4 ways to evaluate decision-weight:
- Consider long-term impact when evaluating the weight of current decisions.
- Acknowledge many options will get the job done. There’s no perfect answer.
- Just make a decision and reel it back in if you change your mind, when issues have small impact.
- Reconnect with the big picture when small decisions seem daunting. Wandering and confusion mean you’ve lost direction.
Tip: Delegate decisions to people who are most impacted by the decision. (Decision fatigue makes all decisions difficult, even small ones.)
#3. Connect with heart.
Stress goes down when you connect to your heart.
The people-pleaser in you forgets what you really want. You might stress over the approval of others, for example.
Forgetting what you really want magnifies stress.
What does your heart want for:
- Team members?
- Customers?
- Yourself?
How might leaders use stress as advantage when making decisions?
#3. Connect with heart. Stress goes down when you connect to your heart.
I never thought of the heart connection with stress, the Doctor’s do that, yet there have been times it seems like the weight of the world is off ones back when you let the stress go!
I like the point as well with if you make a decision you can reel it back when issues have small impact. Of course that becomes a debate with “who see’s small impact” compared to we just trashed the project because we affected the outcome differently, the collateral damage side of decision making. “No good deed goes unpunished” so they say!
Thanks Tim. I’ve found that when I think about the good I’m trying to accomplish and working to be open to/with others that stress goes down.
It’s not that we reject responsibility. It’s staying in touch with the good we’re trying to accomplish.
Yes, reeling a decision back can cause negative response. Frankly, many decisions cause negative response. I’ve been thinking about the decisions around COVID. The people making those decisions can’t win.
Dan, I agree whole heartedly the COVID has been a tough call for sure, has created a multitude of stress levels on a daily basis. I don’t envy the people making these decisions let alone the ones who are suffering in every direction! Stay healthy my friend!
Dan,
…lots of good points.
Stress motivates me to ask myself–Who owns the problem or issue? Sometimes we get stressed over problems we don’t even own.
Stress also motivates me to separate what I can influence and control and what’s beyond my control.
I also like the approach—let’s try this approach for 30 days–see what happens–if that doesn’t work we will try something else. Yes, most decisions aren’t final.