There is a lot we can’t predict right now. Plans change; speed increases; there’s always one more thing to learn, one more update, one more tip, trick and hack. We have more access to information than ever before, yet it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction. The good news is these challenges present a unique opportunity for leaders: The opportunity to create stability in an uncertain world at work and at home. As always transformation starts with the individual leader. Here are five places to begin.
1. Build dependable routines
Stability doesn’t have to come from a grand plan. Stability comes from routine and consistency. Fortunately, what you do in your personal life also affects the stability you bring to the workplace. Steady leader, steady work environment.
For example, on Sundays, I do food prep and go to the gym. It’s a simple routine, but it gives the day a shape. When I get back, I spend one hour that I call Strategy Sunday. I look at the calendar and prep for the week. I know what I’m doing, and I start the week feeling a little more prepared.
A life without structure puts our mental health at risk. A routine doesn’t make life predictable; a routine gives you stability inside a life that may feel unstable.
2. Stop over-promising
I’ve noticed lately that people often make promises when none was asked of them in the first place. Sometimes the need to please or appease leads to a grand gesture that feels good in the moment but feels like pressure a few days later. At other times we’re caught off guard when someone asks us to chair the event, host a meeting or contribute beyond our current capacity.
We must remember that every time we volunteer without solicitation, and every time we say yes to a request, we make a promise to someone else and put a burden on ourselves to deliver.
When we make promises we can’t keep, we lose self-trust while letting other people down.
3. Make room for conversation and connection
In a world of AI, information overload and the feeling of being left behind, it’s easy to fill the day with not only one more task, but also one more thing to learn. Let’s face it: There’s always a new time-saving app, a new prompt, and a new AI seminar to attend that promises to get you ahead of the curve. Ask yourself: Are you really keeping up or just spending even more time chasing the next promised shortcut?
If you’re on the hamster wheel, spending more time inside your own head, you’re probably feeling isolated. That’s a sign to break the spell and make room for relationships. Not for “networking” or making a sale, but for the sake of real live connection.
I continue to say that every big problem can be traced back to a conversation that should have happened but didn’t. You can’t have conversations without having relationships.
My definition of a conversation is a dialogue between two people, out loud and not by email, text or What’s App. It’s a back-and-forth in real time, and, yes, video counts. We sometimes avoid real conversations because they can include disagreement, misunderstanding and conflict. I view this as a chance to practice patience and curiosity. Through conversation, we have an opportunity to evolve and grow.
Productive conversations with friends, colleagues and family members get you out of your head, out of isolation and back in sync with what humans are meant to do: connect, relate and create.
4. Close the loop
Unfinished tasks affect productivity. It’s called the Zeigarnik Effect. I call it open loops. The open loop might be a decision, an appointment, a request for help or more often a hard conversation.
Open loops take up a lot of energy. You keep revisiting an unmade decision. You overanalyze a conversation you should have had but didn’t. You keep talking to your friend about someone who did you wrong instead of confronting the only person who can make amends. You stack papers you intend to read and save web links you hope to revisit.
You don’t have to solve everything at once. Identify one next step and close one open loop at a time. Make one decision, one choice and one action. Send the email. Schedule the appointment. Ask for the conversation. Even a small action can replace some of the mental weight of avoidance with the steadiness of movement.
5. Choose who you will be during times of uncertainty
When we don’t know what will happen, we can still get clear about what matters and how we want to meet the situation at hand.
Uncertainty tests our values. It’s easy to be patient when everyone cooperates, kind when things go our way or courageous when there’s little at stake. When we’re tired, disappointed or under pressure, we get a clearer view of what we’ve practiced, and an opportunity to choose again.
A difficult moment doesn’t automatically make us wiser or better, and not every hardship needs to turn into a lesson. But we can ask ourselves: What matters to me here? Who do I want to be in this moment? What is the next choice that reflects that?
Those questions won’t give us control over every outcome. They can help us use the control we do have.
Stability doesn’t mean nothing changes. It means we have some practices, relationships and commitments we can rely on while things change. We can’t always make the world feel certain. But we can create more clarity in how we live, what we commit to and how we stay connected to one another.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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