Although business has its incredible rewards, from the bad days to the slow months, there will more than a handful of times when you will be faced with insurmountable pressure to close a deal, perfect a pitch deck or even merge companies to fuse two very different corporate cultures together. For many in the private sector, professional of all industries constantly feel the pressure to not only excel in their prospective fields, but to also expand and grow the business to its full potential.
Similar to any varsity captain or team leader, controlling this anxiety driven pressure is an absolute must in order to maintain rational thinking and managing yourself to the best of your abilities. Showing grace even when times are tough is essential when it comes to successfully managing intense stress.
Breath
Studies show that intaking oxygen during a stress moment or day aids the brain to process emotion. It is common for people who are under stress to take shorter breaths with limited oxygen intake. Taking deep breaths also calms your heart rate and helps calm your entire body down when any situation becomes too stressful.
Taking a moment to breath in order to clear your head will also allow you to start thinking about solutions to reduce or even solve the issue at hand.
Thought process
Switching your thought process to focus on solutions instead of problems will guide you to think of macro ways to solve an issue at a high level. While the natural feeling or emotion is to feel defeated, finding other outlets to let out your frustration include writing, engaging in physical activity, and spending more time with your friends/family.
Avoiding saying words like “impossible” or “can’t” will help you overcome any obstacles from a psychological standpoint, allowing for increased creativity on all fronts.
Set the standard
Regardless of what kind of leader you are, be sure to remember that wherever you turn, an audience is watching your every move. As a leader, you should keep in mind that every time you treat a situation or an employee in a high stress situation, all eyes are on you.
A useful way to go about this is to emulate a role model that can help you get through this situation. Knowing you are the role model for your company is a fundamental motivator to practice self-control with any anxiety you are undergoing.
