You know that moment where suddenly everything seems to go from 1 to 100 and you’re thrown into a state of total and utter chaos? Yep, you don’t have to be the owner of a private practice to know what that feels like.
Well, what if there was a way to turn that chaos into calm using two very simple methods?
In this short article, first female F-14 Tomcat pilot turned speaker and author, Carey Lohrenz shares her two incredible methods for handling stressful situations and how to plan better outcomes for next time, which for someone like you who, right now probably has 100 different things vying for your attention, may just be the best thing you read today
Uncertainty Is The Only Thing We Can Be Certain Of
If the pandemic left you with a million stressful situations and you’re now totally uncertain as to what’s around the corner, you are definitely not alone; so many hearing care professionals felt the strain and the effects are still being felt today.
But if there’s one thing you can take comfort in right now, it’s this: uncertainty is the only thing you can be certain of.
And that’s exactly what Carey talks about in ‘Span Of Control’:
“Span of control is the idea of understanding what is in your control even in uncertain times”
Method #1: W T Actual F?
Aka: Where’s the actual focus.
Does this sound familiar…
It’s coming to the end of the quarter. Your sales aren’t where they need to be, you’re being undercut by big-box retailers selling OTC hearing aids at stupidly low prices and you’ve just sent out a marketing campaign that didn’t work…yep, it’s safe to say you’re stressed.
You’re also probably feeling out of control, unsure if your team are on the same page as you, getting pulled in every direction, and generally lacking focus over what to do next.
If it sounds a little too close for comfort, here’s Carey’s simple yet effective method for dealing with stressful situations:
At the beginning of every day, and before you turn on ANY of your devices, write down your 3 most important things you need to do that day and stick to them.
What? Is that it?
Yes. Carey is all about “clarifying the complex”, and she has seen this method work for some of the most high-flying business brains in the world, because guess what, they get overwhelmed too.
There’s psychology behind this, as even if you accomplish nothing but those 3 things, over the course of a few days and weeks you’ll see a massive decline in your stress levels, as that feeling of achievement is felt every day.
Having A “Bias To Act”
Taking action is the only thing that will ever get you out of a stressful situation.
Therefore, it’s imperative that, as business owners we always have, what Carey refers to as a “bias to act”.
“In times of stress, take a hot second to recognize what’s happening and then let your bias to act kick in, understanding what you can control and then formulating a plan to control it”
This is particularly important after something has gone wrong, which Carey refers to as the “debrief flight plan”.
Method #2 The Debrief Flight Plan
The second most powerful way to turn a situation around is the flight plan debrief. The idea is that you and your team open up an honest channel of communication in order to recognize what went wrong and how to make it right asking these 5 questions:
- Is everyone aligned to what you thought was supposed to happen?
- What actually happened?
- Why were there differences? (not casting blame)
- What did you learn from it?
- How can you incorporate that lesson into tomorrow?
This is what will illuminate potential opportunities and pitfalls faster than anything you could ever do.
And the greatest thing about the debrief flight plan is that it can be applied to anything, such as your marketing campaigns, how you put your new pricing models together, or even how you ran your last team meeting.
Super simple and yet powerfully effective, these two methods are now yours for taking. Now, are you ready to rely on that bias to act and incorporate them within your business?
