How is your career like Howard Sprague?

If you love the Andy Griffith Show like me (we watch it every night), you either stop watching after Season 5 when the show changed from black and white to color, or you appreciate the story of all the episodes and characters, even without Barney and Gomer (my personal favorite).?

One of those Season 6+ characters is Howard Sprague, who happens to be a wonderful bowler. In a match against the Mayberry rival Mount Pilot, Howard is on pace to bowl a perfect game, all the way through the very last frame, when the power at the bowling alley goes out.

The Mount Pilot team agrees to let Howard finish the game the next day and they hold a bet they've made with Andy about Howard. So close to a perfect game and winning both the match and the bet, Howard is so stressed out that he can't sleep and manifests headaches and a case of the shakes.

At the alley the next day, he's given a few practice bowls, and is so nervous he throws nothing but gutter balls. Andy sees how nervous Howard is, and convinces the Mount Pilot team to call off their bet.

Relieved and without all the pressure of a bet, Howard relaxes, bowls his final round, and......... he gets his perfect game!

So how is your career like Howard Sprague?

First, Howard had it in him all along. He?was?good enough. He?was?the right person at the right time. He?was?ready. He had the right blend of talent and experience, and yes, caring, that he was ready and able to bowl a perfect game. Just like you in your career. You are in a season right now, whether you're a recent graduate, mid-career, or toward the end of your career. You have a unique blend of talents and abilities along with all the technical and professional education you've amassed. All of these things, not just your education, makes you uniquely you and equips you for ultimate success. You alone have the ability to thrive on the path that's there for you, so have confidence in yourself to do what you can do best!

Second, as April is National Stress Awareness Month, Howard made this event out to be much more stressful in his mind than it actually was. The actual event wasn't as stressful as he imagined it to be, and he made himself sick thinking of the worst alternatives and outcomes. I know I have a tendency to do this at times, and it causes unnecessary stress. So this month and any month, I want to commit and ask you also to focus on the positive outcomes that can happen, and, if you feel too burdened or stressed, recall that those scary future events you have in your mind many times are not as bad as you imagine, and, even if they are, you can withstand them.

In fact, in a study cited by the Huffington post and many other sources, study subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then note which of their imagined stressors did not actually happen. The study concluded that 85% of what subjects worried about never even happened, and with the 15% that did indeed happen, 79% of subjects shared that they could either handle the difficulty better than they expected, or the difficulty taught them an important lesson that made them more aware.

So understand how you're like Howard Sprague in your career by recognizing that you can do what you set out to do, and that stress is either not even what you imagine it to be, or is much more manageable or can help you learn and grow.

I believe in you!