Raise the Bar – “More”

The second week of December I found myself at HQ, sitting in front of our Chairman and CEO for the annual budget process. I was feeling pretty smug. After all, we were finishing up 2018 with healthy results and our proposed budget for 2019 was aggressive and logical. Life was good…until I heard the famous dreaded words which reverberate throughout our company – “more”. “We want ‘more’ Craig. You and your team can do much more, so we’ll add $xxx onto your budget for next year. And by the way – Merry Christmas and enjoy your vacation.”

I left for my vacation feeling stressed. 

I landed in Park City, ready to relax and enjoy skiing. The first few days I  skiied well and actually mentally patted myself on the back. The black diamonds were so much easier this year. I basked in my improved abilities and forgot what humility meant. 

On the 2nd afternoon we were joined by a friend, Joseph Ogden, who has been skiing since he was a kid. He encouraged us to follow his lead down a different route. He told us it would be “a little more” technical but we could handle it. Take a look at where we started…get the picture?

What felt like half a day later, we arrived at the bottom of the mountain moaning about the experience and dusting ourselves off. I am still deciding whether Joseph is a friend or not.

Day 3, we skied with another Utah veteran, Bill Wade. He convinced my 2 sons and I to ski an area frequented by very few people….and now I know why. I wiped out and then felt “wiped out” after only 3 hours of skiing. Again – it was more stressful. Bill spent the entire afternoon waiting for us, so my guess is that Bill may not join us in the near future.

The morning of day 4, my entire body hurt. We headed back up the mountain…this time feeling a little less confident. But, to my surprise, I found myself skiing the same routes as with Joseph and Bill, but doing much better. I was adeptly making tricky turns, jumping off mogul after mogul, and smoothly coming down inclines that seemed daunting just days ago. Then the epiphany hit me. By forcing us out of our comfort zone, the stress from trying those challenging trails actually helped to improve my skiing. 

I also looked back on my career and realized that when I had been pushed the hardest (remember the “more” word in our company?), I have actually performed at my peak and grown the most. Sure, it can be painful – but, as the saying goes, no pain, no gain!

On the drive back to San Diego, my youngest daughter, the psychology major, then educated me on the benefits of stress:

1. Too little stress is bad – if life is too easy, we are not growing/progressing/evolving. Without some form of stress, we would not be developing. Our stress response has been an important feature in our cavemen ancestors’ survival.
2. Too much stress – such as chronic stress - is also bad. Studying the mind-body connection, researchers have found many negative psychological and physical effects of persistent and overwhelming stress. Practicing healthy coping skills, such as exercise, receiving emotional support from family and friends, and mindfulness, are important ways to maintain good health and efficiency. 

1. The Human Performance Institute teaches – “Quit trying to reduce your stress. Instead, increase your capacity for stress! To do this, you must increase the frequency of recovery…Whether it’s physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, challenge yourself in each area at least once today”. 

As we start the new year, I am reminded that we all need to push ourselves and our teams to help them grow (I hope my boss isn’t reading this part). But – make sure that you push them within their stress limits and ensure they practice coping skills to recover as needed (I hope my boss is reading this now). In 2019, I will be committed to pushing myself more, but also using mindfulness to help recover along the way. 

And Tiffany can be assured that her advice to her father, after he complained about the stretch budget, will be returned 10-fold when she next complains about me pushing her. Or maybe I’ll simply invite her as my personal psychologist to next year’s budget meeting…