Why I Worry About How Much Leaders Worry

Uncertainty is certain as we look at the cyclical nature of things.?On a daily basis, there are conflicting articles and commentary about what to expect next.?What is the future of the economy? Are we in a moment of of plateau before the market dives again??What are the opportunities in the housing market? What is the real impact of inflation and how is the divergence of salaries and inflation faring on the average family? Uncertainty is indeed a part of the cycle.?It will last for as long as it is required and then things will change. ?

History holds the evidence that cycles exist and there are many studies to affirm that truth. In fact, evidence shows that there are more millionaires made during a recession than any other time. The Great Depression is an example of this. There are many articles and books to support your exploration on what people did to take advantage of the conditions of the time to become millionaires. This article is about the mindset that leads to success.

Worry plagues people during uncertainty.?Left unchecked, worry wreaks havoc on your mind, body and your spirit.?It is the underpinning of anxiety and stress, the latter often referred to as the silent killer.?The conditions that can emerge from excessive worry (which evolve into Stress and/or Anxiety) run the gamut of health concerns.?Hypertension, Gastrointestinal Disease, Depression, lowered immune system and Cancer are all ways that worry can manifest into physical symptoms and conditions.?Simply put, worry can kill you. ?

Beyond the obvious need to manage worry effectively for physical and mental health, we often fail to connect it to the ways it impacts our ability to lead.?Leaders are used to being under pressure.?There are always deadlines, performance issues, KPI’s and customer concerns to trouble our minds.?When we allow the general day to day items that arise as worry to multiply, stress and anxiety will arise. ?

Innovation is the lifeblood of organizations and it thrives in a culture where it is nurtured.?To innovate, you must be willing to take risks and create the space to test and learn. Test and learn as a way of operating requires a level of comfort with a perceived failure that you choose to see as a lesson.?The language is important.?There is a choice you make when you have an innovation mindset that says, “in order to create, I must be wiling to learn.”?Learning is the result of experimentation where there will often be conditions beyond our control.?The belief that creation is possible is at the heart of innovation. Worry is a speed bump on the road to possibilities.?In a healthy state, it can draw attention to considerations that should be reviewed.?A deep and consistent allowance of worry to permeate your mindset is detrimental and can stymie growth when it becomes excessive. ?

People in leadership during uncertainty or operating in a VUCA environment are primed for worry.?Leaders are taught to scenario plan and to mitigate potential risks for any business strategy or initiative they own.?While safeguarding initiatives, it is important to realize that the same behavior, risk identification, is one that naturally produces worry.?The equation we have created includes uncertainty, ongoing expectations of leadership, the requirement to innovate and the mindset of the leader.?The resulting condition is an environment where worry multiplies and can lead to the health conditions referenced earlier.

Managing worry and maintaining a mindset of possibilities is critical for all aspects of health for leaders.?There are many ways to modify your mindset.?You may have considered the benefits of meditation, journaling, affirmations or other intention focused practices These practices can have a significant impact in reducing the amount, frequency and depth of worry.?I would like to offer an another option, which is tapping into your spiritual center.?

Centering yourself spiritually is one of the best ways to manage worry.?Spirituality, different from religion, is about belief.?Spiritually grounded people believe in possibilities. In practice, worry arrives and is met with a grounded belief that acknowledges the reason for worry and makes a concerted decision to release it.?An integrated spiritual mindset helps ground your thinking in what is possible. You can see the risks and challenges and immediately remember that there is a way forward.?Leaders who operate from an integrated mindset are less risk averse and grow to be more decisive.?The mindset shift has a positive impact on the organizational culture. Innovation rich cultures are the result of environments where the belief that something exists beyond what we can see and hold and possibilities are explored.?The energy created shapes the mindsets of others to believe in the value placed on innovating as opposed to avoiding risk.

So how does this relate to millionaires made during the Great Depression? I am glad you asked.?The connection is a belief in possibilities.?The shared mindset helps remove limitations and extend belief beyond our sight.?The people who became millionaires during one of the darkest times in our history believed that there were opportunities to create change.?They created solutions for shared challenges, took risks to innovate, and invested others ideas. ?They believed in things that were invisible or intangible.?Their mindset of possibilities and willingness to test and learn led them to success.?Success was not guaranteed, but their commitment to finding what they were looking fueled them during dark times.?In the same way, integrating your spiritual self is tapping into your inner wisdom to ground your beliefs.?Your growth mindset is rooted in your inner wisdom. Operating in the fullness of who you are is the way to thrive in our VUCA environment.

Let me clarify my initial statement, I don’t actually worry about leaders worrying. I know that some level of worry is healthy. I am concerned about the excessive worry that I observed and experienced during my 20+ years in leadership in corporate America.?The disconnect of the spiritual self and gaps in personal agency concern me.?The environments are wrought with fear resulting from internal and external conditions. I share in your awareness of the challenges that employees in corporations are experiencing, particularly those linked to burnout and exhaustion.?I am well versed in the impacts to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.?I have witnessed the range of impacts that occur when excessive worry evolves into Anxiety, Stress, and Depression. All too often, we focus on a single dimension of a person, like your “work self” and attempt to address concerns from a segmented vantage point. As a “whole person” how you live, work, and play is impacted by worry.?Regardless of where in your life worry arises, it can create a residual impact in the other areas. It is time to counter worry in a way that dispels it quickly and effectively.?Worry will come, but your choice of how to manage it makes all the difference.

While grounding yourself in your spirituality may not guarantee that you will become a millionaire in current environment, it can help you to have a better quality of life. It is time to value the quality of how we live with our perspective of longevity. What is your life’s “Joy Share?”?How much joy will you choose to experience during your life??How much joy will you choose to share with those around you??What joy will you create for your employees and peers? Consider joy as emotional abundance currency that you gain from living a more integrated life.?Worry blocks the mind from embracing all possibilities.?It stands to reason that the joy you experience could be the spark you need to rediscover the millionaire mindset already within you.?Chose to counter worry productively and you will have more energy and joy to fuel your life.

Anika Apple is The Remarkable Life Coach | I support Women Business Owners and C-Suite Execs in creating an integrated life where spirituality is in the center of how they live and work so they can have it all! I help people live a #remarkablelife | https://anikaapple.com