Here's a thought, what if anxiety isn't simply a consequence of having too much worry but could also be an inevitable consequence from being out of integrity?
Photo Credit - Sebastien Le Derout
Think of it like this. You turn up late to a meeting and now you're anxious of how others might think of you. How about you're running late for a meeting, and you know it, well you'll definitely be anxious then. How about you know you are unprepared for that meeting?
Whilst anxiety can arise through many things that we have no control over, there is much that is within our control and here we find anxiety and integrity to be interrelated. For the record, we are defining integrity here as the state of being whole and complete with nothing missing. A wheel whose spokes are all intact is by definition not damaged or impaired in any way. It is complete. And thus, it performs at its best.
Here are 3 focus points to support remaining whole and complete with nothing missing.
Streamline your commitments. There's nothing that kills our sense of being whole and complete like over stretching ourselves. Whilst it's tempting to offer to do more, and as uncomfortable as it can be to say no, taking on less can support us in maintaining a sense of wholeness in relation to our commitments.
Conversely, taking on too little can leave us feeling depressed, or perhaps anxious that others might find out that we're not delivering on as much as we could do. Here lies the balance, stretch too far and the rubber band begins to fray at the edges, too little and it sags and withers. Instead of working too much or too little, how about you aim to work smarter not harder - are there any tedious tasks you can outsource? Is there a cleaner way of working that can allow you to scale beyond your own limitations?
Share your vision. Whilst responsibility for our commitments is ours to uphold, actioning that commitment doesn't have to be shouldered alone. In fact, everything that thrives is done within eco-systems not silos. Whether it's family, fitness, or work, we go further when we work supportively with others rather than trying to do it all on our own.
At Cad-Capture, we see time and again how ensuring your commitments are streamlined, scalable and shared makes a huge difference when it comes to ensuring peace of mind and therefore performance.
In the next post we’ll further expand into the third and final element of anxiety – vulnerability and its effects on performance.