Quick: Now more than ever, watch out for stress

I usually write about law firm marketing in this space. This month I am going to change the topic just a bit.

I want to talk about stress.

Whether we admit it or not, we all go through the battle, especially during this unprecedented crisis. Stress affects all aspects of our lives, from breaking the harmony in our families to individual depression to less efficiency and difficulty concentrating on our jobs. Not to mention the tendency to skip essentials in running our businesses, including marketing.

Let me introduce you to two Indianapolis experts who can help and who were nice enough to take time to share some actionable advice for this article.

C.J. McClanahan

C.J. McClanahan is a remarkably successful and gifted business consultant who works with companies and individuals. He likes to call himself a “speaker, author and recovering overachiever.”

The research is clear. Professionals are suffering from more stress and anxiety than ever, and that was true before COVID-19. Enter a global pandemic into the mix and the worry goes off the charts.

In times like these we need to focus on a handful of simple tactics to help us cope. Here’s a handful from McClanahan to get you started.

Under your control: Whether you’re religious or not, you can probably appreciate the serenity prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Focus on those things that you can do something about and ignore everything else. When you feel your brain worry, ask a simple question: “Can I control this?” If the answer is no (which it often is), then let it go.

Eight hours: Another type of fuel that leads to excessive worry is borrowing trouble from the future or beating yourself up over past mistakes. Unless you have a time machine, most of this angst is pointless. When you feel your brain drift into the past or future unnecessarily, ask a simple question – “Can I do anything about this in the next eight hours?” If the answer is “no” (which it normally will be), then let it go.

Reduce information: In case you are uncertain how the national media works, here is a quick overview: Eyeballs + clicks = revenue. The No. 1 driver for eyeballs and clicks is fear. As a result, the news (and most of your social media feed) is filled with negative stories. Pick one news source you trust (I advise print) and read it twice a day.

Smile: In uncertain times, employees worry, but leaders have an important responsibility. Your job is to bring a calm, confident, consistent approach to your team. You could put inspirational quotes up on the wall or send out a funny meme, but that only does so much. One factor is more important than all others when setting the tone with your team: body language.

Give generously: Obsessing over what could go wrong in your current situation is fuel for your anxiety. All this stress leads to hurried decisions resulting in poor outcomes. The best strategy for removing this fuel is to focus on the needs of others. We all know someone who is going through a difficult time. Reach out to them and do something to improve the quality of their life. Do this enough and your stress will nearly disappear.

Exercise: Exercise reduces your stress level by burning off all the excess energy you have got stored up because of all that worry. In addition, it releases mood-improving endorphins and helps you sleep better at night. Make certain that you fit exercise into your schedule – even if it is just going for a 15-minute walk.

These tips are simple. As a result, most people hear this advice and think, “I should have no trouble implementing these immediately!” Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Change is hard. When you fail to follow through on any one of these simple tasks, it is important that you give yourself some grace and move on – there is no value inconstantly beating yourself up all day long.

Carol the Coach

Carol Sheets, better known as Carol the Coach, is a well-known expert in life skills and business coaching. She has written and appeared many dozens of times in local and national media.

Some theorists say that fear is the toughest emotion to regulate because it tends to hijack the brain. When people get scared, they tend to go into fight, flight or freeze mode. As you talk to your family, neighbors, and coworkers about COVID-19, you will hear lots of anxieties about a plethora of circumstances that a person generates to get prepared for the worst. However, when people invent their own scenarios, it can lead to catastrophizing, which is never good for the human psyche.

Sheets says visualization can be extremely helpful in decreasing anxiety. Imagine that you could move your anxiety away with your hand or put your fears in a box. Take a fear that is directly tied to coronavirus and visualize how you might put that fear in a compartment, leaving it closed until the actual event occurs. Compartmentalizing feelings, especially anxiety, is an immensely helpful tool, because it teaches you that although the emotions need to be felt, they also can be managed and kept in perspective.

Being mindful or staying in the moment keeps the understandable anxiety in perspective. Fearful emotions occur naturally but oftentimes need to be managed. You may spend days worrying about situations that have not even occurred. This creates anticipatory anxiety, and it robs you from enjoying the good things that are simultaneously happening during the pandemic.

Another simple way to change a feeling is to link it to a positive thought. If you feel anxiety, you can change that feeling to a feeling of confidence if it accompanies a confident thought.

Here is an example of how you can slow down, reduce or alter your feelings by attaching a strengthening thought:

Suppose your law firm is suffering from reduced business. You come home each day fearing you will have to close your practice. You begin to worry insurmountably about your future. You are experiencing anticipatory anxiety. Imagine that you take that worry out of your mind by writing down your greatest fears. You put that paper into a jewelry box and close the box. You tell yourself that this virus is not going to rob you of your serenity. Once the lockdown is over, you will still have your firm, or you will be able to find other employment because you are totally competent and capable of providing for your family. You will decrease your fear because of your increased faith, and you will be able to breathe again. Replacing fear with faith allows you to feel more confidence, which increases your own personal strength.

It is important to take the necessary precautions to stay safe, but there is no reason to imagine the worst and feel miserable in the process. You have the power to manage your thoughts by visualizing the best possible outcome.

Good luck. With the promising news of new and effective vaccines, we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Finally. We will get through this.•

• Jon Quick — 317-432-0309 or [email protected] — is the president of Carmel-based QPR and Marketing, specializing in law firms, a partner at Videopolis.tv., and a former executive with CBS and Emmis Communications. Opinions expressed are those of the author.