The Right Amount of Stress

What!?!  I want NO stress!

And there are a lot of good reasons that you don’t want stress.  Too much stress has been shown to cause a myriad of health problems including hypertension, heart issues, depression, and more.  And at work, too much stress can lead to bad decision making, low quality of work, burn out, strained relations with colleagues, lack of focus, and more.

Yerkes - Dodson Law

But you also don’t want NO stress.  That is, you don’t want “no stress” as long as you’re working.  More than one hundred years ago, Yerkes & Dodson identified the relationship between stress and performance.  With too little stress, we are not challenged to do our best.  With too much stress, the quality of our performance suffers.

The trick is to get yourself into a situation where you have just the right amount of stress – which is called “eustress.”

If you are feeling too much stress then address it as best you can – you are not being as productive as you think you are, even if you are very busy (BUSY does not equal HIGH PERFORMANCE).

Say no to additional assignments as best you can and/or negotiate different deadlines.  Manage expectations of yourself and others.  Don’t fall victim to the tyranny of everything being urgent.  Dial back the stress until you get to that sweet spot.

Too much stress leads to distress.  The right amount leads to high performance and enhanced Mission Impact.

*Also check out "The Mayo Clinic Guide for Stress-Free Living" by Dr. Amit Sood here.

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.

Pete's Persistence

Most days I go to the campus gym first thing in the morning.  Pete is usually never far behind me.

Pete looks to be in his 80s.  He walks with a very pronounced limp.  It’s not easy for him to get around.  Yet, there he is most every day.  He lifts weights.  He does walking laps in the shallow end of the pool.  None of this is easy for him.

One very cold morning last week it was a dark day with freezing rain.  It was one of those days when anyone who had a choice might just decide to stay in bed, eat popcorn, and watch reruns of NCIS in a warm house.  But not Pete – he was at the gym.

Anytime I think about being a slug and not starting the day at the gym, I think of Pete.  In fact, recently, every time I hit some kind of a roadblock and think about quitting, I think of Pete.  Because Pete knows that persistence is one of the things that separates the good from the great.

Former President Calvin Coolidge said it well:

“Nothing in the world will take the place of Persistence.  Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.  The slogan “Press On” has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race.”  

“Press On” with your 2017 Goals for more of a Mission Impact!

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.

Set Your 2017 Goals Now!

Happy 2017!

As is my annual tradition, I will start the new year out with a reminder of my advice from an article I wrote in The Washington Post a few years back: “Set Goals, Not Resolutions.”  And also see my full article on The Power of Goals at this link.

If it’s time for you to set those once-a-year resolutions that you know will fade by March, then this article is not for you.

But if you are ready to make a long-term commitment to achieving higher levels of performance and having more satisfaction in life, then consider getting serious about goal-setting:

*Set goals as outcomes – on what you really want, not the activities that may lead toward them.

*Make sure that all your goals are SMRT:  Specific, Measurable, Relevant, Time-Bound

*Use the right “A” in your SMART goal formula.  All goals need to be SMRT.  But to be SMART you need to pick the “A” that is right for your situation. Here are your options:

1.  Attainable Goals, which you have an 80+% chance of accomplishing, are good if failing will have many negative consequences.  Attainable goals are good to build some momentum with easy wins, or to learn more about new environments, or if you are concerned about getting discouraged.

2.  Aggressive Goals, which you have a 35% chance of accomplishing, will improve your performance.  Research shows that the more difficult the goal, the higher the level of performance.*  If you feel like you have a good system and you want to maximize performance of it, then this method will help you do it.

3.  Almost Impossible Stretch Goals, which you have a 1% chance of accomplishing, will require you to design innovative ways of going about accomplishing your goal.  “Working harder” on the same process won’t do it.  You have an opportunity for breakthrough performance with Almost Impossible Stretch Goals.

*Celebrate Noble Failure.  If you are inspired to pursue a goal and you go for it, but you don’t make it all the way, then appreciate the progress you have made and appreciate that you worked hard at something you really cared about.  This mind-set will bring you more long-term success than letting the fear of failure keep you from doing what truly inspires you.

I provide more extensive detail on goal setting in this article, The Power of Goals.  If you use these principles and apply them to your personal and work life then I promise you much higher levels of performance, fulfillment, and satisfaction.   But it only works if you take it on as a true, committed discipline – not a once a year fad.  Good luck with all of your goals!

*A Theory of Goal Setting & Task Performance, by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.