By Philip Brady, Executive Coach and Director at Vitamin P Coaching Ltd.
I'm not sure if you've heard but it seems like AI is going to be a big deal.
A technology that changes the way the world works is upon us again.
It's easy when this happens to be apprehensive & overwhelmed.
Maybe even a little nervous and unsure.
What does this mean for me?
Will I need to change?
What will I do?
Who am I?
Change causes an ungrounding sense of confusion, especially for our identities.
Our identities shape our behaviour.
If you're a programmer, you code.
If you're a leader, you lead.
If you're a runner, you run.
If you're a brother, sister, daughter, mother, father etc. this shapes what you do.
When the future is unknown, your body takes this as a threat to its survival.
When the body feels unsafe, it wants to hide.
Hide in what it did yesterday.
Repeating the past keeps you alive.
"You survived yesterday, let's do that again!"
Your body does whatever it can to convince you to retreat and repeat.
How this shows up is negative thinking, negative emotions and a negative vision of the future.
This will veil everything in front of you.
Causing you to stay the same.
This is normal.
It's time to lead.
Time to stretch into a brighter future.
We need leadership now more than ever because so many are feeling lost.
We need people to step forward and say:
"It's ok, the future can be positive, lets continue to move forward"
Below are some tips you can do to lead into the future more intentionally:
Let's start with connection.
In times of change and uncertainty, you retreat,.
You feel alone and isolated.
You think you have to solve everything on your own.
You don't.
Building intentional connections with others going through change is powerful.
They will remind you that it's ok to feel unsure, uncertain, to not know.
They give you “An island of sanity in a world of chaos” as Margaret Wheatley calls it.
The unknown is part of the process of change.
Knowing you're not alone helps you feel more grounded.
From this grounding you can move forward.
Next, movement.
Your body experiences stress in change.
It stores this stress in the body.
Emotions are e-motion: Energy in motion.
Changing how you move changes how you feel.
Moving, shaking, lifting, climbing, jumping, walking all release this build-up of stress.
Whatever movement you can build into your schedule will help you during change.
Even better, find ways to move with other people.
Hydration can be as simple as an extra glass or two of water.
Typically you're dehydrated.
This will increase the threat / survival response.
Drinking more water tells your body it's safe.
Safe enough to proceed forward.
Recovery is next.
Most of the time you're not overworked, you're under-recovered.
You can handle a LOT of stress.
No doubt you've gone through times that were tougher than you thought you could do.
This is true AND you must rest in times of stress.
As a leader, you're normally holding the stress for you & your team.
Deep recovery, “Vitamin P” I call it, triggers the parasympathetic nervous system.
This is the rest / digest nervous system.
This helps release stress from your body.
Nature, connection, water etc.
When you get deep recovery, you can lead beyond what you thought you were capable of.
Sleep is fundamental to your performance.
If you're not sleeping, you can't expect high levels of performance.
Same awake, same asleep time every day including weekends is a good place to start.
Lastly, food.
Less sugar, more protein.
Everything in moderation, including moderation.
This list might feel like a lot.
Break this down to 1% behaviours and actions.
This is 15 minutes a day.
You can do this.
You must.
Leading self helps you lead others.
And we need you now more than ever.
This will build foundations in your week that set you up to perform.
You will grow through change not just get through.
Onwards, to your potential.
