Turn Work Stress Into Swagger

There is an old adage in sports that says “winning cures everything”. The stress and frustration in a moment of losing can be quickly replaced by the confidence of a victory. The difference is only the scoreboard. Often, it’s not how hard you work or how good you are, it just happens to be the score that day.

When things are good, you don’t suddenly get better at what you do, nor do you conveniently become inept when things are not so good. You need to take that pressure off of yourself and redirect the energy towards things you can control. And when you focus your energy on the right things, the results will follow.

Those results are not just what you accomplish, but how you feel. It’s how you talk, walk, interact, and connect. You feel different, you feel better. This feeling is something I like to call Small Business Swagger, and we all need a little to make it these days! Here are 3 ways to turn your stress into swagger:

Trust Yourself & Your Plan

You need to just trust yourself. Know that you are doing the right things and you have the ability to make it work. Don’t doubt yourself or your plan until you’ve given it a chance to succeed! Have patience and the profit will follow.

Measure Your Movement, Not The Money

It’s naïve and even irresponsible to not worry about the money, but in most cases you cannot control it. You can, however, focus on the activity you are doing each and every day that results in making money. By shifting your focus to your daily plan, you put your energy behind the solution not the scoreboard. Sleep well at night knowing you did the right activity that day!

Create A Sleeping Budget

You have a monthly budget, but there are going to be months where there is simply more month than money. Rather than reacting to it with stress and drastic measures, have a back-up budget that outlines the step-by-step actions you will take. This allows you to stress less, and sleep more knowing you have a plan and stay focused on what will make the next month better.

Remember, you had that swagger once before – when you got your first business cards, signed your first office lease, or maybe when you got your first client. Over time we take on stress which diminishes our swagger. It affects our results, our mindset, our energy and our attitude. It’s hard enough to do what you do, there’s no need to make it harder!

All I’m saying is if Stella got her groove back, can’t we get our swagger back? It’s time, now go get yours!

Brian Sharp

Brian Sharp is owner of the Go Big Company, which specializes in small business training & development. As a national, award-winning business speaker and author, Brian has the privilege of traveling the country helping companies achieve BIG results through keynote presentations, workshops, & coaching programs.