From Stressed to In Control
It piles on and piles on until we realize we've lost control. Here's how to relieve the pressure and gain yourself better sleep and some peace of mind.
(Photo: locomotive picture taken by yours truly. Not AI.)
I was having lunch with the Vice-President of a large non-profit organization. We were discussing their upcoming re-certification efforts, when she suddenly admitted to the stress level she had been under.
She said, “…and to make matters worse, I am always scrambling to make it to the Monday morning team meeting. It starts at 8 am and it seems like I have a million fires to put out after the weekend. I always show up late and I’m a stressed-out mess.”
She longed for the ability to get to work, handle the fires, have that first cup of coffee and mentally prepare to meet with her team.
She continued, “Then one day it occurred to me, ‘Why, I’m the boss. I can set the meeting any darned time I want.’ So I did. Now we start the meeting at 9 am on Tuesday. And it relieved a ton of pressure. I wish I’d done it sooner!”
Seize Control
While we aren’t all the boss, I’m betting there’s an expectation you imposed on yourself in the past that, over time, has become a burden. Is it possible no one else would blink if you changed or eliminated the “thing” that’s causing you added stress?
Or, is there something someone else expects of you that could be re-negotiated so you gain some extra time or flexibility? How do we know unless we ask, right?
Oh, I know, some of us worry that asking for a compromise or lightening our own load will knock that crown off our heads. Well, go ahead and take the risk. My guess is you’ll thank yourself for being able to take a breather. And you can prove yourself some other way.
Try this: Stretch a rubber band between your two hands as far as you can go. Then hold it there. It may be easy to do at first, but over time it begins to wear on you, doesn’t it? After 10 minutes your hands might begin to quiver. The effort will start to take a toll.
To relieve the stress, just shorten the space between your hands a little bit and notice how your hands stop shaking. It relieves the pressure. It doesn’t take much — just a little bit.
The same thing works in the rest of our lives. Back off a little and notice the change for the better!
Question: Did you try it? How did it work out for you?
Tell All Your Friends
If you use Gmail, check this out: Google just turned on a “smart feature” which allows their AI Gemini to train on the content in all your gmail emails, including those in your drafts folder and any attachments you send. To turn it off, when you go to “settings” (there are two boxes you must check) it also disables your spell check feature. And, if you send a document to someone using gmail who has not turned the smart feature off, your content will also be subject to training by Gemini. —Source: Thomas Umstattd Jr. Author Media YouTube
(This is why I pay for protonmail.me)
What I’ve Been Reading & Watching
Imagine Heaven, Near-Death Experiences, God’s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You by John Burke. “Lead people by your own good example…One day you will see how one life changed another life, and how your greatest impact on humanity came by developing individuals.”
Video Debate: Will Artificial Intelligence Do More Harm Than Good in the Near Term? Sponsored by Steamboat Institute. Note: I found Bret Weistein’s arguments much more concise than the other speaker.
Video: Entry-Level Jobs Have Vanished for Gen Z, with Amanda Claypool
Pre-order her ebook, Human Optional: How to Survive the Death of Knowledge Work in the Age of AI ($6.99) I mentioned her ebook in an earlier post, but she has since changed the title. (I get no money to recommend her book.)
Next Book on My List: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Book I Recently Finished: Men to Match My Mountains by Irving Stone
Quotes
“A leader is a dealer in hope.” —Napoleon Bonaparte
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” —Leo F. Buscaglia
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success.” —James Cameron, filmmaker
Upcoming Events
Dec 8, 2025: I’ll be speaking for the Junior League of Colorado Springs on the topic of upselling and fundraising
We are so blessed! Wishing you and your family, friends and “orphans” around the table a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!
I used to work at a warehouse. This was after some failed attempts at starting a business. My grandfather told me once "if you work for someone be the best you can be." In the warehouse I would get moved to different departments because the department I was in got better. Sometimes it was just a different shift, but I did my best to increase the productivity. One thing I did learn was when you work for a big corporation and you put in for retirement; you just quit coming in the next day. I found out later I was one of the lowest paid employees in the office even though I would go where they would tell me they needed help. I was told at the start that you pay increase would depend on your yearly scores and mine were always at the top. I didn't know if you went into the manager's office and demanded more money you would probably get a portion of what you wanted.
Happy Thanksgiving, Laura!