Book 10/26 Leaders are learning series; 10% Happier by Dan Harris

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As a leader how do you handle stress and anxiety?

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    My mother always told me “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger”. I agree 100% but not everyone is raised like this or built to handle stress and the mantle of leadership the same way.

    In my humble opinion I have been thrust into the world of leadership from an early age. I was the first born of three in a home where my father worked a lot and whether I liked it or not I had to be the man/Big boy of the house early on. Helping with my brother and sister as we grew up. Playing sports I was either selected as leader of a team or in the military always placed in leadership roles

     


    I admit I had a few anxiety attacks when I was young that caused me to have trouble breathing. It could also be the stress of being a kid but who knows. Then as I grew I found sports as great outlet for stress and my anger. I knew I had anger issues so I gravitated towards contact sports like boxing, football, hockey, and rugby. I would immerse myself in these sports and relieve the stresses of the day to get through it.

     

    In college I worked full time while being in the Army reserves and running a retail store with 30-50 employees. The stress was mounting but sports were there to even me out. Then as I worked in high pressure B2B sales and eventually medical device sales it became more and more difficult even with my schedule to use these sports to release the pressure valve. I saw myself getting more and more angry and stressed. I would be up at night thinking and ruminating on the events of tomorrow. Do I have enough people on my team for case coverage, do we have the implants we need is everything going to go the right way? I would be planning like a chess match many steps ahead. The lack of sleep was literally killing me, because many times I had to pull over and take naps on the side of the road so I would drive into the guard tails or off a cliff.

     

    Then I remembered a library class from high school where we meditated. I remember it well because we all laid on the ground and focused on our breathing and imagined ourselves as tanks filled with water. On each breath more and more water would leave our bodies and we would relax our heads, shoulders, chest and so on until we reached our toes. It was very relaxing and this memory trigger prompted me to start meditation again.

    This started me down my meditation path, before reading this book. I have been doing this for years, but a suggestion for a book recommendation from friend is always a good idea to take you never know what you will learn.

     

    The book spoke more about Dan’s journey as a local anchor person to working at ABC and having a panic attack on air. From there he talks about his journey as a combat correspondent in Iraq and Afghanistan Post 9/11. During these tours in combat zones he became accustomed to the excitement and adrenaline, so when he came back to the states he started using Cocaine to help bring back the endorphins of a combat zone. After he came down from these rushes he became depressed and anxious of things he could not control.

     

    Eventually he found meditation and with it he feels 10% happier. So how does this book help Leaders well it is no secret that leaders are generally under a lot of stress, so how do you deal with it. If this is your first opportunity to lead maybe you are not used to stress and don’t know how to handle it. Ancient warrior like the samurai used meditation regularly to maintain balance and so should you. Part of my discipline regime is meditation.

    • Wake up 0530

    • Workout 30-45 mins

    • Meditate -5mins

    • Read with morning coffee 30mins

    • Shower

    • Get to work!

     

    Adding this small part to my day help regulate me and get my day started. I sometimes add in again at the end of the day to help me sleep. Hey you never know this small addition to your daily routine could make you 10% happier too.