Congratulations, you made it through the holidays! The pressure, the stress, the deadlines, the FOMO, the feeling like you’re doing it all and not doing enough at the same time. It’s over. (at least, for now!)
Now you can pause, breathe, and rest in the calm before our profession’s storm.
Every January here at I2L, we work with our clients on strategies for creating a foundation that will ground them and help them thrive, not just survive, during this year’s busy season.
We want to work with you to build a foundation that creates resilience and confidence, so when you do find yourself gripped by the chaos around you, you have tools and strategies to ground yourself and help your team do the same.
YOUR MINDSET IS YOUR FOUNDATION
Your mindset is the best tool you have to maintain your mental, physical, and emotional health and build resilience amidst chaos for yourself and your team.
The range of emotions this time of year can be wide. From feeling energized with positive anticipation and hope for the coming year, to feeling resignation or even dread for the stress and frenzy ahead.
You may be saying to yourself, “This busy season will be different”, while silently wondering, “Will it really? How?”
Creating a healthy mindset foundationally supports us and our teams and helps us:
- Be present for ourselves and others when we are in stressful moments
- Ground ourselves so that we’re responsive, rather than reactive
- Lead with confidence and clarity
SCARCITY IS A CHOICE
Starting in late January through April, you may feel like there’s not enough time, not enough staff, not enough resources. It can be easy to spiral down into the world of scarcity, anxiety, and lack.
We may start to blame ourselves and others for the situation we’re in and lose focus.
When we own our mindset, we get to choose whether we focus on:
- All the things around us that we’re unhappy with
- The people and situations that frustrate us
- Things that feel out of our control
Or, whether we focus on things that will benefit us:
- Small victories and progress we and others made today
- People we can encourage
- What we’re learning and improving along the way
When we consciously choose where we invest our energy, we can create more capacity – in terms of space, time, and productivity – when we need it most.
FOCUS ON THE WINS
So often in this profession, we see accountants tallying up what they didn’t get done at the end of the day, focusing on how their to-do list is longer than when they started. It’s a scarcity-mindset habit that diffuses their sense of power and agency.
Like begets like, and the more you focus on what you didn’t do, the more you’ll feel frantic, which will continue to escalate throughout busy season until you feel crushed and discouraged.
Consciously choosing your mindset is a way to take your power back.
We invite you to try one of our foundational practices for shifting your mindset:
End your day by celebrating something you accomplished or a contribution you made that had a positive impact.
It doesn’t have to be big, but spend a moment to think about it, relive it, and instill that feeling of success and accomplishment within your body and mind.
This reinforces the reality that you are capable and getting things done.
Now is the time to build the foundation to support you through the rest of busy season, so you can not just survive, but thrive. Added bonus: Modeling this behavior to your team encourages them to do the same, building a healthy culture amidst the chaos.
MAKE A RESILIENCE PLAN
Like any tactical strategy, let’s create a plan to get from point A to point B through challenging terrain and build resilience as we go.
Resilience is like a muscle. When we practice using it through our struggles, it gets stronger and easier to access when we need it most.
Here’s a resilience planning process we share with clients that you can use to support you in the upcoming months. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What was a memorable past experience where I faced adversity?
- How, and why, was I able to persevere and push beyond that adversity?
- What did I learn from that experience about my mindset, skills, and habits that will allow me to push through adversity in the future?
Once you’ve answered these questions, post your answers in a place where you can see them every day. Utilize your resilience plan like a playbook. When things get tough, this will give you a sense of control because you’ll be ready to face adversity and respond, rather than react.
BUILDING ON FOUNDATIONAL PRACTICES WHEN CHAOS HITS
Go Slow To Go Fast
Peter Senge, in his book, The Fifth Discipline, gave us the phrase, “Go slow to go fast.”
Accountants spend much of their time (especially January through April) rushing around, trying to do all the things at once. We seem to always be reacting, reacting, reacting, driven by a sense of urgency to produce billable hours.
We like to remind our clients to slow down in order to go fast.
This means reconnecting with yourself and remembering that you actually know what is needed. You just need to pause to get present to your needs and the needs of others. Then, you can respond instead of react.
You can pour a little cool water on the chaos, instead of fanning its flames. Recognize that your foundational practices are not a waste of time, but an investment. When they become engrained, you will find yourself leading with confidence and clarity, even amidst the toughest challenges.
Lean on Your Why
Sometimes, it’s as simple as leaning on your Why.
Reflect on the following questions, so you can stay connected to your answers as you get deeper into busy season:
- Why do I do what I do?
- What’s my purpose for my work?
- What are my values? What do I believe in most? How do I want to show up for myself and others?
Post your answers in a place where you can see them. When times get hard, use this list to fuel you, instead of succumbing to worry, doubt, and fear.
Create an Emergency Kit
Create an emergency kit to help you choose the mindset you want when chaos hits, instead of defaulting to a scarcity mindset.
Here are some ideas to consider including in your emergency kit:
- Stop and breathe. Three deep breaths in, three big exhales out.
- Reconnect with your Why.
- Give yourself three minutes to move your body.
- Get outside in nature. Walk your dog.
- Call a friend and talk it out.
- Do something that makes you laugh!
- Take a longer break. Step away, and do something that replenishes you.
- Consciously choose to respond rather than react. (You could create a mantra for this.)
Stock your personal emergency kit with whatever helps ground you and focus on abundance and confidence.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
As you practice the foundations of cultivating a healthy mindset, it may seem that nothing is happening at first. Progress is sometimes hard to measure in intangibles like thoughts. But, as you practice shifting your mindset from scarcity to curiosity and confidence, you’ll see tangible results in your ability to pause, reflect, and respond (rather than react). You’ll be able to better support your team and model healthy practices for them.
You’ll feel more in control.
You’ll feel more energized.
You’ll feel proud of yourself.
Transformation in relationships and cultures usually happens gradually. Each moment we choose to be present and meet ourselves (and others) where we (and they) are, is a moment that creates change. It’s a moment that shifts the tide from fear to love.
Will this busy season be your opportunity to shift the tide?
See you in the DoP,
