It doesn’t take long while in conversation with someone in successful recovery to hear them refer to the concept of “one day at a time”. Strategic thinking is the main recovery mantra for me and many others. Yes, it does refer to how just for today we’re going to abstain from the substances and behaviors that destroy or extinguish our lives. The idea of quitting forever is needlessly overwhelming. We all biologically live within the measure of the hours between when we need to stop and sleep. Do you think successful CEOs attain their positions because they sleep less? It turns out they sleep more than their subordinates. To me, that is a sign of how deeply they grasp the reality that life, even when you are the captain of a billion-dollar company, still unfolds one day at a time. A personal trick to stay grounded in my day is to catch myself when I’m future tripping. I shift for a moment into deciding “What’s for dinner?” This snaps me back to a focus on only the things I can control today strategic ]thinking, not future tripping. Being the one in my relationship who cooks, my mind gets a rest from cosmic questions by quickly filling up with the thought of what I need to purchase and prepare.
While I teach this powerful psychological tool to business owners, we also distinguish it from the need to also strategically prepare for the future and plan for the worst case scenario. While “one day at a time” teaches us that as long as we don’t pick up a substance all will be well, we also seek the secondary goal of business success which entails asking ourselves such questions as “Do I have enough inventory for Christmas?” “Will my delivery truck last me through the summer?” And if it doesn’t, “What will I do to quickly make deliveries to my customers?” Wouldn’t it be nice if we could control the future? Well, we can’t and that fact can unravel an addict as time marches on and uncertainties begin to build.
The first step is to be aware of the difference between these two philosophies and then find techniques to stay grounded in today while planning for the future. What works for me is to find specific times in the week, preferably with a coach or mentor, to let my mind journey to the future to both dream and catastrophize. Set a timer and let your mind race about all possibilities for a solid 30 minutes. There are no stupid ideas or scenarios, because literally anything could happen in the future, let your mind range free and take notes of all that occurs to you. But when the alarm sounds, reset it for another 30 minutes and identify which goals or scenarios are most relevant and what you can do this day, and this week, to prepare for that. No, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we can make small steps before we next lay our head on our pillow.
If you routinely find yourself with a racing mind, another tool I find helpful is making lists. I literally have lists of lists for my businesses. Every idea or task goes out of my head and onto a list. Not only does this help me categorize my ideas, but it also stops me obsessing until I’m ready to revisit and act further on the idea. I’m one of those people that takes great satisfaction in knowing that everything in my office has a drawer and every thought in my head has a list. I use project management software like Trello and Asana to keep these lists organized. Each week I review, prioritize and assign tasks to days. The result is a peace of mind that, simply by focusing on what’s immediately in front of me, I will accomplish what’s most important.
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