Optimize Your Now

Worried about the future? Optimize your now instead. 

If the future looks uncertain to you, it’s easy to lapse into stifling worry and mental spinning as you search for some semblance of control. When external circumstances are beyond your control (as they invariably are), you can end up full-on stuck - not an unfamiliar scenario for many high performing leaders, perfectionists, and achievers..

To regain your foothold in the face of uncertainty, giving all you can to your current “performance” can launch a powerful platform for clarity and optimism. While this advice may seem obvious, in this year of unknowns and surprises, encouraging an optimization mindset has proven to bring greater success and fulfillment to many I coach.

For example, when an international professional ball player worried his season would be cancelled due to the pandemic, my advice was to optimize his performance where he had control: how he thinks (mindset) and how he shows up (attitude and performance). He found comfort in up-leveling his commitment to hard work on and off the field, and his performance took off to new heights. That improvement alone brought him peace of mind. Or, start-up co-founders concerned about the viability of next steps found focus and motivation by executing 110% where they could have an impact: deepening their mentoring relationships with hard working employees, who in turn gave even more to build a successful product. Connection and community within the company brought improved communication and solutions for the future. In the case of my influencers and service professional leaders worried about marketing to waning attention spans, re-imagining how to reach their current audiences more effectively brought new motivation and revitalized visibility. 

The beauty of this approach to taming worry is that by optimizing where you are now - diving in and giving your best effort to your current situation and projects - you often get insight into the next steps you seek. The silver lining is that you can emerge with a new found clarity for the future.

So, just for today, to offset what may feel like pervasive uncertainty, give 110% effort today to what you’re doing and how you do it. Bring your best self forward in all you do and you may be surprised by a big dose of more success than you ever imagined.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and connect with you here on LinkedIn.