Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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April 6, 2008

Critical Skill 8: How to Know When to Act on Your Worries

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 8:41 am

The Tiniest Bits of Information Don’t Come with Words

Future Skills

It was a huge boardroom with recessed lighting and a mahogany table. Beautiful bookshelves surrounded us on three walls. We were called together on serious matter. A huge print run of books was about to be burned. The question at hand was how the unacceptable feature made it into print. I had the luck of being only an observer.

The questions that were asked were designed to fix the process, not affix blame. Because of that, the meeting moved forward in a team fashion with everyone genuinely invested in finding the process flaw. One person, the newest and least experienced in the room, finally spoke when directly asked what she thought. With her words the answer came. “I always thought that was a little off, but I couldn’t say why.”

I learned a lot from that sentence that day. She knew all along, but thought that her viewpoint was naive. She didn’t credit her worry as a valid one.

How to Know When to Act on Your Worries

What I learned from my colleague that day has proved out over the years. Every time a book had a problem, the people who were working on it, always had some “feeling” that something wasn’t right. Just the act of doing something gives us information, not all of which we can express in words.

We gather intuitive detail from every experience. Every move that we make is stored in our bodies and our brains for us to use later. Trainers call the familiarity that our muscles get with certain movements muscle memory. Our unconscious also carries experiential memory of our lives. That information is useful in thinking things through, because it’s a true reflection of what we know and who we are.

Intuitive information can add valuable depth to a decision process. The problem is knowing when we’re working with intuitive information and when we’re working with a simple personal, emotional response.

One of the best ways is to listen while we give ourselves time to think.

Worrying is not a bad thing. It alerts us to possible problems we might avert. Worrying without acting, however, can cloud our focus, drain our energy, and stifle our ability to think clearly. Channeling the worry into positive action keeps us moving forward with strength and in control.

How do you decide when to act on a worry?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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7 Comments to “Critical Skill 8: How to Know When to Act on Your Worries”

  1. April 6th, 2008 at 9:26 am
    Michael Martine, Blog Consultant said

    Wow, great article, Liz! Call it intuition or going with your gut feeling, or worrying, but the mind works on problems and understands things subconsciously.

    I find that bringing up my worries with another person whom you trust helps. When you shine some light on it, does it still seem as worrisome?

    If you’re not careful, you can be too easily made to lose confidence in a legitimate worry, so speak confidently if you share it with another person.

  2. April 6th, 2008 at 9:35 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Michael!
    Having a friend as a “board of directors” is always a good thing. I know that my friends who serve that role keep me grounded in reality.

    Losing confidence and self-trust over a worry is serious, because it cycles up. We think less of ourselves and transmit that feeling. Soon other people don’t know why, but they start to lose confidence in us too.

    That’s a key point you’ve made there. Thanks for adding it. :)

  3. April 7th, 2008 at 7:22 am
    Robert Hruzek said

    Great illustration of an important lesson, Liz! I find that “inner voice” invaluable when it comes to writing, commenting, or even responding to comments. It’s one reason I try to keep the “don’t publish without proofreading” rule first and foremost as I write.

    Many times when caught up in the moment, something I say just sounds peachy. But, when rereading it prior to hitting that publish button, I realize it’s inappropriate, unclear, tacky, or even misspelled! Whew!

    After a while you just sorta get that “feeling” when something’s not quite right.

  4. April 7th, 2008 at 8:02 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Robert!
    For me, that “inner voice,” offers me the wisdom and experience of everything I’ve ever done, without having to go back to access actual events and think them through.

    More and more, as I move forward, I realize that checking with that sort of “feeling” is one more way to be sure that I’m being true to my own course and not just acting on emotion or information that comes flying at me.

  5. April 7th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
    Robert Hruzek said

    I agree! I also forgot to mention that I completely agree with the “board of directors” concept, too. For really critical, earth-moving stuff, it’s that last line of sanity checking.

  6. April 7th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Robert!
    A “board of directors” or “mastermind team” can’t help but improve on our vision. They have experience of things, especially potholes, we’ve never seen.

  7. July 14th, 2008 at 7:17 am
    Listening, Attention and Patience | Slow Leadership said

    [...] Critical Skill 8: How to Know When to Act on Your Worries [...]

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