Pressure - Know what you are doing to avoid it

The Milton Report

Pressure - Know what you are doing to avoid it - Hone your skills today

November 24, 2009

Volume 13: issue 8

Do you remember the first day of starting a new job?

Even for seasoned professionals the first day on a new job can bring nervous jitters and a feeling of queasiness that usually precedes the start of anything new. Whether it is the professional athlete before the beginning of the next game, the motivational speaker at the seminar promising riches to anyone who reads the books, listens to the tapes and follows the program, or Al Pacino ranting and raving as only he can, pre-performance anxiety is real and it must be mastered to perform at a high level. This is true on the playing field or court, conference room, stage, cubicle, or the open environments of the office, school, or medical facility.

You must really know what you are doing to perform well under pressure.

I heard it put this way many years ago. “Pressure is what you feel when you don’t know what you are doing.”

When I think of pressure in this manner, I would want to know that the surgeon performing surgery on me is very relaxed. His or her relaxed state is based in the security that the capacity to perform their craft at the highest level is grounded in a strong foundation of knowledge, training and experience. There should be no question about their ability to perform effectively.

Your manager, client, or business associate should have no question about your ability to perform your designated responsibilities. This means that in times of pressure when you are being depended on to get things done right, you are expected to perform at a high level. When this occurs, and doubt of your abilities creeps into the picture, recovering from this begins with your capacity to improve your skills and demonstrate a knowledge or skill far superior than what is required.

Preparation that leads to productivity will give you peace and counteract pressure.

When I consider those times when I have felt the most pressure, it was partially based in my lack of preparation or my perceived lack of preparation for the task at hand. When your boss perceives that you are not prepared, your direct route to the unemployment line is enhanced. When the self-perception is lack of preparation, you lose confidence. You will need confidence to perform effectively; therefore, make sure you are prepared. Some of us feel like we can never be prepared enough. I think I fit into that category. This reminds me of something else that can provoke pressure; Perfectionism.

Pressure is the feeling you may get when you believe you have to be perfect.

If you have ever had the pleasure of working for someone who always had to provide some unsolicited criticism for your work, even when it did not appear to merit it, you understand the pressure perfectionism can elicit. Many years ago when I worked as a consultant computer programmer in the early stages of my career, I had a manager who criticized my work because the code was not lined up and spaced properly as he wanted to see it. The code was aligned, but it was not aligned exactly the way the manager wanted it. (Take your thumb and index finger and hold them together with a space of about one millimeter between them.) I think that is how much my code alignment was off. By the way, the code worked! Unfortunately, the manager did not like the way it looked. It was not perfect. I could have let that bother me, but instead I decided from that point forward I would always line up my code in the “perfect” alignment my manager requested. I thought it was extreme, but it eased the pressure in my future work for this manager. This was a clear case where my future preparation made me more productive (in the manager’s eyes), it gave me peace, and I did not feel any additional pressure.

Today’s environment for business and employment opportunities is very competitive. This will likely not change in the future, unless the government provides all of the jobs. That’s another story. The landscape of the global economy will demand things remain competitive. Jobs and business are no longer exclusively American. Americans have to be educated, trained, and experienced to compete with individuals overseas. The idea of that spawns many discussions about education and training in our country. There are too many issues to address in this discourse. But the fact is, employers are seeking individuals that will give their companies an edge and people seeking jobs are expanding their capabilities to be more competitive in the marketplace. This combination of higher standards for both employers and seekers means that preparation is paramount for ensuring peak performance. Preparation means increasing your knowledge, developing new skills, making new contacts, and developing a personal brand that will uniquely distinguish you and make you stand out. Three things will help you accomplish this.

1) Whether you are someone who is entering college, the job market, a business venture, or an experienced professional, the first thing you need to understand is how you current skills and talents are used in the marketplace.

You need to self assess. What do I do well? What am I trained and educated to do? What do I enjoy doing? Most importantly, after answering those questions, is there a demand in the market for my capabilities?

In the early 1900’s people were able to make a living building horse-drawn carriages. When Henry Ford introduced mass production of the automobile, there was no need to be an expert in horse-drawn carriage building. Eventually that market dried up and ceased to exist.

Are you still trying to build and maintain carriages when the market is producing automobiles?

2) You need to enhance your skills by acquiring new skills or maintaining expert level knowledge in your current capacity. This means several things. If you are currently involved in a vocation you enjoy, then the challenge is to remain current and relevant in your knowledge. Education is a continuous process for those individuals who are successful. Learning should never stop and it is possible for the “old dog to learn new tricks.” It could be something as simple as expanding your vocabulary by learning one new word per day. Or, it could be as complex as learning a new language to speak or a new computer program. Whatever it is, additional knowledge is never a bad thing.

3) You need to utilize the new skills in some portion of your daily tasks to keep them current. I am reminded of the benefits of exercise. When you exercise a muscle, the muscle will either maintain or get stronger. When you don’t exercise, the muscle will weaken. The brain is a muscle that operates on that principle. As you challenge and use it, you will strengthen it. If it is not challenged, you may one day find yourself thinking that it is okay to continue taking training for horse drawn carriage building, when in fact you need to learn how to operate the new 21^st century hover crafts that ride on an air superhighway and are controlled by a central command post.

Step into the 21^st century today and hone your skills. Pressure will ease when you do that.

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“It is calming to know that when the final trumpet sounds,

My life will not have ended in vain.

I will run out of time before I run out of words. God has given me the gift of my thoughts.

He has given me the gift of the pen.

I need to use them both to show His will does win….” 1

(1) Excerpt from the poem “ The Things That Matter” –

Included in Voices Inside My Head – Poetry Inspired By God To Heal Pain