I would like to clear up a little misconception. A lot of people are out there, patting themselves on the back, praising themselves, and bragging to others about something they feel that they have mastered. Unfortunately, whether they realize it or not, it doesn’t serve them, but they’re still pretty proud of the fact. I’ve talked to many leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners, team members, and a lot of them bring this phrase up, and that phrase is, “I work great under pressure.” Well, good for you. They actually wear it as a badge of honor. Well, I’m telling you, it is not a badge of honor.
There are only certain people that need to work great under pressure. People in the military who face adversity, they’re actually trained physically and mentally to be prepared for pressure so they don’t snap when that pressure comes and they know how to react. We’re not trained to work under pressure. It’s actually a strategy that you created that is not serving you and you don’t even know it. It’s a principle that is the exact opposite of taking action and getting results. And that principle is procrastination. Yes, you do not own the badge of honor or work great under pressure. No, you have mastered the art of procrastination, putting things for the last minute, that you forced yourself into a corner, of then you have to work great under pressure.
It simply doesn’t serve you or others, because it creates anxiety for both parties. What do I mean? If you have a due date of which someone else is expecting to have whatever you need to do for them at a certain time and they keep asking you, “Is it done,” and you respond, “Don’t worry, I’ll get it done,” well, guess what? They’re worrying. They have anxiety because they’ve seen this pattern before. Don’t do that to yourself or others. What would happen if someone gave you something you need to accomplish a week early and you just chunked it out of exactly how long you’re going to take each day to get it done a day early? What would happen if you just blocked out time to execute it all at once, and it was done, it’s free from your brain? You can now concentrate on other things. You could be much more productive, instead of waiting until the last minute.
I bring this up because I’ve heard this over and over again of people walking around with this phrase, “I work great on the pressure,” as a badge of honor. Well, get real and realize that you have just mastered the art of procrastination and nothing else. And because you forced yourself into a corner, it becomes an adrenaline rush that you want to get because you have to force yourself to get things done at the last minute. We did it in college. We did it in high school. We procrastinated. We stayed up all night to cram, to take the test the next day. Don’t do it. It’s not serving you. You want an adrenaline rush, go shark diving, go skydiving, go bungee jumping.
When it comes to being productive, being on time, and having things done early for other people within your organization, so the entire organization can work with less stress and be more productive, that’s something worth mastering. For those of you using this as a badge of honor, drop it and just realize you’re masters of procrastination. Change your habits, create some strategies to do it systematically, and early so you can get it off your plate. Only then, can you create your badge of honor that you get everything done early, on time, efficient, productive, and on point to serve everyone else in the organization.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com