We are trekking through uncharted pathways every day as individuals, teams, and organizations.  The exhaustion can be great so conserving energy is essential.  Here's a quick tool to face challenging situations with strategy.

FIRST:  Think of one challenge that is in front of you today. Resist the urge to heap the challenges.  Simply choose one, professional or personal.

NEXT:  Write down responses to these three questions.  Yes, write it down, that's part of the power in this processing strategy.

1.  What can you control in the situation?

2.  What can’t you control in the situation?

3.  What can you influence in the situation?

Focus your energy on even those seemingly small things that you can control today. Take that limited capacity that you’re feeling and put it into what you can influence today.  We can influence far more than we realize.  Engage a friend or your team at work to discover and leverage insights beyond your own.

You and I can influence…

…the stories we tell ourselves

…other people's stories

…every space we enter by our words, actions, attitudes

…the future one conversation at a time 

This practice of resetting a challenge allows us to slow down enough, so you can intentionally place your energy towards what you want more of rather the default outcome.  A default outcome based on reaction rather than reason in the middle of a challenge.

From your responses, what is your next right step?  Yes, next step.  Maybe today it feels more like a crawl, that's ok.  Like hiking over a tangle of roots we make greater progress upward by not leaping or jumping but simply by taking one strategic step in front of the other!