I get it. Everything is coming at you at once. Trying to prioritize becomes an exercise in futility. You’ve lost your grip on being in control.
Stop. Breathe.
Realize that you don’t have to be in charge. In fact, being in charge and in control is a demon of the past, part of the old way of doing things. It used to be important that a small group of people made the decisions. They were responsible for knowing all the rules, knowing who the key players were, knowing how to make the best decisions for as many people as they could.
The world has changed. Our access to news, technology, and innovation is light years away from the way it used to be. The days of six white men in the backroom making all the decisions has passed. There is now a culture of creativity, of coming together to pool our resources and make small, beautiful accomplishments part of your every day.
How do you let go of being in control?
The next time someone walks into your office and says, “I have this idea.” You’ll respond with “great idea! When will you get started on that?”
The next time you’re in the middle of flux and can’t seem to get things moving, you’ll gather your crowd. Who is interested in this challenge? How you can crowdsource the solution? Move that control out of the way and invite your crowd to solve that bit of flux.
When someone asks you for help, share your connections – not all your time. Who and what do you know that will help them? Build connections, help them find their crowd and encourage them to take small steps.
Finally, move from talking to action.
Get rid of the meetings, get rid of the phone calls to tear apart yet again something already broken, get rid of the people that only want to tear you down. The committee of negativity was never your friend and was never going to help you.
Small steps, with your connected crowd, no one in charge, everyone participating in a small but meaningful way, and your life of being in control is over.