Finish 2022 Strong: Be Relentless

Time is ticking! Grains of sand continue to fall. To be relentless means to be intense, focused, incessant, unwilling to give up, persistent to see something through. As of today, you have 54 days left in 2022. Have your intensity and focus increased over the past 25 days? Are you leveraging the positive pressure of time to your advantage? Awareness of an approaching date, timeline, can add stress and paralysis or it can light a fire, increasing energy and motivation to deliver, perform or accomplish by the time you reach the deadline (i.e. end of the year). The key is knowing yourself and which response/reaction you have to time pressure.

Have you ever wondered about the mystery of pre-vacation high performance? You know that week before you leave on vacation where you have an unexplained extra boost of energy and high-performance productivity. When you are closing in on a deadline or timeline, does your adrenaline rush with positive energy fueling your forward progress? Are you checking items off your task list in record time? What is this mystery of adrenaline and ability to follow through to the finish line… 5:00 PM the day before vacation? Focus! Determination to leave your office with a cleared desk. A newfound ability to say “No” to preserve and direct your energy to priorities and avoid adding to your list. Your combined momentum, productivity and focus empower you to finish strong. Imagine performing with this intensity, focus and productivity on a regular basis. You can through understanding yourself, how you react or respond to time pressure and developing your “relentless and focus” skills.

The first step to harnessing the “finish line” energy and productivity surge is to identify and understand how you respond or react to time pressure. Are you energized and motivated? Does the competitor within awaken when you are approaching a deadline, releasing endorphins that make you feel superhuman? Or do you feel overwhelmed and anxious? If time pressure releases endorphins to energize and motivate you, then you need only embrace that energy, focus and finish strong. If time pressure makes you feel like the walls are closing in around you, or a weight has been added to your shoulders, then it is essential for you to use strategies to help you carry the load and make progress. For example, utilize a time management system to chunk your goals or work across time. This will help eliminate a deadline sneaking up on you. A time management system includes regular check points for you to assess your progress to ensure you are keeping pace with the goal/work and the deadline.

Other strategies to navigate time pressure are reflection and feedback. Reflect regularly on the progress you are making and what you need to do to continue forward movement. Seek feedback from others who can give you another perspective that can aid in your overall perception, and understanding, which in turn could alleviate stress. Talking with a colleague, friend or supervisor often results in clarity… perhaps the load is more the size of a mound not a mountain. The anxiety from time pressure distorted reality and magnified what needed done.

Finishing strong is not all about “full throttle action.” Finishing strong includes reflection, adjustments where needed, focus, self-care and vision.

Be relentless to finish 2022 strong and you set your pace to start 2023, as opposed to waiting to get started on January 1, 2023.