How does the classic overachiever respond when the plan gets disrupted?

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I’m a planner.

I carefully lay out my week and day to ensure that I focus on what’s most important and stay productive.

There’s nothing wrong with this approach. It has helped me set and achieve lots of personal and professional objectives over the years.

However, at times, the overachiever in me gets more than a little ruffled when my schedule gets even slightly disrupted.

The truth is that underneath my desire to stay productive lies an obsession with control.

I’ve convinced myself that if I can predict and control the outcome of every second of my day, I can eliminate uncertainty (which might involve pain/irritation).

As you can imagine, there’s a big problem with this approach – certainty is a myth.

Life unfolds in unpredictable ways.

What if, instead of trying to control, we embrace and accept this ambiguity?

We might find that it actually decreases stress.

And maybe – just maybe – injects a little fun into our routines.

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—CJ McClanahan

Speaker | Advisor | Recovering Overachiever

CJ McClanahan