441: You Are Good At Managing Your Work But Who Is Managing You A Podcast For Accountants And High-Stress Professionals
441: You Are Good At Managing Your Work But Who Is Managing You A Podcast For Accountants And High-Stress Professionals
You’re good at managing your work. But who’s managing you? If you’re an accountant, CPA, bookkeeper, tax preparer, business owner, or other high-stress professional, you’re probably used to managing deadlines, clients, responsibilities, and an endless list of things that need to get done. But managing your work and leading yourself under pressure are two different things. You probably have calendars, task lists, deadlines, reminders, spreadsheets, systems, processes, and maybe even a color-coded system for keeping everything organized. You know how to manage a client. You know how to manage a project. You know how to manage a deadline. You know how to manage a business. But here’s the question I want you to think about today. Who’s managing you? Let’s dive in…
Whether you’re an accountant, CPA, bookkeeper, tax preparer, business owner, or other high-stress professional, this episode will give you practical ideas you can use to think more clearly, respond more intentionally, and get more out of life.
FREE RESOURCE
Feeling The Pressure? Start here.
Get the free 10-Minute Pressure Reset. A practical resource to help you pause, identify what’s creating the pressure, shift your perspective, and choose your next best step. Get the free 10-Minute Pressure Reset here:
LOOKING FOR MORE SUPPORT?
If you’re ready to stop simply managing the pressure and start leading yourself through it, learn more about The RE*INVENTION™ Process Private Coaching Program here:
MORE FROM THIS EPISODE
SHOW NOTES:
You’re good at managing your work. But who’s managing you? If you’re an accountant, CPA, bookkeeper, tax preparer, business owner, or other high-stress professional, you’re probably used to managing deadlines, clients, responsibilities, and an endless list of things that need to get done. But managing your work and leading yourself under pressure are two different things. You probably have calendars, task lists, deadlines, reminders, spreadsheets, systems, processes, and maybe even a color-coded system for keeping everything organized. You know how to manage a client. You know how to manage a project. You know how to manage a deadline. You know how to manage a business. But here’s the question I want you to think about today. Who’s managing you? Let’s dive in…
Welcome Back…I want you to really think about the question: who’s managing you? It’s not your calendar, not your workload, not your clients. It’s you. Who’s managing how you respond when everything feels urgent? Who’s managing the thoughts that run through your head when you have too much to do? Who’s managing the pressure you feel when someone needs something from you, and you already have ten other things on your plate? Who’s deciding what gets your attention, and what doesn’t? And perhaps most importantly, who’s making sure that the life you’re working so hard to build doesn’t get pushed to the bottom of the list? That’s what I want to talk about today. And this is also a really important episode for me because it’s the beginning of a new chapter for this podcast.
If you’ve been listening to me for a while, you may remember this podcast as Mastering Your Small Business Finances. I started this podcast because I wanted to help small business owners understand their finances and make better financial decisions. And I still love that work. But over the years, the conversations I was having with accountants, business owners, and other professionals started going beyond the numbers. We talked about stress, overwhelm, and time management. We talked about making difficult decisions. We talked about boundaries, relationships, and goals. And we talked about something I think is even more important. How do you actually want to live your life while you’re doing all of this? The more I worked with my clients and the more I experienced these things myself, the more I realized that there was a common thread running through all of it. It wasn’t necessarily that people didn’t know what to do. A lot of the time, they already knew. They knew they needed to set a boundary. They knew they needed to make a decision. They knew they needed to stop saying yes. They knew they needed to prioritize something important. They knew they needed to take some time for themselves. The problem was actually doing those things when they were under pressure. And that’s where this new podcast comes in.
I want to welcome you to Leading Yourself Under Pressure. I chose this name very intentionally. Because I don’t think the answer for accountants and high-stress professionals is always to eliminate the pressure. Sometimes you can. Sometimes you need to make changes. Sometimes you need to say no. Sometimes you need to delegate. Sometimes you need to change your workload or your circumstances. But sometimes the workload can’t be reduced. Especially if you’re an accountant. There are deadlines that don’t move. There are clients who need things. There are tax seasons. There are employees. There are responsibilities. There are businesses to run. And there are seasons of life where there is simply a lot on your plate. You can’t always reduce the workload that’s causing the pressure, but you can change how you lead yourself through it. And that’s what I want to help you do.
So, let’s go back to the question I started with. Who’s managing you? Because if you’re not intentionally managing yourself, something else will probably take over. Your inbox will manage you. Your clients will manage you. Your deadlines will manage you. Other people’s expectations will manage you. Your thoughts will manage you. And before you know it, you’re moving from one thing to the next without really deciding what you want your day, or your life, to look like. You can become incredibly productive at doing things that aren’t actually the most important things. And that’s a frustrating place to be. Because to everyone else, you may look like you’ve got everything together. You’re getting things done. You’re meeting deadlines. You’re taking care of everyone. You’re successful. But inside, you’re exhausted. You’re constantly thinking about what’s next. You’re working when you don’t really want to be working. You’re saying yes when you want to say no. You’re putting off the things that are important to you because there simply isn’t enough time or energy left. And you may even find yourself thinking: “I’ll deal with that when things slow down.” But what if things don’t slow down? What if there’s always another deadline? Another client, another project, another busy season, another problem to solve, and another person who needs something from you. At some point, we have to stop waiting for life to become less demanding before we start living it.
This is what I’ve been developing through my experience as a CPA, my training as a certified coach, and my work with people who are trying to build successful careers and businesses while also wanting to enjoy their lives. I’ve brought this work together into what I call The RE*INVENTION™ Process. This process gives you a practical way to look at what’s happening when you’re under pressure and decide how you want to respond. Because there is a difference between reacting to your life and leading yourself through it. When you’re reacting, the pressure tells you what to do. When you’re leading yourself, you get to pause. You get to look at what’s actually happening. You get to question the thoughts you’re having. You get to decide what matters. And then you get to take the next best action. That doesn’t mean you’re going to feel calm all the time. It doesn’t mean you’ll never be overwhelmed. And it certainly doesn’t mean you’re going to have a perfectly balanced life every day. That’s not realistic. What it does mean is that you’re developing the ability to navigate pressure differently.
So let me give you something you can actually use today. The next time you feel pressure building, don’t immediately try to solve the entire problem. Instead, pause. Take a breath. And ask yourself: “What’s the thought creating the most pressure for me right now?” Maybe it’s something like: “I have to get all of this done now, or I don’t have enough time, or They’re going to be disappointed in me, or I can’t say no, or I should have already finished this, or I have too much to do, or even I’m falling behind.” I want you to notice the thought. You don’t have to immediately believe it. But then I want you to ask yourself, “is there another way I could think about this?” Don’t look for a fake positive thought or something you don’t actually believe. Just a thought that gives you a little more room to think. And then ask yourself, “What’s the next best action step I can take?” Not the next twenty actions. Just the next one. Because sometimes when we’re under pressure, we’re trying to solve the entire future instead of simply deciding what needs to happen next.
I’ve actually created a resource that walks you through this process. It’s called The 10-Minute Pressure Reset. I created it specifically as something you can keep at your desk and use when you feel the pressure starting to build. It walks you through four simple steps, and then there’s one very important additional last piece that I think is essential, but you’ll have to download it by going to www.FinancialAdventure.com to find out. Because I don’t want you to simply get through another stressful day. I want you to start thinking about the person you’re becoming and how you want to show up and lead yourself when you’re under pressure. The resource also gives you the opportunity to explore whether The RE*INVENTION™ Process might be a good fit for you if you want to go deeper. I’ve put the link in the show notes so you can download it immediately and keep it at your desk. It’s completely free, and I’d encourage you to actually use it. Don’t just download it and put it in a folder where you’ll never see it again. Print it out and put it somewhere you can see it. And the next time you feel pressure building, take ten minutes and work through it.
And that’s really what I want this podcast to be about going forward. You’re going to hear me talk about things like how to make decisions when you don’t have all the answers, why being busy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being productive, how to set boundaries without feeling guilty, why you continue to say yes when you really want to say no, how to handle difficult emotions without letting them take over your day, how to stop overthinking, how to make time for the things that matter to you outside of work, how to improve your relationships, how to pursue your goals without constantly feeling behind, and how to handle the pressure that comes with being responsible for a lot of people and a lot of things. Some episodes will be practical, some will challenge the way you think, and some will give you an exercise you can use that day. I’ll also share stories and lessons I’m learning along the way from my experience as a CPA and from the coaching and support I provide my clients.
You get to decide how you want to lead yourself through your life. I want you to be successful. I want you to make money. I want you to accomplish your goals. I want you to build the business or career you want. But I don’t want you to get to the end of your career and realize you spent all those years waiting for things to slow down before you actually enjoyed your life. You don’t have to choose between being successful and having a life you enjoy. And you don’t have to wait until retirement to start living. You may not be able to control everything happening around you. You may not be able to change every deadline. You may not be able to eliminate every demanding client or difficult situation. But you can learn to lead yourself through those things differently. And that is what I want to help you do.
So, I’ll leave you with the question I started with. You’re good at managing your work, but who’s managing you? If the answer is, honestly, I’m not sure, that’s okay. That’s a great place to start. Because leading yourself under pressure isn’t about getting everything right. It’s about becoming more intentional about how you think, how you feel, how you decide, and how you show up. And that’s what we’re going to be exploring together here. Thank you for being here for this new chapter of the podcast. And if you’ve been listening since the Mastering Your Small Business Finance days, thank you for coming along with me as this podcast evolved. I’m really excited about where we’re going.
Comments