Many business managers draw up unrealistic business budgets that cause deep anguish, if they remain outside the ambit of achievement
Perhaps the title of this piece should not have been narrowed to just the class of managers, because the ailment affects all; a proper caption should have been ' human anxiety’.
Most mankind is worried. There is general apprehension and nervousness. Today, some are worried about the next meal and some about Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. All of us have a reason to be anxiety filled. Anxiety cuts across demarcations of gender, age, race, profession, etc. It is rampant and prevalent in all its facets, forms and manifestations in each human being. The infant is anxious when his/her next feed would be given; the young boy and girls are worried about their academic report cards; the young adults are concerned about their jobs and careers; and the parents are worried about themselves and their-offspring, the list is endless..
Anxiety can be triggered by many factors ranging from challenges of performance to merely being cast into an arena not considered as ‘comfort zone’.
Most of us drive ourselves into the discomfort of ‘anxiety pool’ by placing unreasonable demands of meeting, an equally unrealistic target or goal. In any given entity not all can become the CEO, they can only aspire to, but only one can make it to that position. In the unlikely event of each member desiring to be the CEO; this state of mind will envelop the institution with internal disorder and dissension. It will then be inevitable that in the milieu of reaching the top, the competitive spirit will rent “feelings of anxiety, laced with animosity” across the board. In such an environment, only negativity can breed the best, leading to an all encompassing anxiety.
Fear of failure is the foremost component of this disorder of being anxiety struck. The excessive presence of nervousness can create and impact physical self. Those afflicted with anxiety can have panic attacks, that will likely rise the B/P level, or push the pulse to the wrong side or give serious cramps in the abdomen. Anxiety induces acidity. In serious and worst cases of having anxiety prone tendencies may require medical attention. I learnt through my pharmacist that many young students and professionals are resorting to liberally unethical usage of antidepressant medications. Parents be alert. This is serious.
Anxiety does not pay off any debts, instead it is about giving a very big shadow to every small thing. Anxiety saps energy and enthusiasm. There is a fine distinction between an anxious pursuit and a passionate pursuit of objectives. The earlier eats into the fervour and the latter propels zeal and eagerness. Managers anxious to meet business budgets, must know that anxiety will not help, but passion will. Leading any new initiative or even any change, with impetuous passion, is one of the strong and barely controllable emotions, that will generate positive results, than anxiety can. Having emotions and passion demand use of mind; anxiety to the contrary excludes mental judgement. The inferno of enthusiasm is passion – passion as a trait necessarily is an emotion to be acted upon – without action, passion will yield nothing. The fuel of fire to perform is passion.
The attitude to possess is to remain realistic. Many business managers draw up unrealistic business budgets that cause deep anguish, if they remain outside the ambit of achievement. It is all good verbosity to say, dare and dream high or you must aim for the stars – but business targets must remain within the realm of the relevance of market conditions. It is good to have every now and then the extra release of adrenaline, but any excess of it will lead to a faster than required visit to the GP. Setting goals, should be a seriously thought out activity. Ambition is good. Greed is not.
Possession of a “continuous anxiety” reflects that it is part of inner psyche. For example; the racing mind keeps whispering negative thoughts, that failure could happen. Anxious about being criticised, simultaneously being extremely injudicious with self, while doing a self critical analysis, is the behaviour of some, who have serious medical condition of anxiety. For example, there are some managers and staff members who fret at public speaking because they are scared of criticism and hence they pronounce themselves un-judiciously as being so due to speech impediments. Added to this inbuilt anxiety is the daily anxiety dosage that we give to ourselves, these are triggered by specific incidents or causes. This type of anxiety is a come and go, state of emotion. It is not however to suggest that it is any less harmful.
Anxiety can be good and bad. It is good when it propels the mind to become wary of any lurking danger; it can prepare you to react well to changing business conditions and can also facilitate the ability to take a pause and then re-start the initiative or even the daily grind.
The founder of the Human Awareness Institute, Stan Dale believes that it is healthier to be a positively inclined paranoid --- that may sound paradoxical, but he supports his stance with the following remark, “I have always been the opposite of a paranoid. I operate as if everyone is part of a plot to embrace my well-being”. Here lies the crux of approach to life in general and work life in particular. Many live under the delusion that the whole world, alongside the co-workers are always conspiring to undo them. Being crippled with this sentiment is not only self injurious to health, but also makes the whole working environment toxic. While in reality there may be no sign or tell-tale of any corporate conspiracy. The anxious mind misleads towards abhorrent behaviour responses.
Nature creates balance in everything; hence not all have an impelling urge to be the numero uno in an entity; not all people want luxury at their disposal nor do all seek unique privileges. Recently, I saw a picture of Bill Gates queuing behind several others at a burger joint; the over US dollar 60 billion net worth individual, sought no privilege. I am certain, that being simple and down-to-earth helps remove feeling or signs of anxiety; instead assuredly it does bring a great degree of inner serenity and an unparalleled inner calm – making for a satisfied soul.
Personally, this scribe is full of anxiety. It is all internal. Nobody gets to see it and hence inflicts deeper wounds upon my inner and physical self, for it is bottled up all, inside. Having watched enough number of horror, haunting and mystery movies, the first thing I do upon checking into a hotel room, is to see the bathtub in the wash-room…. lest some body may be floating in it …! That's anxiety. So anxiety besets all. It is about how we manage to tame and harness it towards its positive usage.
Anxiety to many may be the reward to those who wish to enjoy many sorrows that never really happen. (This is a re-hashed thought from a piece written by John Billings, in year 1800, something)
There is a thought-provoking Chinese saying: That the birds of worry and care (anxiety) fly about your head, this you cannot change. But that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent. If we worry about tomorrow, we may die today, so for that tomorrow which we worry about, may not be ours ever … a Biblical sayings in St Matthews is, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself”.
Happy is the person who breaks bondage to anxiety. This scribe seeks solace from the ills of the anxiety through verse 28; chapter 13 of the Noble and Glorious Holy Quran, that reads, “Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.”
The writer is a senior banker and freelance contributor
