When things are tough and we are a bit down we all need a bit of TLC to boost us up.
But is ‘tender loving care’ in the workplace appropriate? Is this something you want from your boss, your colleagues or your staff? Probably not is my tip.
So here’s a far more effective use of TLC you can apply in the workplace.
T stands for Temporary:
What you are going through will pass, it is temporary. The tough times will not last forever. They may get worse before they get better, but what you are feeling right now will not stay with you forever. Once you realize this you can then choose how long you want to feel this way for. With my players at the Bulldogs we give ourselves a maximum of 10 minutes to feel really down after a loss. Once this time is up then they must choose a better attitude. One that will see them turn their attention to improving so we can have a different result the following week.
When you learn to put time limits on your feelings it gives you immense power over what is going on around you even when things seem out of control.
L stands for Localised
Not all parts of your life are going bad at the same time. If work is not going well then realize that this doesn’t and shouldn’t affect the other parts of your life.
If you lose a deal at work, does that make you a bad partner, father, mother, friend? Of course it doesn’t, so why do we get down on ourselves when just one part isn’t working like we wanted. Keep failures and setbacks localized to the one area of your life to stop all of them spiraling out of control.
C stands for Controllable.
The sooner you turn your mind and actions to what you can control the sooner you will turn things around.
When we lose a game we talk about what we can control immediately after the siren. Answers include how we rehab our injuries, the food we eat to recover, the sleep we need and the attitude we need to have when we return to training. This doesn’t guarantee success, but it gives us a bloody better chance than spending a whole bunch of time whinging or making excuses about why we lost. Spending time on excuses, justifications or in denial is the number 1 reason why bad times persist longer than they need to.
So if things are tough right now for your industry or for you personally, try a little TLC on yourself. I guarantee you will cope better and who knows you may even thrive.
If you need help on this please give me a call.
About Nathan:
Nathan started his career as a school teacher before the demands of elite AFL football took over. After 17 seasons he finished with 323 games for St Kilda which included 5 years as Captain, 4 x All Australian and 3 x Best and Fairest awards. In 2019 he was elevated to Legend Status in the clubs Hall of Fame and recently became a member of the AFL Hall of Fame.
Nathan now runs his own consulting company focusing leadership, resilience and culture. he works in corporate, educational and with sporting clubs to help design the culture they need in order to be successful.
Nathan Burke Consulting 