Some of the smartest, most capable people I know are sluggish right now. Has the COVID scare also left you feeling a little powerless, like the wind has been knocked out of you?
We can’t flip a switch and turn back the hands of time. What we can do is discuss ways to reignite your personal power as we face a new normal. So, in the May series, Power Up!, we’ll look at four techniques from my bestseller, Genuine Power—7 Techniques to Be Powerful in a Loud, Complicated World.
Technique #4 is “Control the Burn.” Think of “Control the Burn” like a jet or a car—where you regulate how much fuel you use for steep climbs or gliding. Post-quarantine, you may feel like you want to hit the gas, eager to recreate your old life. But the way to stay in genuine power is to control the burn of that excitement. Apply the soft skill of discernment, so you’re making smart choices about where to invest your energy.
Let’s meet Alex and Paul, kings of leaping before they look.
Kevin slapped his brother Alex on the back at the Fourth of July family barbecue. “Hey, bro! I saw your new car on Facebook. I checked it out as soon as we parked. It’s so cool—let’s get out of here and go for a ride!”
“Sure! Paul and I love it. It’s so much nicer than our old sedan. And it’s a hybrid!” Alex said, beaming.
“Wow, I didn’t realize it had all these features,” Kevin gasped, settling in. “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you guys buy a brand new Lexus SUV? I mean, I think you two earn about as much as we do. Kelly and I are still driving our Hondas. At least they’re paid off!” he joked.
“We couldn’t quite swing the purchase price, but we could handle a lease. The hybrid SUV was so tempting that we had to have it. We’ll figure out the balloon payment in two years,” Alex said, trailing off. His tone brightened. “Our renters should help us in the long run.”
“Renters?” Kevin asked, raising his eyebrow. “I thought you lived in an apartment.”
“Not anymore!” Alex said. “We found a house before we got married but couldn’t sign the papers until Mom and Dad agreed to foot the down payment as a wedding present. Living there is . . . um . . . a little more expensive than we thought. We knew our rent would go up, but all the bills seemed to double! But it’s all good since we rented out the basement. That gave us some financial headroom.”
Kevin shifted in his seat. “Can you do that since you don’t own the house? I mean, most leases don’t let you sublet.”
“Look, we’re not running a business. We’re just picking up a little cash on the side,” Alex said, dismissing him. “I haven’t talked with the owner, but I doubt that he’d be upset. If he’s going to get his rent check every month, we need to have the cash to pay him. Kevin, you worry too much!” he laughed.
It’s easy to get into the weeds of the financial problems Alex and Paul created for themselves. But when you pull back to see the bigger picture, can you see how discrete, reactive thinking backfires? Their ability to find workarounds made them feel smart and powerful as they hustled their way out of trouble, but those workarounds ultimately compounded their bad decisions.
Think how Alex and Paul’s life would be different if they redirected their agile, energetic personalities to the front-end to make insightful decisions between positive long-term investments vs. here today, gone tomorrow desires. Instead, they spent most of their time and energy solving stressful problems after the fact.
As you consider your post-quarantine life, where do you need to rein in tiny decisions that snowballed and pulled you in a million directions? You probably felt distracted and overwhelmed—hardly the feeling of genuine power! So, empower yourself by making new choices about what qualifies as time well spent.
I’m using the Control the Burn technique to manage my calendar with a mindset of “Can this meeting be an email?”. I’ve canceled a few non-essential meetings and replaced them with notes where everyone can pile on. And guess what—I haven’t had a complaint yet!
Here are three ways you could control the burn:
Don’t allow frenzied, disconnected choices to deplete your power bank. Genuine power is calm, confident, and consistent—it doesn’t jump from one crisis to the next. So, power up by harnessing your energy. Control the burn by transforming “frantic” to “focus”.
To download your free copy of Genuine Power, visit your favorite bookseller. Ditch the tired, obsolete version of destructive power and live a Soul Boss life, where you stay the boss of you. Go from tripped up to powered up!