LESS STRESS AND ANXIETY
Thinking ahead and looking back
This tittle may be confusing to you. How can the “thinking ahead” and “looking back” help you to get less stress, less anxiety and be more at peace with what is?
As you may know, I spent 25 years in the Swiss military as a fighter pilot. Flying fighter jets really forced me to think ahead. When I flew 700 mph, I had to project into the future. We have a saying between pilots, “if you see the shadow of your vertical stabilizer, you are in trouble”. You are behind the aircraft and not ahead, in the cockpit. At those kinds of speed, we have to think miles ahead in order to get the right tactic in place.
Whatever tactical maneuver we are flying, it is based on the future outcome which is miles or minutes ahead of the present moment. This way of thinking got impregnated in my mind and has been very helpful in my life except for one thing: I never really lived in the present moment. I always experienced everything in the future.
“Looking back” was how we learned to improve: it was the debriefing. We would spend much more time debriefing than flying the mission itself. Looking back on how you got where you are now is important. Analyzing the reason why you are successful or not will help you improve upon what is working and how to correct what is not working.
With the challenging time we all face, my past experience as a fighter pilot has become very helpful. I am now able to surf the wave of uncertainty with much more ease. I will share with you the top 3 tools I use that really brings me peace of mind, a lower level of stress and less anxiety. So here we go! Fasten your seatbelt and engage the afterburner 😊
1. Planning scenarios
When we plan tactical missions, we don’t know what the opponent will do. That is the uncertainty we all face now. We may know a little bit about the capability of their aircraft and weaponry (long-range or short-range threat, flying low or high…), but we don’t know their goals or tactics. To be ready for any situation, we plan different scenarios (do they come high and fast, or low and slow? Do they splits in different sections or stay together?). This is what I do in this uncertain time, covering the worth case to the best-case scenarios. Whatever will happen in the upcoming weeks and months, I will be ready with the best scenario available. Knowing in advance what to do will drastically change how you feel and will bring you peace of mind.
2. Contingency plans
During a briefing, we always go over contingency plans. For example, we plan what to do if I lose a wingman or if one aircraft has a technical problem or is low on fuel. We know if we need to continue or abort the mission. When something unexpected happens at 700 mph we don’t have much time to think. We need to be ready. We definitely don’t want stress, anxiety or especially panic to set in. If you have a plan in place, there is a better chance that you will control the situation with ease. In this challenging time, it is very important to have plans ready, i.e. what to do if someone in your family is sick, or if your financial situation reaches a critical level.
3. Debrief, self-assessment
As I have mentioned, debriefing often takes more time than the mission itself. It is important is to set time during the day and week to really look back and see your progress. Debriefing will allow you to adapt your scenarios, improve it, or change it if you were not getting the result you wanted. Maybe the external environment has changed and another scenario should be selected.
By analyzing and doing your self-assessment, you will be able to discover two things: 1) Am I still on the right course, the right heading to reach my “destination”? 2) What lesson have I learned from what has happened? How can I improve? You want to make sure you identify any deviation from the “course” early so you can make small corrections instead of waiting too long and having to do a huge heading change which, will take you more time and more resources. You want to learn from your mistakes in order to not repeat them again.
Final words
These three simple tools will help you decrease your level of stress and anxiety. You will feel more at peace in this uncertain time.
One last important thing: you need to put everything in writing. Don’t keep them in your mind. Your mind will fool you and make you doubt which will create stress and anxiety. When it is on paper, it will be harder for your subjective mind to fool you.
I hope this newsletter will help you out during this challenging time. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
I am sending you all good vibes, good thoughts and positive energy. Together we can do this. Because of these challenging times, we will be stronger, wiser and more connected than ever before. Be safe my friends!
P.S. Hey guys, Hubert here!
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