Managing what worries us

As I have already discussed, we should never be worried by elements in our lives that we don't control. I was reminded of it by countless discussions about the lack of snow in the Alps. All my friends over there were already crying foul in the middle of November when snow is traditionally never there! Today it has arrived, plentifully...

As for us, in the Rocky Mountains, we could use more, much more; yet, we don't control the spigot so we can't worry about it. The only constructive thing that can be done, if for instance, one is a business person whose activity depends on plenty of snow, is start planning for a variety of outcomes. For example, Outcome One is if snow arrives on December 15, Outcome Two, if snow arrives on December 25, Outcome Three, if snow only arrives on January 10, etc.

These plans could include staffing, hour of operations, inventory management or anything that would optimize the foreseeable situation and lessen its consequences. This is a much more proactive way to manage something we don't control at all, in a manner that can have major consequences on our livelihood and comfort by drawing a specific plan for each foreseeable outcome! The rest, as we've seen before, is purely a waste of time.

How does my theories affect what I do? In practice, my alternative plans are much more limited than in the example I used, so I will reset my expectation to “no snow” through the entire Holidays, and perhaps receive a wonderful surprise!