Latest / Real STRength with Sarah Draper / Daily Future Walk for Better Leadership | #3
Transcript
- Sarah Draper: They get exhausted because they never create the time and space to check in and adjust when necessary. That is reaction mode. And the daily future walk is your way out. You're making a decision about what matters before the day's urgencies make that decision for you. That walk shifted how I showed up for that person. Welcome to the Future Walk podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Draper. Each week on the podcast. I explore tools to help you lead your best now and into the future. And I talk with top leaders to see how they stay focused when life gets cluttered. It's time to stop reacting to your life and start leading it. Welcome to Future Walk. Welcome to Future Walk podcast. I'm Sarah Draper and I'm so glad you're here. And if this is your first time joining me, welcome. A little bit about me as we begin. I spent more than three decades serving in high performance environments of the army and the FBI, leading national security programs and high stakes operations. And through this, I learned that the best leaders, and I've been around some extraordinary leaders and human beings, the best leaders often exhaust themselves, but they're not exhausted because of how hard they work. They have no shortage of things like grit and hard work. They get exhausted because they never create the time and space to step out of the noise, check in and adjust when necessary. That is why I created the Future Walk. A simple practice that's the ultimate antidote to the things that derail leaders the most. Things like reaction, survival mode and drift. So today on the podcast, we're gonna dive deep into the daily future walk, which is your antidote to reaction. Those daily fires, the back-to-back meetings, trying to harmonize your work and your outside of work life, the endless streams of messages coming at you from every direction and the crises that consume your day. I'm gonna walk you through three specific ways to use the daily future walk, show you exactly when and how to do it, and share real examples from my life. of how this 10 to 15 minute practice can completely change your day. By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly how to use it to stop reacting and start leading even on your most chaotic days. So as an overview, the daily feature walk is a 10 to 15 minute solo walk where you're focused on the rest of whatever day you're in. It's the shortest of the three feature walk types But don't let that fool you, it is incredibly powerful. So here's what happens to most leaders. You start your day with good intentions. Things are scheduled, maybe even have a mental plan. But then the emails start flooding in, someone needs you urgently, a meeting runs long, a crisis pops up at home or at work, maybe both. And suddenly you're in full reaction mode, jumping from fire to fire, letting urgency dictate your day instead of you leading it. And by the end of the day, you're exhausted. You've been busy all day, but you can't quite remember what you actually accomplished. You certainly didn't get to the most important things you meant to do. And you leave work, head into your after work life, still ruminating on what went wrong and not present for what's ahead. That is reaction mode. And the daily future walk is your way out. It gives you 10 to 15 minutes to step back from the noise and choose your priority instead of reacting to whatever screams at you the loudest. This is not about solving everything. It's about identifying what matters the most right now and then how you show up for that. Remember from episode one, there's a little bit of science behind this idea and this practice of the future walk. Some of that is that walking increases your creative output by around 60%. In walking in nature improves your executive function and reduces stress. In time in nature, lower stress hormones and shifts you out of fight or flight and into clearer thinking. These are exactly what you need when you're in reaction mode. And this is a cognitive reset that moves you from threat response back into strategic thinking. Now there are three primary ways I use the daily future walk and I'm to walk you through each one with specific examples. But as a high level overview, the first way is a morning priority setting. And as it says, you would do it first thing in the morning where you set one or two priorities for your day before the noise takes over. The second is a between meeting reset. You would use this midday or between meetings or after a difficult interaction. to reset your presence and your energy for whatever is next. And the third way is a mid-afternoon reprioritization. This is what you use when your day is more than half over, but your to-do list has grown and time is running out. This helps you cut through all that noise and identify what matters the most with the time you have left. So let's dig into each one. But first, if you are finding this podcast helpful, it would be great if you would follow and then share it with another leader who needs to hear this. Okay, the first daily future walk. This is the walk that sets your entire day up for success. It's the morning priority setting walk. You take it first thing in the morning, before you open your emails, before you check your messages, before the day's urgency floods in. is your chance to set your own agenda before anyone else sets it for you. You can use this right after you wake up, sometime before you start work, maybe after you drop the kids off, but before you head into the office or before you open your laptop for the day, anytime you have where you can catch yourself before you dive into the day. And how you do it, and this is the same for all the future WACs. Leave your phone behind or if you need to take it with you for safety, please put it on do not disturb. Put it away and resist the urge to check it, even to take a picture. It's just there for safety. So put it away. Try not to look at it or better if you're able to just leave it behind. You just walk outside at an easy pace for 10 to 15 minutes. And that's daily walk this daily morning. setting walk, you can ask yourself this question. What are the one or two things I need to accomplish today to lead at my best? Or you could ask a question like, what does winning today look like for me? Or if I can only accomplish one thing today, what would move the needle the most? Or maybe what's the most important conversation or decision I need to make today? You just do that 10 to 15 minute walk and when you finish, immediately write down that one or those two priorities on a piece of paper. Before you look at your phone, do this. And then place that paper somewhere visible on your desk, on your dashboard of your car, maybe a mirror, just somewhere you're gonna see it and remember it during the rest of the day. Now this walk works because you're making a decision about what matters before the day's urgencies make that decision for you. You are choosing your priority instead of inheriting or absorbing someone else's. And here's the key, once you've identified that one thing, everything else will become secondary. You'll still be able to respond to emails and attend other meetings, but you know what you've protected. You've locked in your head what is protected for you. And now you're building your day around that one or max two things. So how this plays out for me, recently I was preparing a new workshop and I needed to get this framework put together. And a full day ahead, I was drafting a keynote and doing a networking meeting and potential like future client phone call, emails, admin tasks, all this stuff. I had a full calendar for the day. And I knew if I did not protect my time to finalize that workshop framework, it wouldn't happen. I knew the day would consume me. So I took my daily future walk and my question was simple. What's the one thing I need to accomplish today? I knew what it was, right? Finish that workshop framework. The answer was clear. I knew everything else could wait, but here's what worked for me. I came back, I wrote it down. I blacked out a couple hours on my calendar before lunch. To do that, I had to move like a non-urgent call and I ignored a couple emails and another call that came in. It's fine, everything else could wait. And it was good because by noon, I had that framework done. Without that walk, I would have spent my day reacting into just reacting or responding to others' priorities and I would not have gotten that framework done. So the morning priority setting walk is not about planning your entire day. is about identifying that one thing that matters most and protecting it before the rest takes over. When you do this consistently, you stop feeling like your day is happening to you and you find that you are leading it. Okay, the next one is the between meeting reset. This one you take midday or between meetings or after a difficult interaction or before. ⁓ what you anticipate to be a different call conversation. This is not about setting priorities. It's about setting your energy and maybe resetting it so that your energy and presence can help you show up well for whatever's next. Can you use this between back-to-back meetings if you need a mental reset or after a tough conversation or conflict? Before an important presentation or some high stakes meeting, or anytime you notice your energy or focus is off. Again, same thing, leave your phone or put it on, do not disturb and walk outside at an easy pace for 10 to 15 minutes. As you're walking with this one, also try to relax your visual focus, almost as if you're trying to see your peripheral vision and the edges of your vision while keeping your eyes and head straight forward. This physical act of relaxing your visual focus can help settle your nervous system as it tells you you're safe. And then ask yourself this question, how do I wanna show up for what's next? Or something like, what energy do I wanna bring to this conversation? Or what do I need to let go of from the last meeting so that I can be fully present for the next one? Or who do I wanna be in the next hour? This is not about solving problems. It's about resetting your nervous system and choosing your presence. Again, you walk for that 10 to 15 minutes and when you get back, write down a word or a short phrase that captures how you wanna be, like calm and curious, present and open, clear and confident, something like that. This works because most leaders go from meeting to meeting without any... intentional transition. So you carry the stress and frustration from one conversation into the next. You're still thinking about the last thing. We should be focused on what's ahead of you. This between meeting reset gives you a clean break. It moves you out of fight and flight and back into strategic presence. You're not just showing up. You're choosing how you show up. As an example of this one, last month I had a morning call that just didn't quite go as I wanted it to. And so I finished it feeling a little bit frustrated and maybe even a little defensive. And I had a coaching client call coming up in 45 minutes where I needed to be fully present for that person. I knew if I didn't reset, I'd bring that kind of negative and disconnected energy into my conversation. I did not want that to happen. So it took a 10 minute future walk. And my question was this, how do I want to show up for my upcoming client? My answer was obvious, was open and curious so I could just be present and listening and being there and holding the space for them. I walked for 10 minutes, I came back, I wrote those two notes on a sticky note and I put it on my desk where I could see it if I needed to look back at it as I was talking with the client. I didn't actually end up needing it because I'd already locked it in through that act of writing it down. Now that walk has shifted how I showed up for that person. So the between meeting reset, remember this one is second type of the daily future walk is not about productivity. It's about your presence, about choosing who you want to be instead of letting the last interaction you had dictate your next one. When you do this, you stop caring stress from meeting to meeting, show up fresh every time. And the third is the mid-afternoon reprioritization. This one you take mid-afternoon when your to-do list has grown, time is running out and you need to figure out how to make the most of the rest of the day. You can do this again mid-afternoon when you realize you're not gonna get everything done. When you're feeling overwhelmed with new competing priorities or things have taken longer than you expected them to. And you can also use it when you need to make a tough call about what to let go of. So same guidelines with this one. Phone, leave it behind or put it on, do not disturb and walk outside at an easy pace for just 10 to 15 minutes. And ask yourself this, with the time I have left today, what's the one thing that matters the most? Or what can I let go of? If I could only get one more thing done today, what would it be? What will I regret not doing if I don't do it today? So these questions can help you identify some unintended consequences of choosing one thing versus another. Remember, this is when you have too many competing priorities to be able to do them well. So sometimes something might look apparent at surface level as far as what's more important. but it might look different to you once you've molded over for a few minutes as you've created the space for your brain to think strategically instead of emotionally. So you walk for 10 to 15 minutes and when you get done, write down that one priority and what you're letting go of. This both gives you clarity on what to do and permission on what you can let go of that doesn't matter as much in that moment. This one works because by mid afternoon, most leaders like you are drowning. Again, that to-do list has grown, new requests have come in, you're behind on what you wanted to do, and you're trying to do everything, which means you're doing nothing at your best. You're kind of fragmented. This reprioritization walk forces you make a choice. You can't do it all. So what matters the most? What can wait and what can you let go of? This walk gives you permission to be strategic. instead of reactive. And it helps you finish your day with intention rather than exhaustion. Now I wanna give you for this one, a personal life example, because in reality, your life like mine is a combination of inside and outside of work demands. I had a hard stop in an afternoon a while back because one of my kids had an early evening school event. And now normally in our family, my husband was the lead on the kids in the evening and as I handled the mornings. This day he was traveling, so I was responsible for getting the kids and doing the whole like getting through the evening routine in this evening event. Normally I would have just kind of met up with him, but I had more hours than I would normally spend. And I was also, be honest, someone who at the time really hated to leave anything at work undone. So I had just kind of going through my afternoon and my... Boss returned to me a project I've been working on that had a substantial portion that needed to be redone by the next morning. Now I knew I could not get that done, at least to my quality standards and what was expected of me in the time I had left before I had to leave. So it wasn't even really a question of my prioritization. It was really a matter of where my head was gonna be. So I took just five minutes for this. left my office and I walked. out towards my car and turn around and came back to my office thinking about what was most important. I knew getting my kid and their event in the evening was the most important, but I still had to cognitively let go of what I wasn't going to get done that day and strategize about when I would finish it. So as I left my office on the way to my car, I practiced like releasing that energy of what was undone at the office, just kind of letting that go back at the office. And I turned around and I was walking back towards the office. I figured out how I would rework my morning to finish this project on time. So when I got back, I was able to communicate my plan to my boss and I could enjoy the evening event and focus on that. Not what I hadn't gotten done and had to leave behind. And because I figured out a plan and shared it, It wasn't hanging over me. So I enjoyed the evening. It didn't keep me awake that night because I wasn't ruminating about it. So I was able to sleep and the next morning I could tackle it more efficiently than if I tried to cram it in the afternoon before. So the mid afternoon reprioritization walk isn't about doing more. It's about figuring out what matters most, especially when your resources are limited like time. So by giving yourself permission, to let go of what doesn't help you right now so you can finish strong on what does. And when you do this, you will stop ending your days feeling behind. And you'll end them now feeling satisfied and accomplished about what you did get done. All right, there's one more way to use a daily future walk. So all three ways I just shared focus on what you need to do now or how you wanna show up. There's another. powerful use for this tool, figuring out how you want to be, right? Not what you want to accomplish, not what's on your to-do list, but how you want to be today. You can use this when you're feeling off, but can't really name why, and you're going through a challenging time and you need to reconnect with yourself. When you want to be more intentional about your energy and presence, or when you may be feeling reactive or defensive and you want to shift that. So instead of asking, what do I need to do, ask, how do I want to be today? Or what type of leader do I wanna be today? What energy do I wanna bring to my work and my people today? Or who do I wanna be when things get hard today? This matters because you spend your days focused on doing, and you rarely stop to think about being. How you are matters just as much as what you do. I'm gonna say that again. How you are, especially as a leader, matters just as much as what you do, maybe more. And when you're clear on how you want to be, your decisions become easier, your presence becomes stronger, you stop reacting, and you start leading from that place of intention. I use this version of the Daily Future Rock just before recording episode one of this podcast. My question was, how do I want to be for this? My answer was clear and true, clear in my delivery and true to who I am and true to you. That clarity influenced how I showed up to record. It wasn't about what I needed to say. It was about how I wanted to be while I was saying it. So the daily future walk isn't just a productivity tool, it's a leadership tool. It's a tool for becoming the person and leader you want to be, not just accomplishing the tasks on your list. So there you have it, three ways to use the daily future walk. You've got your morning priority setting walk, which is your number one or number two priorities before the day takes over, your between meeting reset, Reset your energy and presence between things on your calendar. And then the third is the mid-afternoon reprioritization. When you've got more things on your plate than you have time left to accomplish them, this helps you finish your day with intention on what is most important. And then our bonus one, figuring out how you want to be. So to practice this week, this is what I'd like you to do. Just pick one of these three or four ways and try it. See what happens. If you're someone who gets hijacked by your inbox every morning, try the morning priority setting work. If you carry stress from meeting to meeting, try the between meeting reset. If you end every day feeling behind or regretful, try the mid-afternoon reprioritization. That's how you can figure out. And if you just need something where you need to show up your best, Do the walk and ask yourself, how do I want to be? Okay, in the coming episodes, I'll do deep dives into the other two types of future walks, the strategic future walk and the visioning future walk. If you haven't listened to episode one yet, please go back and listen. You'll get a full overview of all three types and how they work together. the strategic future walk is your antidote to survival mode and the visioning future walk is your antidote to drift. Together, these three walks create a rhythm of intentional leadership. Daily, which we talked about today, keeps you from reacting. Strategic walk saves you from survival mode. Envisioning walk keeps you from drifting. The daily future walk changed how I lead my days, and it can do the same for you. So this week, step outside, leave your phone, take 10 to 15 minutes, and see what becomes clear. Thanks for joining me on the Future Walk podcast. I'm Sarah Draper. I'll see you soon when we dive into the strategic future walk. Until then, enjoy your walk.