25th July 2024
Guest Post: Lowering Your Bar Drives Productivity and Inspires Creativity
This guest blog was written by David Beeney, Founder at Breakingthesilence.co.uk and leading advisor on mental health in the workplace. Author of Breaking The Silence Book.
I have been searching for a cure to my panic attacks for over 40 years and only recently accepted that I will probably experience them for the rest of my life. I experienced my last panic attack only 2 weeks ago whilst delivering a workshop.
However, on a positive note I have largely won my battles with them and during the last 8 years have delivered talks to over half a million people. So, what do I do when I feel the old demons returning and feel myself becoming panicky? I say to myself “sod it, just have one, show everybody what it looks like to have a panic attack”. In other words, I give myself permission to have one.
The Power of Permission & Lowering the Bar
The irony is the moment I give myself genuine permission to have a panic attack I massively reduce the chances of me having one. I have spent every year since 1986 panicking about my panic attacks and being very hard on myself. I thought every day I had to be perfect. In our careers we often talk about ‘raising the bar’ well I have ‘lowered my bar’. I have discovered the true value of self-compassion, the art of being kinder to ones-self.
When you ‘lower your bar’ two things should happen. Firstly, you should feel a reduction in your stress levels because you are not putting yourself under as much pressure. Secondly, you become productive and creative. This is because when you have a more relaxed state of mind you experience greater clarity of thought and during these periods will undoubtedly achieve greater output and also enhance the quality of your work.
Creating a Healthier Work Culture
Understanding the benefits of lowering the bar is vital for organisations as well. In fast-paced and demanding work environments, employees often face immense pressure to consistently perform at high levels, leading to stress, burnout and significant mental health issues. Just as we can set unrealistic goals for ourselves, organisations can do the same for their employees. Employers can create a healthier, more sustainable work culture that promotes overall wellbeing by adopting a more flexible and compassionate approach to expectations. In doing this, they bring down levels of anxiety and allow their people to have greater levels of clarity which, in turn, leads to better long-term performance. That idea of performance over the longer term is why lowering expectations never equates to lowering standards or compromising excellence. Instead, it involves setting realistic and meaningful goals considering employees’ needs and circumstances.
By focusing on continuous improvement and personal growth rather than some false sense of perfection, employers can create a culture of resilience and adaptability that enables employees to thrive in the face of challenges and build long-term value for the organisation. Constantly setting the highest organisational bar which then leads to short-term employee burnout is not a strategy for long-term sustainable growth. It’s a strategy designed to kill off the workforce.
Lowering my bar has undoubtedly given me the best mental health of my life but is also enabling me to achieve more than at any previous stage in my career.
Breaking The Silence – How one man turned his battles with mental health into a crusade to help millions of others
Over the last eight years, David Beeney’s work on mental health in the workplace has been transformative. In this book, he shares his journey towards breaking his silence and explains how everyone can prioritise their mental health. He also underscores the critical role leaders must play in creating kinder cultures within workplaces everywhere. This book not only highlights the key mental health challenges of our time but also provides a detailed guide on how we can all contribute to overcoming them.
