If I had to tell you that one thing I’ve gotten better at in the past 5 years it would be having a much higher awareness of when and how things stress me. I’ve made a lot of progress in handling stress, but you can only do that if you can see and feel the stress and admit that it’s there.

Admitting it isn’t easy, it means you’re admitting to fear, worry, insecurity, imperfection, impatience, sometimes anger. Why shouldn’t you or I have those things? Who wouldn’t worry about impending layoffs, or be worried about how the new manager or CIO will change things, or whether we picked an approach that now looks like the wrong one?

I may not tell you that I’m stressed, but I’m willing to tell me. That’s the start of a change that opens you up to some pretty incredible possibilities.