Absolute Citrin
by Richard Citrin

Remember that first trip you took to Disneyland as a kid? You couldn’t stop thinking about meeting Mickey and playing around with Goofy. You dreamed about getting soaked on Splash Mountain and could taste the hamburgers and hot dogs. You were excited the night before, and you couldn’t sleep!
Down the hall, your parents were excited too, but their excitement was steeped in anxiety. What if the plane was delayed or canceled, and we missed the first days of our trip? Would our accommodations be adequate and roomy enough? How could we ensure we kept all the kids together and no one ran off to get a hug from Minney Mouse . “OMG, what if we lost a kid!” They were anxious the night before and they couldn’t sleep!
Amazing how the same event provokes similar emotions, yielding similar results, yet one has us eager and enthusiastic, and the other leaves us restless and apprehensive.
To understand this phenomenon better and apply it to our Disney holiday and our workplace, we want to understand more about anticipation.
Anticipation is about our ability to establish expectations that foretell a future event. It is excellent for planning and envisioning how we want the experience to occur. While we create the ideal situation, there is a shadow side to that experience, which can be an anticipatory failure. Interestingly, this mechanism often works in tandem, and the key is not to let one side or the other get the upper hand. After all, we do need our sleep.
For moms and dads and bosses, here are a few ways to keep the light and dark of anticipation in tow:
“Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin’ me late
Is keepin’ me waitin”
And in her lyrical wisdom, she shares,
“I’m no prophet, not I don’t know nature’s way
So I’ll try to see into your eyes right now
And stay right here, ’cause these are the good old days.”
There are many good reasons for us to be on the “anticipatory cliff.” Notice when your excitement or concern bubble up in relationship to future events and take a moment try out some of the ideas above. I’ve been pulling people off the cliff for 25 years. Let’s connect and chat about how I can help you and your team create a new sense of ease and productivity.
The Leadership Café is Back!
Check out the first Leadership Café Podcast of Season 2 with Dr. Deborah Gilboa. Dr. G. is a media rock star who appears on national TV, TED Stages and in front of national professional associations. She is a practicing family doctor specializing in resilience, stress, the workplace, and families. Hear some great ideas on how we can adapt to change and how leaders can help their team members embrace change more powerfully.
© Richard Citrin 2022