Are You An Adrenaline Junkie?

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast-you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."
Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) 

Buzz.  Buzz.  Buzz.  That is what you may be feeling inside of you if you are hooked on adrenaline.   Your wake in the morning, so tired.  You wonder if you slept last night.  You hit the snooze button at least 3 times before crawling out of bed and hitting the shower.  You go to get dressed, and again spot the clock.  Oh no!  You are already late, and the day has hardly begun.  Boom.  There is your first blast of adrenaline.  A kick in the pants, and you are speeding your way through the rest of the morning.  You have stopped at the gas station for a tall order of the morning java...the thicker the better.  Now you are really “on”. 

Busy. Busy. Busy.  You are flying through your day.  A couple of things have happened.  You realize that you forgot to turn in your report by the big deadline.  Now you are not feeling good about yourself, and your  inner critic is going wild.   How to fix this?  You need to get into high gear, get on the ball, and get your fanny moving.  “No more slacking”, you say.  Adrenaline surge number two coming right up, as you take charge of life....so you think!  

You are late for your first three appointments, and your clients are not happy.  You over promise and say, that will never happen again.  You try to make up with smooth talk and extras.  Your sweating.  Time for your next appointment....and you haven’t left your self a buffer.  You go speeding down the highway, loving the rush, and you make it on time.  Surge number three....and look how that works for you....you are on time.  Ok, almost on time.  Five minutes late doesn’t count.

It’s about 3pm.  You need a huge cat nap.  Actually you could be done for the day.  Wiped.  Waxed.  Whooped.  What is going on?  With all of that energy, didn’t you get anything accomplished?  Didn’t you enjoy your day?  Don’t you feel great? 

Probably not.  The truth of the matter is, adrenaline is a drug.  It makes us think we are accomplishing things, when all we are doing is running around trying to clean up after the messes we have made.   It is addictive.  It helps divert us from what we don’t want to handle in our lives.  Emotions, fears, and the stuff that is just too hard to face.  It serves a purpose...no kidding.

The problem with running on adrenaline, is it is a huge block in our success.  How can we produce results when we are not focused, grounded, and on task?  How do we get to the root of what we need to handle personally and professionally when we are wearing the mask of adrenaline, hoping things will just go away.  How does life function at high levels when we are addicted to anything, and it controls us?   If adrenaline is in control of your life, know that it does not strive for success for you., rather it keep you running frantically in the other direction.

  This top ten below  was originally written by Thomas J. Leonard.   

The Top 10 Signs That You're An Adrenaline Addict. 

1. You and your body feel pressure to perform or produce.

2. You arrive at appointments just in the nick of time or late.

3. You over-promise results.

4. You procrastinate and then rush to deliver.

5. You are impatient.

6. You speak quickly and can't slow yourself down without lots of effort.

7. You don't maintain a healthy reserve of time, money and space for yourself.

8. You are always on to the next project before this one is done.

9. You require an immediate response; delays, even expected ones, disturb you greatly.

10. You seek out professions or situations which will feed your addiction.

So, what to do about it you ask.  You need to begin to take specific actions to kick this adrenaline habit.    First things first.  Begin to arrive 10 minutes early for all of your appointments, work and personal.  Make sure you have a buffer of time when you are scheduling your week, so you can continue to do this.