Pressure Check - before a clarity call

A short reset before our clarity call

What this is for

When pressure is high, thinking narrows.

This short check helps you slow the moment down, name what’s really going on, and arrive clearer.

You don’t need to get this “right”.

You’re just getting the moment workable.

Spend 5–10 minutes.

Stop when you’ve said enough.

1. Set the scene (briefly)

Write what’s happening right now.

2–3 sentences.

Or a few bullet points.

Or a rough sketch.

Enough to locate the moment.

2. What feels most urgent right now?

What’s pulling hardest for your attention, even if you’re not sure why yet?

Finish this sentence if it helps:

“I can’t stop thinking about…”

If nothing changed in the next week, what would feel most exposed?

3. What are you most trying to avoid?

• A reaction
• A conversation.
• An outcome.
• A consequence.
• A loss.

Be specific, even if it’s uncomfortable.

4. Who or what is most affected if this goes badly?

Include:

• other people
• the organisation or system
• you (even if you tend to put yourself last)

Who carries the cost if this stays unresolved?

5. Looking six months ahead, what would you regret misreading?

Not failing at but rather misjudging.

For example:

• the stakes
• the timing
• the power dynamics
• your own limits
• someone else’s intent

One or two lines is enough.

6. Where do you feel this pressure physically?

• Chest.
• Gut.
• Jaw.
• Shoulders.
• Elsewhere.

How to use this

You can use this in three ways:

1. Send it to me before our call

It helps us start in the right place, without using time circling the issue.

2. Use it as a prompt for yourself

Sometimes naming the moment properly is enough to ease the pressure.

3. Pause before you act

If you’re about to send an email, make a call, or lock in a decision, do this first.

Even five minutes can change how you show up.

Bring whatever you write into the session.

We’ll work with what’s here.

Quiet reminder

What feels most obvious under pressure isn’t always what matters most.

This is just the first step to widening the view again.