Finding Your Compass: How to Navigate Business Anxiety with Clarity and Confidence
A Compass to Navigate Anxiety.
There is an abundance of material on anxiety. There are anxiety experts, doctors and leaders who can breakdown the biology, psychology and methodology that surround this state. I don’t pretend to know all that they do, however, I do get anxious, and I know what that feels like. I am also aware that it is not a productive state for me or my business to be in. I have tried to isolate what causes me to be anxious and for me it is simply the unknown things that are out of my control.
I recently found myself getting anxious about a situation that we had found ourselves in. We had an important project meeting coming up. The people I started the project with were now all gone and a new person was taking over at a pivotal time. Not knowing how they were going to lead caused me to be more anxious, something not that typical for me.
As a team we committed to being extra prepared and pressed into the details. We anticipated every question that would bring context to the new leader. The morning of the meeting, I got up early and took extra time to pray. I pressed into the lord which counteracted the anxiousness. The combination of preparation and prayer served as a compass to help me navigate the anxiety I was feeling. The meeting was a success,
“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
Saint Augustine
The Compass Points - Prayer and Preparation
I like Augustine’s quote because it reflects a profound balance between faith and responsibility:
- Addressing Anxiety Through Faith
Anxiety in business often stems from uncertainty—market shifts, financial pressures, difficult decisions, or leadership responsibilities. The first half of the quote invites us to acknowledge our limitations and surrender what we cannot control. It’s a spiritual antidote to worry, rooted in scriptures like:
- Philippians 4:6-7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God..."
- Matthew 6:34: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."
Prayer becomes a discipline of trust, realigning the anxious heart with the truth that God is sovereign over outcomes.
Responsibility Without Paralyzing Fear
The second half, "Work as though everything depended on you," emphasizes action, excellence, and diligence. It doesn’t promote anxiety-driven overwork, but rather a commitment to stewardship. Our preparation for the meeting was the best effort we could give to position ourselves for success. The Bible supports this with verses like:
- Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."
- Proverbs 22:29: "Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings..."
While God is in control, we’re not passive. We must build, plan, serve, and lead with integrity and effort, trusting God to bless the work—not replace it.
The balance of prayer and preparation is an important one. Living by only one side of this equation breeds imbalance. It’s like trying to navigate while missing points on the compass. If we only pray but don't work, we fall into passivity or spiritual escapism. If we only work without praying, we can easily slide into burnout, control issues, and pride. But by combining both, we find peace knowing we are not alone in business. We can release the outcomes to God while still acting with excellence. We can transform anxiety into focused, purposeful energy that is motivated by calling rather than fear.
The result of living in balance is that it is possible to make bold decisions knowing that the outcomes are not on your shoulders but rather in God’s hands. Leaders that model this balance create cultures that promote God dependence and personal accountability. In times of crisis, balanced leaders can stay grounded not because everything is certain, but because they’ve committed it to God and given it their best.