What is stress?

A syndrome of thoughts and feelings resulting from a negative attitude towards challenges.

Why are we so stressed?

Multitasking. How much do you think a 19th century shepherd multitasked? What’s causing us to multitask? Digital technology. Email. Smartphones. “Social” media. The answer is obvious. We all know it. We just need to 1) be honest with ourselves and 2) come up with strategies to reduce bad habits.

What does stress do to the body?

Studies show that toxic stress is associated with accelerated aging and all-cause mortality. Sounds pretty bad huh? But there’s hope…

Can stress ever be good?

Amazingly, stress can actually be good for us. Kelly McGonigal from Stanford University has compiled many studies supporting the “upside of stress.” It turns out that our appraisal of (or attitude towards) stress determines whether it is bad for us or good for us. Stress is associated with all-cause mortality, if you believe it is bad for you. But if you believe stress is good, then it becomes the ultimate performance enhancing drug, increasing our executive functioning, speaking ability, and test-taking performance among other benefits.

Can stress ever be really good?

Stress has the potential  to bring out our best as long as we view the situation as an exciting challenge to take on rather than a threat to be dreaded and avoided. Challenges bring out the best in us! See the situation as a learning opportunity, a way to practice, and ultimately, an opportunity to grow in your highest ideals and you will experience the upside of stress.

Is it even possible to eliminate stress?

No! And if we tried to, we’d become more stressed than ever. Avoidance of and the desire to control stress is the root cause of anxiety disorders.

That being said, it is important to take care of our minds and bodies through order, rest, silence, and genuine leisure. For more on how to do this, see 5 Ways To Increase Your Peace.

Does this really matter?

Discovering the upside of stress has personally changed my life and the lives of people I’ve worked with. I think we should help as many people as possible discover this insight so that they can find meaning in their work, relationships, and everyday challenges.

Does work make you stressed?

Think back to childhood. Do you remember the feeling you got right after school ended and summer vacation began? It felt relieving and euphoric at first…but then if you had long stretches of time without anything to do, you may have felt depressed and aimless. 

We need challenges in our life. We need work. Fulfillment comes, not from an absence of challenges, but from facing challenges head on and striving to grow in my ideals through the challenges. Facing challenges doesn’t mean feeling stressed, but it does mean exerting effort and deliberately reframing our attitude when we feel reluctance building up.

This post is based on my interview with Authority Magazine.