🔋ATP#4: Rethink Stress. It’s Your Fuel for Growth.

I used to think that stress was bad. I thought of it as something that drains your energy, makes you feel rushed, and ultimately deteriorates your mental and physical health.

Many people hold this belief.

But when I was a psychology student, I was surprised to learn that, according to endocrinologist Hans Selye, a renowned stress researcher, there are two types of stress: Distress and Eustress.

Distress is bad stress. But Eustress is different. It literally translates to “good stress”.

What if stress isn’t always bad?

Defining Eustress

Eustress is a positive response to a challenge. You feel activated but not overwhelmed.

It’s associated with the excitement of a challenge that motivates you and that you know you can handle.

And the great thing about Distress (the negative side of stress) and Eustress (the positive side) is that these two categories aren’t fixed.

The same stressor can trigger Distress or Eustress.

The difference? Your mindset.

And that’s where the stress-is-enhancing mindset comes into play.

Setting the stage for a stress-is-enhancing mindset

Stress management starts by changing your perspective.

Stress isn’t all negative.

It energizes you. It challenges you to tackle demanding tasks and make progress in life.

This is the stress-is-enhancing mindset.

Let’s look at the following figure:

It represents the Yerkes-Dodson Law, which illustrates the relationship between stress level and performance.

It shows:

• When your stress level is low, your performance is, too. You’re just not activated or energized enough to perform.

• When your stress level is high, your performance is low, too. You’re too overwhelmed to perform.

• The sweet spot is in between, at an intermediate stress level: You feel challenged and energized but not overwhelmed, and your performance is optimal. That’s the Eustress zone.

So: At moderate levels, stress makes you perform at your best.

This mindset shift from “stress is always bad” to “stress energizes me and makes me grow” is fundamental.

Shifting your mindset about stress

According to Stanford professor Dr. Alia Crum, a world-leading mindset researcher, the following 3 steps help you adopt a stress-is-enhancing mindset:

1. Acknowledge your stress.

Stress activates your sympathetic nervous system and puts you into fight-or-flight mode. Your brain’s amygdala and other areas get activated. It’s your brain and body in an alarm state!

Most people rush through this state, panicking, screaming, or escaping from it (which also includes using substances to calm down). But there’s a better way.

Bring your stressed state into your conscience and verbalize how you feel, ideally writing it down. This engages your prefrontal cortex (the “rational” part of your brain), which has the power to diminish the activation in brain regions related to your “alarm system”.

It’s the first step to regain control over your stress and change your reaction to it.

2. Welcome and own your stress.

People tend to avoid stress and try to suppress stress reactions. But that only makes it worse, because suppressing your stress takes a lot of energy and effort.

There’s a better way: Welcome stress and challenges as growth opportunities.

If something stresses you, it’s because it’s important to you.

Next time you feel stressed about something, analyze what your feelings teach you about the situation. Why do you care so much?

Maybe it’s because you care about doing a great job or being a good parent?

If something stresses you, it’s probably because it’s related to your values and goals in life.

This perspective change can energize you and turn negative feelings into fuel.

3. Utilize your stress.

Once you identify why you’re stressed and what values underlie your stress reaction, you can channel the energy from the stress reaction into actions that will help you achieve your goals.

Use your stress as fuel to tackle the tasks that move you towards your goals and align with your values.

For example, if you feel stressed at work and realize that it's because you want to do a good job and your work is important to you: Use this energy to tackle essential tasks that move you forward at work.

The bottom line: Instead of considering stress as debilitating and damaging, turn it into the fuel that energizes you and helps you grow.

Be aware, though: Mindset is powerful, but it’s not magic. It’s still important not to allow stress to dominate your life.

Until next time!

Best wishes,

Patricia (Dr. Schmidt) from creatorschmidt.com.