In our daily lives, stress is often seen as a negative force. So many of us get run over by it. Some fatally.
However, not all stress is bad. There is a type of stress that rather than bringing us to our knees, elevates us…
Eustress, a term coined by Hans Selye, refers to a positive type of stress that can motivate and energize us. It gives us a jolt of energy that propels us in the right direction
Here are a few ideas on how you can eustress yourself today.
Identify Positive Challenges
Pick activities that excite you and push you out of your comfort zone but are still doable.
- Work: Volunteer to lead the next team project or presentation.
- Personal: Sign up for a 5K run happening next month.
- Learning: Enroll in an online course, this could be anything from learning basic coding or testing out a new language like Spanish, French, Italian or Mandarin.
Set Clear Goals
Clear goals give direction and make stress feel more like a challenge than a burden this is importnat.
- Work: Break down that big project into individual tasks like research, outline, draft, and final review, and give each its own deadline that’s “doable”.
- Personal: Plan your workouts for the week: Maybe you do three 30-minute runs, two strength training sessions, and one yoga class or play tennis twice or Swim daily.
- Learning: Set milestones like completing a module each week and having a basic conversation in your new language by the end of the month.
Embrace a Growth Mindset
Treat challenges as opportunities to grow rather than threats (often stress invokes our threat response and puts us in fight or flight you can nudge that into a growth mindset).
- Work: When facing a tight deadline, think of it as a chance to improve your time management and problem-solving skills.
- Personal: View your fitness goal as a way to discover how far you can push your physical limits.
- Learning: Approach learning coding errors not as failures, but as puzzles to solve, helping you understand the language better. All you are doing is filing off the rough edges.
Practice Mindfulness
Stay present and fully engage in what you are doing this puts you into flow and out of the stress response.
- Work: Take five-minute breaks to practice deep breathing or a quick meditation session using the 4-second box breathing technique.
- Personal: Start your day with a 10-minute guided meditation to set a calm tone.
- Learning: Before studying, do a brief mindfulness exercise to clear your mind and enhance focus. This quickly declutters your mind and gets you ready for learning.
By focusing on specific activities and setting clear goals, you can harness the positive power of Eustress. If you do, you will turn stress into a source of motivation and energy rather than have it slow you down, stand in your way or stop you.
Remember: Action on insights, is the Answer.
Thank you for reading.
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