#317 The Upside of Stress with Kelly McGonigal

Feeling overwhelmed by stress and struggling to cope?

Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, Stanford University lecturer, and best-selling author of "The Willpower Instinct" and "The Upside of Stress,” shares practical strategies for making stress work in your favor and tools for personal well-being. She discusses the benefits of stress, emphasizing that it can enhance human abilities such as courage, learning, compassion, and joy.

Kelly also shares how stress is a preparation mechanism and proposes taking a more accepting attitude towards it. We discuss reframing stress as excitement, anchoring actions in personal values, and the importance of human connection during stress. Don't miss this enlightening conversation with a pioneer in "science-help" who has changed how we approach stress management and mental health.

Watch Kelly’s TED Talk - How to Make Stress Your Friend

Learn more about Kelly, her books, and book her for a speaking engagement

Sign up for Erik’s weekly newsletter - Adaptation

Join the AIM7 Beta Community

Quotable moments:

1. "Stress can activate your capacity for every human strength from courage, the capacity to learn and grow, compassion for other people, even joy." - Kelly McGonigal
2. "Stress is our brain and our body preparing us to do something effortful." - Dr. Alex Auerbach from Erik
3. "When you take a more accepting attitude towards stress, stress is part of life, and also this positive mindset towards stress, that it can bring out what's good in you...people just cope better." - Kelly McGonigal
4. "The things that cause us the most stress are often the things that are most important to us...when you bring to mind your values in a moment of stress, it's a very real resource, that can allow you to view the stress that you're going through as an opportunity to choose your values." - Kelly McGonigal
5. "One of the great stress mindset techniques or strategies is to bring to mind your values in a moment of stress...The things that cause us the most stress are often the things that are most important to us...the roles, the relationships, the goals that we're striving for, they're gonna be the things that cause the most stress, and that also provide the most meaning." - Kelly McGonigal

ABOUT THE BLUEPRINT PODCAST:

The BluePrint Podcast is for busy professionals and Household CEOs who care deeply about their families, career, and health. Host Dr. Erik Korem distills cutting edge-science, leadership, and life skills into simple tactics optimized for your busy lifestyle and goals.   Dr. Korem interviews scientists, coaches, elite athletes, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and exceptional people to discuss science and practical skills you can implement to become the most healthy, resilient, and impactful version of yourself.

On a mission to equip people to pursue audacious goals, thrive in uncertainty, and live a healthy and fulfilled life, Dr. Erik Korem is a High-Performance pioneer. He introduced sports science and athlete-tracking technologies to collegiate and professional (NFL) football over a decade ago. He has worked with the National Football League, Power-5 NCAA programs, gold-medal Olympians, Nike, and the United States Department of Defense.

Erik is an expert in sleep and stress resilience. He is the Founder and CEO of AIM7, a health and fitness app that unlocks the power of wearables by providing you with daily personalized recommendations to enhance your mind, body, and recovery.

SUPPORT & CONNECT

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/erikkorem/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ErikKorem

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-korem-phd-19991734/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/erikkorem

Website - https://www.erikkorem.com/

Newsletter - http://link.aim7.com/adaptation-newsletter

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.