Stress can be reframed as a helpful resource, enhancing performance, growth, and learning.
Adopting a stress-enhancing mindset can lead to better outcomes in various tasks, including greater creativity and success in negotiations.
Deep dives
Reframing Stress as a Helpful Asset
While stress is often seen as something negative, Professor Medupé Akinola challenges this notion and suggests that stress can actually be reframed as something that enhances our performance, growth, and learning. By adopting a stress-enhancing mindset, individuals can experience better outcomes in various tasks. Studies have shown that watching videos that highlight the positive aspects of stress can increase creativity and attention to positive stimuli. In negotiations, women who were informed that stress could be beneficial outperformed those who were not. The stress response, characterized by increased heart rate and hormonal changes, is a physiological adaptation designed to help individuals remain focused and prepared to tackle challenges. Cultivating a stress-enhancing mindset can lead to a more positive perspective on stress and ultimately harness its potential for personal growth and achievement.
Understanding Stress and Its Physiological Effects
Stress occurs when the demands of a situation exceed an individual's perceived resources to cope. In response to stress, the sympathetic nervous system activates, leading to an increase in heart rate, the release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, and heightened attention to threats. This physiological response is adaptive and helps individuals to mobilize their energy and focus. While short-term stress is beneficial, chronic and excessive stress can lead to adverse health outcomes. The key is recognizing the purpose of stress and the body's natural response, rather than viewing stress as a purely negative experience.
The Mindset Shift: Stress as Enhancing vs. Debilitating
Our mindset about stress plays a crucial role in how it affects us. There are two types of mindsets: stress as enhancing or stress as debilitating. Embracing a stress-enhancing mindset, which perceives stress as a catalyst for improved performance, growth, and learning, can lead to better outcomes. Research has shown that individuals with a stress-is-enhancing mindset exhibit greater creativity, focus on positive aspects, and perform better in negotiations. By reframing stress, individuals can tap into its potential benefits and recognize their ability to handle challenging situations.
Strategies for Managing Stress and Embracing a Positive Mindset
Managing stress involves various strategies that can help individuals adopt a stress-as-enhancing mindset. Self-awareness is critical in understanding typical stress reactions, such as behaviors, emotions, and physiological responses. By acknowledging stress and its purpose, individuals can cultivate a more positive view of stressful situations. Techniques such as meditation, specifically body scanning, and focused breathing can aid in slowing down the mind and becoming more present. Additionally, seeking external support and asking for help from trusted friends and loved ones can provide valuable resources and aid in stress management. It is important to find a balance in utilizing technology to monitor stress levels, ensuring that it enhances self-awareness without becoming overwhelming or anxiety-inducing.
We’re all familiar with the ways that stress can make us feel bad. But professor and stress expert Modupe Akinola argues that a simple change in our mindset can turn short-term stress into a helpful resource. Modupe walks us through some strategies for how to better tolerate and understand our stress, and gives us tools for coping when a small “mindset shift” isn’t enough.
