Fierce Excerpts: Reframing stress as a challenge.

by | Oct 29, 2015 | Creative Process, Fierce Excerpts, Fierce Strategy + Creative

Now Reading | Minimize Stress with these 4 Mental Techniques 

Managing stress is key to having a healthy, productive work environment. Knowing how to identify stress, being aware of its effects on your mind and your body, and knowing what to do with it are critical to success—and to your sanity. Around here at the Fierce offices, we like to look at stress as a challenge and as an opportunity to learn something new. This little article had four great tips that we pulled out below in this little excerpt:

1. Reframe the stressor as a challenge.

Often, how we see the problem is the problem. Ask yourself: “How can I turn this challenge into an opportunity?”

2. Focus on the process, not the outcome.

In the book Performing Under Pressure: The Science of Doing Your Best When It Matters Most, the authors cite a study of two groups of mechanics tasked with assembling an engine.

The first group was given one chance to prove they could build an engine, but they had to do so in a specified time period. To increase the pressure, they were told that if they built it correctly and within the allotted time, they would be in line for a promotion.

A second group was given the same task with the same promise of career advancement, but they were told that if they made mistakes that they would be given additional opportunities to build.

Who do you think built the engine faster? Yup, the second group, because they were focused on the process, not the outcome.

3. Have a plan, but be ready to adapt.

It has been said that “chance favors the prepared mind” (Louis Pasteur). To the extent that you can minimize the degree of uncertainty associated with the unexpected, the more confident you’ll feel and the less stress you’ll face. To do so, always have a contingency plan for everything you do.

4. Step outside.

Exercise, more than anything, is the single greatest stress reducer on the market. Get outside and take a breath of fresh air. It always helps your perspective.

Read the entire article here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249471