Stress destroys more people than most other factors combined. It’s the arch-enemy of longevity. A doctor friend of mine told me that the majority of the patients he sees have health issues related to high levels of self-imposed stress. 

Staying in the game is increasingly difficult when more and more responsibility gets put on your shoulders. This becomes a catch-22 because there’s a part of you that wants to level up your leadership capacity, but another part that doesn’t want the added pressure that comes with it. What’s a person to do? I have seen many people pass on opportunities to level up from fear of the stress that will come with it. Stress is a thief that can steal your future if you are not careful. We have to learn how to deal with it.  

Let me share this interesting thought:

Embrace Stress Rather Than Try To Eliminate It.

You’ll never eliminate stress. It will always remain in this life. In fact, if you don’t feel a little stress, you’re probably not pushing yourself hard enough. The issue is not that you have stress; the real issue is how you handle it. If you are looking for a stress-free environment…you will never find it; it doesn’t exist. Even if you found a “non-stress” environment, you’ll find something to stress about. Stress is relative. It always follows you no matter where you go or what the circumstance.

This drive to eliminate stress creates a current paradox of well…more stress. Most people are unhappy because they are trying to get out of their situations. But know this, you will never get out of your situation until you get out of the situation that which you need in order to get out of the situation. Instead of trying to escape our current realities, we need to embrace them to train us for the next step. You will never get to your next assignment until you fulfill the one you are currently in.

Stress occurs when we experience something out of our perceived control. Our bodies release high levels of Cortisol (the stress hormone) when we sense danger. This rise in Cortisol elicits a flight or fight response in the moment. We either lean into the perceived danger or run away from it. 

You can’t control perceived danger, but you can control how you respond to it. Highly successful people are not immune to stress; they just have learned how to harness it for positive results. Everyone has challenges, but not everyone allows their challenges to have them. It’s all a matter of perspective. The word S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D is just  D-E-S-S-E-R-T-S spelled backward. Change your perspective and you change the meaning. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is not what happens to them, but how they respond to what happens to them. Stress is just a means to reveal what areas we are not yet competent in.