Stress is frequently seen as a bad thing — putting unnecessary strain on an individual’s physical or mental well-being. In attempting to change people’s views, Paula Davis-Laack has offered up some guidelines in a Fast Company article as to how people can turn their stress to their advantage. Drawing on studies that have observed that how people interpret their stress is a potential predictor for how their stress will affect them, she provides the following suggestions:
1Recognize that feelings while under stress often overstate the situation — try to describe sources of stress in a factual manner, separating the instantaneous emotion from the actual severity of the event.
2Encourage positive emotions — search for sources of calm and well-being, as a counter-balance to the negativity that stress often induces, whether these sources of calm are through mental or physical activities.
3Recognize that stress is often caused by things you care about — stress and meaning are often intertwined, with sources of stress also frequently being sources of happiness.
By attempting to convert stress into a positive thing, the hope is that individuals will be better able to operate and react in positive manners while under pressure.
Source:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3054070/know-it-all/3-strategies-for-improving-your-stress-resilience
