One thing that we all believe is that stress is a negative emotion and affects our health. What if I tell you that stress is not that bad. I am sure most of you will not agree with me. The message that stress kills has gained momentum however, stress is not inherently negative. It is an adaptive response that protects you from potential threats, stimulates creativity, motivates action, and enables you to attain goals. Stress becomes problematic when it is perceived as something negative or harmful and becomes chronically disproportionate to the stressor.
According to research it is not stress that negatively impacts a person’s physical and mental health but rather the attitude a person has towards it, which determines how they respond to it. This is referred to as “stress mindset”. It is a set of beliefs that one has about stress; harmful or helpful. For example, some people may use stress to improve their performance. While others may view it as harmful and avoid opportunities for development to prevent stress. Such people may try to divert their attention from stress and get into alcohol or smoking addiction and eventually experience negative effects of stress on their body. Having a positive stress mindset works as an effective strategy for improving resilience rather than considering it harmful and trying to reduce it.
An important way to view stress more positively is to be aware of the direct relation between things a person finds stressful and things he/she finds valuable. Research indicates that people are more likely to get stress about things they value more. Basically, we all stress about things that are very important to us, and we tend to focus on the result and become feverish about achieving it, instead of enjoying the task and the process to achieve such result.
How then, can we develop a positive mindset towards stress? The foremost thing is to view stress as a learning opportunity. Most of the times experiences are stressful because they are unfamiliar or new or a belief that we are not doing the work correctly. By embracing the challenges and mistakes that come with new experience will help us to grow and shift our perception about stress. Secondly, during stressful times, many people isolate themselves and misjudge how many other people have gone through the same situation. Recognizing that your situation is not unique will encourage you to seek support, talk about struggle, and continue to work towards achieving your goals. Thirdly, becoming more aware of your mind as and when it is getting stressful, and consciously relaxing your mind and body through meditative or similar practices.
Shifting mindset is a simple yet effective way to reduce the effects of stress.
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