Pivot from Threat to Challenge
Key Points:
1. Our brains see stressful situations as a threat, but we should try to view these situations as a challenge.
2. Balancing stress comes down to balancing our sympathetic (energy) and parasympathetic (rest) systems, which are analogous to the gas and brake pedals of a car. Oftentimes we don’t use the brake pedal nearly enough.
3. When we experience stressful events, we can should see it as an opportunity for growth, rather than ruminating on the trauma or failure. Realize that these setbacks are not permanent.
“Every change is a challenge to become who we really are.”
Research indicates that taking an active, problem-solving approach to life’s challenges relieves stress and can transform it into something positive. If you withdraw, deny the problem, or spend all your time venting, you’ll feel helpless. Instead, be determined to make a change, put effort into it, and plan for better results. Pivot from threat to challenge.
Our brains perceive a stressful situation as a threat. We respond to threats in our environment (sabre-tooth tiger or someone competing with us for food) by increasing our ability to perform physically and mentally (run faster or fight better). We need heightened performance at times, but not all the time, which is often how we live—experiencing and reacting to various threats (demands, deadlines, presentations, running late, and so on) over and over again. Without time for reflection, we can’t transform those experiences into meaning and learn from them. We can’t change.
The daily and repeated threats we experience activate a cascade of events that involve the brain and body, all of which is known as the sympathetic nervous system response. The opposite response is relaxation and calm, which is regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system. Think of these two responses like the gas pedal and the brake on a car. The sympathetic system gives us bursts of energy so we can deal with the environment, and the parasympathetic system helps us rest and calm down after the danger has passed.
Being aware of the balance between your sympathetic (gas pedal) response and the parasympathetic (brake) response is the key to managing your stress and being able to pivot from living in constant threat to taking control of your life and accepting challenges as learning experiences that move us forward.
Ultimately, taking control of our stress and our mental and physical state in moments of increased distress comes down to a pivot in thinking that allows us to view an event as a challenge rather than a threat.
When people experience a profound trauma, failure, or loss, they tend to launch into one of two trajectories: they either enter a growth phase or they fall into a negative trauma phase. One of the main factors in determining which direction they go is their perspective on failure. Those who believe that failure and trauma are terminal—incidents that can never be overcome—typically sink into loss and the belief that you cannot find a way out. Alternatively, those who genuinely see failure and trauma as setbacks, even when they are huge, typically enter into a growth phase. Those are the people who emerge from a crisis with renewed clarity about their priorities. They grow closer to friends and family. They say, “I know who I am now. I have a new sense of purpose. I can focus on my dreams.”
Today’s Call to Action: Practise Response-ability
Most people are perfectly capable of identifying the causes and effects of their stress. But what they often miss is that their stress is actually contained in their response rather than in the situation itself.
Negative stress occurs when you perceive a situation to be taxing or to exceed your resources. More often than not, the difference between a situation leading to eustress (experienced as beneficial) instead of distress (experienced as threatening) lies in how you perceive it. For example, anxiety is stressful but excitement is not; exertion is uncomfortable but freely chosen exercise is not.
If you can shift your perception to see that situation as a challenge instead of a threat, you can make great strides toward ensuring a positive physical and mental response.
There will always be situations that seem like more than you can handle. But if you change how you deal with stressful events and shift from reactions to responses, you can begin to leverage the opportunities of challenges and the growth that can arise.
Today’s Bonus
Click Here for a bonus podcast with ex-military captain Ben Morton where he and Greg discuss leadership and performing under pressure. If you enjoyed that, check out this TED Talk by Kelly McGonigal Here on how to make stress your friend!
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