A reminder to lean into your stress
Our reptilian brain is hardwired to deal with stress through fight or flight, we’re not built to be in a constant state of stress. However, in the modern world, we’re not fending off lions or bears, we're being drip-fed expectations, deadlines, and challenges from all sides. It’s important to try to switch these off or distance yourself from them… at least in most cases.
Whenever I’ve found myself in deeply stressful, difficult, and uncertain situations, both professionally and personally - those moments have often been when I’ve grown the most. This applies to all of us and is where our true character shows. We’re forced to develop new habits, learn new tactics, and adapt to a changing environment to stay afloat. More often than not, it also unlocks a whole new level of performance or skill you never knew you had.
Knowing that you’ll come out of a difficult situation better off helps reframe your mindset from a negatively skewed outlook to one that, regardless of outcome, becomes a net positive for you as a person. Wisdom is really just accumulated experience, and there’s no better way to accelerate that learning than the supercharger that is stress over time.
This is easily observable on a micro level like how an assignment or project deadline lights a fire under us to power through a task. In the same way, a prolonged period of stress can rewire our habits, thought processes, and workflows. Science tells us it can take anywhere from 2 to 30 weeks to form a new habit… quite the range, I know. The takeaway? It’s a process over time and the longer your stressful period the more effective it will be creating new habit or breaking old ones.
With all that said, take care of yourself. I’ve personally had a particularly difficult time the last 6 weeks. The reason isn’t really relevant, but it’s brought a significant amount of stress and worry. At first, I resented the situation but I reminded myself to lean in. I’ve seen more improvement in my craft than in the last 6 weeks than the last 6 months, with the data to back it up. That said, it has come at a cost, I've started experiencing some heart pain, which probably means I’ve pushed too far. I’m incredibly thankful to have such a supportive group of people around me who remind me to pause and chill out.
The key takeaway is this: like most things in life, perspective is everything. Be grateful for your situation. Your cup might be a little murky right now, but it’s still half full and in a few moments, the murkiness will settle. The clarity that follows this chapter will be a priceless lesson - stick with it and maybe even lean in.
