Jim Loehr, a performance psychologist, made a statement too few psychologists seem to appreciate: “Life is about storms. ... Stress, in and of itself, is not the problem. Stress can be a good thing. If you think about the things that created your character, created your ability to fight, and made a difference, in every case, it would be the storms. It's the things that pushed you the most that helped you the most. The problem is that we have conceptualized the notion of workplace performance as a marathon: a long haul requires us to hoard our energy in order to avoid burning out too soon. We need to think of our workdays as sprints: defined periods of high performance alternating with short intervals of recovery. Leaders must train for that competition much as elite athletes do.”
Stress is the spice of life; it's overcoming those storms and challenges that makes the ride worthwhile. Stress is created by the demands placed on us--the challenges to make a difference with our time and our skills. The absence of stress is death! Wouldn't you rather have a demanding day? I love days with a lot of important things to accomplish; the time flies by when you're making meaningful things happen.
On days you have too little to do, you tend to keep looking at your watch-"When will the day end!!??" If you don't give yourself and others challenging work, you'll all be bored and demotivated. When teachers dumb down their classes for fear of over-stressing their poor underachieving students, they shouldn't be surprised that they are left with disruptive students who can't pass exit exams.
It's time to raise the bar on performance. Expect more, not less! If people have too much to do; help them focus on the things that matter most and let go of the things that no one ought to be doing. Excellence is earned every single day. The reward is going home satisfied from a hard day's work and the joy of recovery, recreation and rest. Balance is working and living with passion. I'm not into saving myself. Bring on the storms and the stress; I want to be alive every day I live. How about you? Are you ready for a little positive stress?
(Source: Jim Loehr, Performance Psychologist, LGE Performance Systems Inc.)
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