E3: The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good for You and How To Get Good At It

3 Lessons 💡

1. Types of Stress Response + Focus on Challenge Response
   • Fight or Flight; Tend or Befriend; Challenge
   • Improve Odds of a Challenge Response:
     • Acknowledge personal strengths, remembering the past when overcame similar challenges, imagine support of loved ones, praying, know that others are praying for you
2. Strategy to View Stress in a Different Way
   • Allow yourself to notice the stress, including how it physically affects your body
   • Welcome the stress by recognizing it as a response to something you care about
   • Make use of energy the stress gives you, instead of using energy to manage the stress
3. Ways to Avoid Negative Outcomes from Stress
   • Give back to the community, Have a sense of purpose, Find benefit in the struggle, View themselves as capable, Help others in a way larger than yourself

3 Actions ✅

1. Example of positive actions from those that believe stress can be helpful:
   1. Accept the fact that the stressful event occurred and is real, Plan a strategy for dealing with some of the stress, Take step to overcome, remove or change the source of stress, Try to view the situation in a positive way as an opportunity for growth
2. Helping Others (in a big or small way)
   1. Boosts self-confidence which change how people views the challenges they face
   2. The more time trauma survivors helped others -- more happy and increased sense of purpose
      1. 82% of Holocaust survivors went out of their way to help others while imprisoned -- food
   3. Look to do something for others that is beyond daily responsibilities (see link in show notes)
3. Reflection: Turn Self-Focus into Bigger than Self-Goals
   1. When in the middle of a stressful situation, ask yourself "What are my bigger than self-goals?" and "How is this an opportunity to serve them"
      1. If having trouble identifying bigger than self-goals, consider asking yourself: "What do you want to contribute to the world?"

Helpful Links:

• Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal
• Acts of Kindness Ideas
• Alex and Books Website

Book Discussed "The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good for You and How To Get Good At It" by Kelly McGonigal