STRESS IS INEVITABLE: IT'S WHAT YOU DO WITH IT THAT COUNTS.

In today's fast-paced and highly competitive work environment, stress and burnout are common issues. The Covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this problem, as employees are dealing with heightened levels of anxiety and uncertainty. The past three years have upended many of our lives, resulting in increased isolation and loneliness, financial insecurity, and health concerns.

It's also led to changes in work arrangements, such as remote work, which can blur the boundaries between work and home life, leading to a sense of always being "on." All of these factors have contributed to higher levels of burnout in the workplace. All the more reason to prepare ourselves for the regular occurrence of stress -- and to reframe what we believe stress is in the first place. Navy SEALs have this as part of their training.

But not all Navy SEALs are the same.

A mindset shift

Stress is inevitable. Being happy and fulfilled in life is not about reducing stress. It's about what you do with the stress when it comes. According to psychologist Richard Lazarus, stress is not a direct response to external events, but rather, it is the result of how we interpret and appraise those events. In other words, our perceptions and beliefs about a situation determine whether we view it as stressful. 

You can think of there being two mindsets: stress-is-enhancing versus stress-is-debilitating. With the former mindset, stress is perceived as something good in order to grow and progress. With the latter, stress is perceived as something bad and to be avoided at all costs.

In one study, researchers wanted to see how the two different mindsets predicted performance in participants undergoing the notoriously challenging Navy SEALs training. The researchers hypothesized that participants with the stress-is-enhancing mindset -- who believe stress enhances their health, performance, and well-being -- would outperform those with the stress-is-debilitating mindset. 

Following 174 Navy SEALs candidates, they found that a stress-is-enhancing mindset predicts greater persistence through training, faster obstacle-course times, and fewer negative evaluations from peers and instructors. 

A word of caution

There is such a thing as too much stress. Psychologists differentiate between "eustress" (the good kind) and distress (the bad kind). It's important to recognize the difference between the two when approaching work and life with a stress-is-enhancing mindset.

Without applying wise judgment, it could lead you to ignore or dismiss the negative impact of chronic stress on your physical and mental health. Second, constantly striving for high levels of stress believing it'll make you better will backfire and lead to more burnout and exhaustion, not less. Finally, this mindset can also create an environment in which stress is normalized and even celebrated, which can lead to a culture of overworking and neglecting self-care.