STRESS

I was very privileged yesterday to sit and listen to Richard Sutton at our company conference. What really struck a cord with me was the description of his experience in China while working with the Chinese Olympic team. It really resonated with me when he described how the pressure and stress led to him being constantly sick and it was then starting to impact his mood, performance and motivation levels.

The last 6 months have been some of the toughest and most traumatic months in my life, culminating in the recent tragic death of a close family member. Out of necessity to function day to day, I compartmentalized things in my head, placing many pieces onto faraway mental shelves, to be tackled sometime in the future. What followed were months of sickness with infections, constant antibiotics, long covid and then pneumonia. A year of training and hopes of another medal flushed down the drain as I couldn't walk up a few stairs without getting out of breath, let alone run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg.

As Richard was describing his experience in China, I sat there and reflected on just how much damage stress has done to me over the last few months. It made me think of the support I had at work and just how much harder it would have been if I didn't have it. It also made me wonder how many of our people might be going through a really tough patch and whether they are getting the support they so desperately need.

One of the key takeaways for me from Richard's session was that "pressure is a privilege" and how you have to control the present. There have been numerous research studies over the years that consistently demonstrate similar results. You have to ride that wave of stress, adrenaline and cortisol, you have to welcome it and embrace it. It all starts in your head and how you interpret the environment around you and consequently chose to react. You have to reframe a situation from that of a threat to that of an opportunity. The goal is not to try and insulate yourself from stress but rather learn to use it as a tool that benefits you. You have to train your mind to perceive that threat in front of you as an opportunity and embrace that adrenaline and pressure to tackle it head on. In my opinion, when you try and run away from it, you end up feeling disempowered, like you have no control over your circumstances. This even has the potential to turn into a downward spiral of victim mentality and engulf you in that ever so limited bubble of negativity.

Ultimately each one of us has a choice, a choice to take ownership of our actions and control of our environment, or not. But choose wisely as this has a tremendous impact on your wellbeing and your life. And do remember that is indeed a choice and you do have control. So choose to ride that wave of cortisol and adrenalin, choose to use stress as a tool to help, and choose to reframe in your mind threats into opportunities and choose to stack the odds in your favor!