Stressed? Become Too Strong For Stress

As Individuals, Everyone Stresses Sometimes.

We all know the story. You can be on top of everything. A good job, a nice house, a fancy car and a great family. It’s all good. But it doesn’t come for free. There is a price to pay. There’s a big work load, it’s hard to balance your work demands with your time for family and friends, and it ain’t easy.

And when things go wrong, stress can grab you by the chest and not let up. It’s like a demon in you, interrupting your thoughts, intruding on your down time, and taking away restful sleep.

There’s a way out. The only way out is through, same as always. You can put that demon on a leash. That thing is on your back because you have high standards, because you have big dreams. Good. Small dreams mean small contributions. And who wants to live an un-impactful, meaningless life?

Stress is your friend, believe it or not. It focuses your mind. It motivates action. It’s like fear in that way. And, like fear, if you let it control you it’ll ruin your life. Your feel-good hormones are your biological weaponry to help you deal with it.

There’s basically 4 feel-good hormones in your body. Here’s what they are and what they do, in a very general sense:

Endorphins – You probably already know what these are. They’re the feel good hormones that release with well-balanced exercise. They’re actually pain killers, that swop pain for pleasure so you can keep on keeping on to your goal.
Dopamine – Scientists have started calling this “the anticipation molecule.” It’s also linked to achievement. When we see our goal, and we believe we can achieve it, we get a bit of dopamine. The closer to the goal, and the stronger the belief, the greater the hit. Interestingly, dopamine production is at it’s highest just before achievement, not during or after. Comfort zones are coffins.
Serotonin – “The leadership hormone.” This hormone is released as a result of team cohesion. A real team, built on trust and capability. This is the hormone that builds the bonds people have to their sports teams. The success of the team drives serotonin production, which gives feelings of pride, status and confidence.
Oxytocin – The warm and fuzzy hormone, giving feelings of love, trust and friendship.

Exercise in general boosts production of these hormones. “…the pattern of evidence suggests the theory that exercise training recruits a process which confers enduring resilience to stress.” (1)

Exercising in a small, tight knit group is key to real improvements. Especially if you get on well with the group that you are in, and you are all achieving your goals. That’s why our best offering is semi-private sessions. You’ll work in small, bespoke groups that we fill with people who are like you, and who you will like.

Stress is a Major Problem For Companies Too.

South Africa is one of the most stressed countries in the world. In fact, we are the second most stressed country in the world. (2). Stress is a major problem affecting much of the work force, and holding back productivity.

Some of the ill effects of stress include:

High absenteeism
High labor turnover
Poor time keeping
Poor performance and productivity
Low morale
Poor motivation
Increased employee complaints
Increased ill-health, accidents and incidents reports

And the norm is to deal with it in unhealthy ways. Drinking, smoking and drug use. That’s not what you want from your A team. You want a team that’s healthy, productive and happy with each other at the office. All of the stuff above about how training in semi-private groups builds leadership, unity, productivity and health applies here, and it can be magnified by putting work colleagues together. We have packages aimed specifically at assisting SME’s yield the returns on corporate wellness programs. If you’d like more info fill out the contact form at the end.

Now remember, stress can be your friend.

This article on embracing stress to thrive gives you more info on that. All of this stuff can help you cope with stress, but you are still responsible for what you do with your life. Here’s an article on how you can reframe the way you think about stress so that it is a more positive influence.

If you really need a quick solution, put on some takkies and go for a run/walk. Run hard enough that your mind gets sucked into the effort. Don’t be scared to walk to recover.

If you want to commit to improving your mental & psychological health for the long term, and all the knock-on benefits of that, like a better home life and better physical health, for yourself and for your employees, then fill in the form below and let’s get to it.