I just finished up a book that was bubbling to the top of my to-read pile as the Holidays passed by me at warp speed. The subject of stress does occupy many minds during the winter months and the up and coming income tax season. But as I began reading the following book I found that this book is a welcome read for any time of the year since stress comes in many forms.

Title: The Upside of Stress

By Kelly McGonigal, PhD

File Size: 1321 KB

Print Length: 301 pages

Publisher: Avery (May 5, 2015)

Publication Date: May 5, 2015

Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC

Language: English

ASIN: B00OI5PGWU

ISBN-10: 1101982934

ISBN-13: 978-1101982938

Rating 5/5

For most of our lives, we have been told that stress is harmful to our health. What if someone were able to prove this to be otherwise? How would you feel if you found that there are more health benefits to stress then health risks? All it takes is a change in your mindset.

Kelly McGonigal argues in her book The Upside of Stress that psychologists have been telling people for years that stress is bad for you but she has discovered through research that this is not indeed the case. With her research, she can prove the benefits of stress can outweigh the harmful effects of stress that revolves around changing the mindset about stress. If one can believe that stress is beneficial than the coping mechanisms associated with stressful events can cause personal growth which will improve the health of that individual.

“Mindsets are beliefs that shape your reality, including objective physical reactions (like the strength of my arm as Crum pushed on it), and even long-term health, happiness, and success. More important, the new field of mindset science shows that a single brief intervention, designed to change how you think about something, can improve your health, happiness, and success, even years into the future.” (McGonigal 2016, 4)

Kelly McGonigal, Phd., is a lecturer and psychologist at Stanford University and an expert on mind-body relationship. She is a senior teacher/consultant at Stanford for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and also teaches for the School of Medicine’s Health Improvement Program. Her work validates the claims of psychological science to personal health and happiness, as well as organizational success and social change.

I understand what McGonigal means when she makes the statement, “When you face difficulties head-on, instead of trying to avoid or deny them, you build your resources for dealing with stressful experiences.” (McGonigal 2016, 18) We all face difficulties over the course of our lives. It is not a matter of what those challenges are but how we handle them that matters most in life. If we don’t manage them well, then we tend to repeat those problems until we can overcome them.

This book explains the reasoning behind why McGonigal believes that stress can be healthy for personal growth. Her research she shares verify why the probability this is correct and she describes this well in the book.

I did not find anything in this book that I would disagree with which is why I have rated this book with five stars.

I highly recommend everyone to read this book, and hopefully, it will change your outlook on stress and help you handle those dreadful times with personal growth and resilience.

Note

McGonigal, Kelly. The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It (p. 4). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

McGonigal, Kelly. The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It (p. 18). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Reference

McGonigal, Kelly. The Upside of Stress. New York: Avery, 2016.

Valued Blog Post of the Week!

I’m giving myself a writing challenge for the next three months. I will pick a personal value as part of a writing exercise as an experiment to see how the topic affects my daily stress level.

Friday write-in

Picking a personal value

“Pick one value and write about it for ten minutes. Describe why this value is important to you. Write how you express this value in your everyday life, including what you did today.”[1]

13962336408_bd6ff23a33_b — Image courtesy of creative commons license via Flickr.com by Doe Zantamata and Unsplash

Challenge – a call to take part in a contest or competition, especially a duel, or calling for special effort.

Contest

Dare

Encounter

Provocation

Summons

Task

Test

Trial

We all have specific values that have become a part of our personality over the years. Those values are not something that I have given much thought to until recently. Another of my values is a that of a challenge.

I love a challenge but within reason. When I say this, I mean a problem that can be met within reason. If I were to stand no chance against the competition, I would give up trying before the competition would even begin. For example, I was never a long-distance runner; a marathon would not be a contest within reason. I know my limitations. But, if I could compete against my self for a better time in a marathon I would accept the personal challenge as a doable test to see if I could beat my best time. If I could beat that time, I would have a sense of accomplishment.

Earning my degree gives me a sense of challenge especially with the online courses since for much of the time, I must answer my questions through research. To top off my challenge, I have dared myself to get the best grades I can get with the hopes of acquiring scholarships to help pay for my education.

Challenges at work are keeping a machine running when the material is being problematic, which was my challenge for the day. Another challenge is meeting a shipping deadline at the last minute.

Setting goals is a great way to create challenges, but if the goal is set too high the challenge will never be met, and self-doubt will kill all effort.

Management professionals should give this some thought when asking employees to take on a new job function. If the initial production goal is at a reasonable level so that the employee can meet the goal, they will begin to develop confidence. Raise the goals slowly but never entirely out of the person’s reach, unless the manager does not want that employee to improve on the job and build on their confidence that leads to higher production and quality. I would hope that manager would not kill the development of a strong work team by making their workers feel inadequate to do the jobs asked of them.

People can be challenges. Understanding the different personalities, cultures, values, and morals. Everyone is raised differently and when there is a mixed culture in the workforce personality challenges can appear. Such a challenge can be overcome as workers begin to learn to accept each other’s differences and identities.

My favorite form of challenges is learning. Education comes in many forms. Learning is not just reading, writing, and arithmetic. There is learning a hobby. I’m a self-taught knitter, crocheter, quilter, sewer, and writer.

Most of all, challenges inspire me to be creative.

Reference

McGonigal, Kelly. The Upside of Stress. New York: Avery, 2016.

Notes

[1] (McGonigal 2016, 72)