Tony Schwartz is the president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything. On his Blog he has recently published a post on Stress.
His starting line goes like this: “How often do you intentionally push yourself to discomfort?”
A very effective example he provides, explains his position on stress management: “This is easiest to see at the physical level. In the absence of regular cardiovascular exercise — a form of stress — the heart’s ability to efficiently pump blood drops an average of 1 percent a year between the ages of 30 and 70, and faster after that. Likewise, in the absence of strength training — literally pushing weight against resistance — we lose an average of 1 percent of lean muscle mass every year after age 30.” … “The principle is simple, but not entirely intuitive. The harder you push yourself, the more you signal your body to grow. It’s called supercompensation, and the growth actually occurs during recovery. The limiting factor is mostly your tolerance for discomfort.”
In fact research on dementia also says about the brain “use it or lose it”, which is directly related to the famous Latin quotation “mens sana in corpore sano”. However it should also be considered that persistent stress and over-exertion can push you to burnout.
The full text of Tony Schwartz’s post is available at http://www.theenergyproject.com/blog/stress-not-your-enemy
image from http://vistratess.com
I would suggest to anyone interested in this article to read the full text because the title alone could be misleading. I liked the article but it must remain clear that the kind of stress described is totally self-induced and thus controlled…you decide how hard to push.
Obviously, a much more harmful type of stress comes from a hectic work schedule or too much pressure from superiors to meet impossible deadlines. Combine a physically exhausting day with serious psychological pressure in your personal life and you can quickly go over-the-top of the stress curve especially if exposed for prolonged periods and without the necessary recovery time.
One last thing, even self controlled physical stress can be dangerous as you can literally become addicted to the adrenaline rush. I’ve personally seen a person go berserk after an unexpected cancellation of his daily squash game. The reaction was completely out of character and I had only experienced that sort of behavior from people suffering withdrawal symptoms from addictions. Humans are too frail and easily get hooked on anything and everything, so, discipline is the keyword here.
I tend to think as “too little stress = bored” and “optimum stress = stimulated”. Too much stress can be OK for a short time – and we all face it from time to time – changing job, moving house, rushing to catch a train. It is however, not sustainable over a longer term… if only we could recognise when is the time to stop!
this is the real problem, how to recognize when it’s time to stop!
Reblogged this on Diplo Learning Corner.