I’ve been thinking about stress recently and I’ve had something of an epiphany. This could be something that’s old news, but to me it’s been a revelation.
Everybody faces stress to some degree. In the fast-paced society in which we live, stress is hard to avoid. I personally face a number of stresses: the stress of rushing from appointment to appointment, the stress of hustling toward my personal goals, the stress of unforeseen issues at work and in life, and the stress of balancing quality time with family with other aspects of life, among many others.
As humans, we are adapted to acute stress. In fact, we often benefit from exposure to it. Think about the last time that you faced a challenging situation. Did you grow as a result? Were you a better person for having faced that challenge? Stress in high-intensity, low dosage levels can help you to grow. However, face an accumulation of this stress over an extended period of time and it transforms from acute to chronic. Eventually, exposure to such stress could be crippling, leading to burnout and a range of mental and physical health issues. My dad suffered from this in his early thirties, developing chronic fatigue. He was bed-ridden for months as a result.
But I’ve realised that my stress does not solely come about from friction in the present moment. Rather, a large degree of it comes about from anticipatory stress. This is stress generated by thinking about a difficult or uncertain situation before it happens. In other words, it is stressing about stress. I am somebody who often thinks and schemes about the future. For whatever reason, it is in my nature to do so. It has been for as long as I can remember. And so, it is almost completely natural to experience the anticipatory stress that accompanies as I walk through the potential pitfalls of future machinations.
What I’ve realized, though, is that the anticipation of what is to come is only helpful to a point. After that point is crossed, that anticipation becomes counterproductive. It’s not foolhardy to think about the future. On the contrary, it’s sensible. I’ve found it allows me to play out scenarios and experience the potential drawbacks in decisions before they materialize. Often, our fears are smaller than they seem when we plot them out, as Tim Ferriss’ fear setting exercise has proven to me. However, it’s when that future thinking of potential negative outcomes becomes rumination that it turns from productive to harmful, which ultimately leads to stress.
This realization has made me more deliberate in my approach. Now, when thinking about the future, I am extremely conscious of the tipping point where future thinking devolves into rumination. I will continue to build contingency plans for potential negative outcomes while positioning myself to take advantage of future opportunities. However, I’ve realized there are many stressful situations that are better navigated by simply being in the present. In being present in the moment, I am able to contain the stress that I experience each day and by doing so, I’m able to ultimately improve my overall health and wellbeing.
In my experience: stress less about the future, and you’ll stress less, period.
コメント