disengaged as we become purely focused on survival. A series of chemicals are released into our bloodstream. Our breathing increases. The body prepares to fight or flee by preparing itself for physical action. Our pupils dilate and our sight sharpens. Our heart rate increases. Impulses quicken and we become less aware of pain. Blood is taken away from the digestive system and directed toward our muscles and limbs so that we can run or fight.

This was a highly effective response when stone-age man would come face-to-face with a sabre tooth tiger and needed to react quickly in order to survive. However, today’s saber tooth tigers take a new guise: constant pressure, demanding clients, heavy workloads, changing and irrational expectations, back-to-back meetings, angry bosses, backbiting among staff, personal relationship challenges – all of which serve to trigger stress responses and, if chronic, can damage permanently your mental and physical well-being. Our stone age man could at least take a break once the threat had passed but for many of us our daily lives keep us in a perpetual state of stress. And even worse, it can creep up on your so gradually you don’t notice how bad it has become until it stops.

But isn’t some stress good for you? I would have to respond with a resounding no to this question. One of the biggest misconceptions in the field of performance is that we constantly need a certain amount of stress in our lives to perform. What is really meant here is that we need the right amount of pressure and challenge to perform. Believing that we need stress to perform will only serve to maintain a potentially dangerous cycle of working too closely to deadlines, shooting from the hip when making decisions, increasing the likelihood of making errors, creating havoc in relationships and becoming hooked on adrenaline rushes in order to perform.

So how can you tell if pressure or stress is already driving your performance? There are many common signs such as an inability to “switch off” from work or get a good night’s sleep, digestion problems, or the need for a drink the minute you get home. Other common signs include having a feeling of being overwhelmed, anxious, worried and irritated. You may show other signs of impaired judgement such as confrontational behaviour toward work colleagues and family members, playing the “blame game”, not taking self-responsibility and adopting a victim mentality.

In contrast, working at optimal performance is associated with clear perceptual thinking and positive emotional states such as feeling healthily challenged and positively stretched. You are more likely to feel happy, engaged, enthusiastic and demonstrate a “can do” attitude.

Take a few moments and consider where you spend most of your time on the performance curve triangle below. What percentage of the time are you operating in the ‘optimum performance zone’? A lack of challenge and pressure can also be detrimental leading to rust-out whereas too much pressure, coupled with a reduced perception of coping can quickly lead to feeling overwhelmed and eventually to burnout. Finding the right balance is a challenge and it differs from person to person depending on your resilience.

Stress will be always felt in the body and this is what ultimately causes damage in the long term. Stress is known to increase the risks associated with:

• cardio-vascular disease
• heart disease
• high blood pressure
• weight management
• diabetes
• depression
• burn-out

However, it’s the day-to-day stresses that accumulate over time that are potentially far more dangerous than the isolated stressful events that we all experience during the course of our lives. It may be difficult for you to recognise the symptoms of stress especially since a lot of your stress-inducing behaviours are likely to be familiar and even comfortable to you. You may just put them down to “the way you’ve always been” or not even be aware that it is possible to change them.

When is stress inevitable? There are ultimately times of heavy workloads, tight deadlines, complex transactions, change and events in your personal life that can increase the likelihood of you becoming susceptible to stress. However, those who have learned to master their stress will have effective systems in place for recognising the early warning signs and take appropriate action to reduce their harmful effects. Equally so, not everyone feels stressed by the same events which tells us that it is not the event itself that causes stress but rather how you perceive and respond to it. Just think of the many different ways people respond in traffic jams - some start honking their horns and you can almost see their blood pressure rising, others use it as an opportunity to listen to some music and grab some thinking time.

So what can you do to reduce the negative impact of stress?

• Start to recognise your own symptoms of stress.
• Identify situations and relationships that are likely to trigger your own stress responses.
• What do you notice about your own thoughts, emotions and bodily reactions in these situations? For example, many people experience anxiety when giving a presentation. They are likely to feel anxious and nervous and experience tension in the chest, heart racing, shallow breathing, changes to their voice and sweaty palms. Thoughts may be focused on looking foolish in front of colleagues, getting tongue-tied and a fear of not being able to answer a question adequately.
• Often our thoughts are the real causes of stress for us and we can help by changing these to see a more balanced style of thinking. The overwhelming majority of things we worry about never happen. Do you tend to overplay your role in events? Do you see the future as scenarios of catastrophes? Are you prone to black and white thinking without seeing the shades of grey? Do you tend to discount the positive and focus on the negative?
• The hormones associated with stress and negative emotions reside in your body long after the stressful event has passed. The hormone cortisol is known to cause long term damage to the immune system. However you can also build your own protective buffer through regular exercise, a healthy diet, good sleeping habits and spending time on activities that you enjoy.
• Become more body aware. We spend most of our time at work in our heads and yet stress is primarily contained within the body. Notice where you most feel it - tight jaw, headaches, stomach, shoulders? Use this as your early warning system to take some preventative action. Simply noticing the tension during the day and then relaxing that part of the body will already start to make a difference.
• Know when to ask for support. Asking for help is often mistakenly considered a sign of weakness yet it is a strength to recognise your limitations and to tap into other resources. Talk to an understanding boss, colleague, friend or spouse who are good role models in the way they manage stress. However, try to avoid excessive moaning and venting to others as it actually just keeps triggering the stress response and stress hormones keep flooding into the body. Ask instead for tips and guidance and be prepared to do something differently.
• Clarify what your own personal needs are that help you to perform at your best. They may include personal time, setting work/life boundaries around email and your Blackberry, good sleep, exercise, meditation, spirituality, to name but a few.
• Take time for renewal. Just as in nature, humans have periods of growth and vitality followed by periods of dormancy. Dedicate time on a regular basis for those activities that you personally enjoy. Rather than being self-indulgent, this will actually help you to build your personal reservoir of resilience so that you can ultimately perform at higher levels both professionally and personally.

Finally, if stress has become a serious problem for you, contact us so that we can build a programme to meet your needs. There is so much that can be done to reduce stress and increase your overall well-being and performance in all areas of your life.

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