Turn stress into resilience
with a positive mindset

If you ask any professional how things are going, chances are their answer will start with: “busy.” Busy with work, with family, socializing. Somewhere along the way, we have come to see stress as a side effect of busyness. We now associate it with something negative. Something that needs to be resolved or discharged. A shame really, because fundamentally it is not an enemy. On the contrary, it is a helper, a signal.

We often think that stress is a culprit, but what if it is actually a signal you can use? Maybe it’s time to stop pushing this feeling away and explore it. Once you understand how stress works, you will deal with it differently.

Not interference, but a signal

First, let’s get rid of one persistent misconception: that stress is inherently bad. Basically, it is a perfectly natural physical as well as neurological reaction. It makes you alert, helps you perform and grow. We call positive stress eustress: healthy tension that gives you just that extra push to take on challenges. Think of the little boost right before a presentation or the adrenaline that provides focus during a sports game. In such situations, your body gets ready to react sharply. This is healthy and functional.

We roughly distinguish two forms of stress:

• Acute stress: A brief, healthy spike. Think of a sudden deadline or an exciting conversation. Your body reacts, and then recovery follows.

• Chronic stress: When that alarm system stays on for too long. Your head stops coming to rest, and your brain becomes overloaded.

Does that natural rhythm of action and recovery get out of balance? Then the alarm system stays on continuously and stress becomes more of a burden than a helper. Stress in itself is not the problem. The deciding factor is how you deal with it. And that is exactly where your mindset comes in, because it plays the leading role in this.

Stress through a different lens

The same stressful situation can be experienced very differently by two people. One sees a deadline as crippling, the other as an opportunity to be sharp. So the difference is not in the situation, but in the way you look at it.

The great thing is that your brain is neuroplastic. That means you can learn to handle stress stimuli differently. Research by Crum, Salovey & Achor (2013) shows that people with a ‘stress-is-enhancing mindset’ recover better, respond more resiliently and even heal faster physically. For them, stress becomes a learning opportunity rather than a burden. In contrast, the “stress-is-debilitating mindset,” in which stress is automatically seen as harmful. As a result, it is more likely to turn to exhaustion and negative emotions.

Also, other research by Joelle Jobin (Carnegie Mellon University) confirms this: people with a positive mindset have generally have a lower stress baseline than people with a negative mindset. They experience stressful situations less violently, keep their heads cooler and appear to be better able to regulate their stress. That positive mindset contributes to more control over your own reaction. People with a negative mindset are more likely to have trouble regulating the part of the brain that becomes overactive during stressful situations. In short, having a positive mindset keeps your stress level manageable. Not because the situation changes, but because you look at that situation differently. And therefore acting differently.

Discharge vs. regulate

Yet we flock to find ways to release stress. Sports, Netflix, or even a Rage Room, complete with hammer and safety glasses. Does it relieve? Sometimes. Does it really help? That’s another question. That discharge provides temporary relief, but rarely leads to real change.

Really learning to manage stress requires more than an hour of unloading. It requiresrequires that aforementioned regulation: learning to recognize what is happening and consciously adjust accordingly. Do not suppress or explode, but investigate what the stress is trying to tell you. Perhaps you notice that you experience stress because you want to do everything alone. Or that you are always thinking in comparison to others. Or simply never really relax because your head is on nonstop.

A practical first step: do a mid-term check-in. Set a timer twice a day and ask yourself: What am I feeling, and what do I need? Just dwelling on these questions takes you out of autopilot.

Control over your stress system

Maybe you’re someone who gets rid of stress by working even harder. Or conversely, someone who gets easily overstimulated and withdraws. Or you’re somewhere in between. Whatever your pattern: it starts with recognition. And with a willingness to explore what lies underneath. See stress as valuable information. The way you look at it determines whether it overloads your brain or actually makes you more resilient.

At YEARTH, we see professionals every day who want to get a grip on stress. They do so by slowing down. Reflecting. Then by making conscious choices. Want to learn how to use your thinking patterns as direction instead of blockage? In our training course Master your Mindset you explore how to turn your view on stress into resilience and growth. Practical, in-depth and always with ownership.