Eustress for Success

Few people understand that there are two types of stress; as discovered by Dr. Hans Selye; distress (bad stress) and eustress (good stress). Distress is the disrupting, troublesome, and catastrophic form of stress. Conversely, eustress is the stress that enables a person to get in the zone, be motivated by the challenge, and enjoy the experience. Unlike distress, eustress results in better health, accomplishment, pride, euphoric feelings, and success.

Almost everything, from playing cards, to falling in love, to being on the frontline of war, involves stress. Therefore, not experiencing stress is synonymous with not experiencing life. Unfortunately, people who are quick to identify all stress as bad, concentrate on reducing or removing stress altogether. Essentially, these people reduce the joy of living. However, as explained by Diaz (2004), the type of stress experienced is dependent on how the person feeling the stress perceives it (para. 8). People who define and manage stress correctly do not concentrate on stress reduction, but rather enjoy greater amounts of eustress, and as such, enjoy a fully lived and enriching life.

Most working parents feel eustress upon making the decision to continue their education. However, after starting college, many allow distress to emerge as expectations and additional demands pile up. To prevent distress, the parent must consciously remember to capture the several opportunities for eustress by reminding him or herself of the reason he or she took the challenge and the successes that will result from perceiving and managing the stress correctly.

Just as food is as essential for life as it can be harmful, so is stress. A person who consumes a large amount of food requires extra exercise and more healthy food than unhealthy food to survive. Likewise, high-stressed individuals such as a working parent who is also a college student, process a lot of stress (food). People who process large amounts of stress require mental exercise and more eustress (good food) than distress (bad food). Individuals who embrace and define eustress, create goals, take action, reflect, recover, and repeat the process are consistently healthier, more productive, and routinely successful.

Defining Stress:

The good feeling of eustress is quickly identified when an individual falls in love, wins a race, or says “I do.” at a wedding. The bad feeling of distress is equally simple to identify when an individual develops a terminal illness, loses a child, or gets divorced. However, without practice, it is not as simple to differentiate much of the stress people experience daily. Though symptoms such as an increased heart rate, sweating, or other sensations, such as butterflies in the stomach, make it easy to determine if stress exists, determining the type is more difficult.

Two ways suggested by Lenson (2002) to differentiate between eustress and distress are determining how much control a person has over the stressful situation and if there is the potential for a desirable outcome (p. 15-17). If there is no control over the stressful event, or a desirable outcome possible, such as the premature death of a family member, then distress exists. Conversely, if there is control, and a possible desirable outcome, then the potential for distress or eustress exists. In this case, the individual should seek ways to ensure eustress prevails over distress.

People often allow initial thoughts and feelings to define stress. For example, a messy closet can create bad feelings and result in distress. If not managed correctly the closet remains messy and distress increases. However, though thoughts and feelings are useful in determining if stress exists, they alone do not determine which type of stress it is. When a person first defines the stress as eustress, by realizing that he or she has control over the situation and there is a desirable outcome, the rewards of eustress begin to emerge, goals are set, action begins, and the task is completed. This individual views the situation as an opportunity rather than a hindrance. By completing the task, the person develops a sense of accomplishment and success. Additionally, time that would have been spent distressing about the dirty closet is now available for other more productive things. As Dr. Seyle (1976) concluded, how the individual chooses to view and cope with potential eustressful events determines whether the stress will be distress or eustress (p.138).

Creating Goals:

A working parent who is also a college student may face a difficult class assignment, a meeting with the boss, and a PTA conference in addition to their many other daily requirements, all in a single week. This parent has a great deal of control over the stressful week ahead as well as several desirable outcomes. Therefore, the potential for eustress exists. If the parent does not recognize eustress, distress will prevail. However, by recognizing the eustressful opportunity he or she will avoid distress and should perform the actions required to reap the rewards. The first step toward obtaining the full effect of eustress is to create well-defined goals.

Good goals clearly define the most desirable outcome and the steps required to achieve it. To succeed in the week ahead the parent must define what he or she hopes to accomplish at the PTA conference, each requirement of the college assignment, and clear details concerning the meeting with the boss. Doing so will enable the parent to determine the resources and time required to accomplish each task successfully.

Additionally, the parent should place the goals in an accessible location such as a daily journal or planner and post the desired outcomes clearly on a bathroom mirror, vehicle visor, or next to a computer monitor. The written goals and outcomes will serve as a constant and encouraging reminder of why he or she is performing the tasks and what the rewards are for doing so.

Taking Action:

To experience success, create goals and action plans and then take action. Without action, goals and action plans are nothing more than wishful thinking. Develop action plans by reviewing the steps required to achieve goals, writing out the steps, and scheduling time for each of them. A day planner is an excellent tool for placing the descriptive action plans in their scheduled time slots. Evaluating the importance of every activity that takes place in a day is the best way to ensure the most important activities occur. Reviewing the desired outcome of goals and comparing the actions required to actual activities is a good way to ensure actions result in the successful completion of goals.

Stressed individuals are wise to remind themselves that actual activities determine true priorities. If watching television is not on the priority list, but is occurring, then television is more of a priority than the listed items. If television time is necessary, then television time must be included in written action plans so the time is allocated rather than stolen. Stolen time often results in distress. However, permission to watch television results in relaxation and eustress.

Reflecting on Results:

Reflection helps to end bad habits and develop new good habits. For example, prior to discovering the benefits of eustress, laundry may be an ongoing problem. After discovering eustress, an individual recognizes the eustress opportunity, creates a goal, takes action, and completes the laundry. Only by reflecting on the actions that led to the completion of the laundry, acknowledging the good feeling of clean laundry, and relishing in the accomplishment, will the individual be able to continue experiencing the joy and benefits of eustress.

While reflecting on the outcome, create new or revised written goals that include action plans. E.g., reflect on the distress of dirty clothes and the eustressful feelings of clean clothes. Write down the bad habits that result in stacks of dirty laundry and the good habits that result in clean laundry. Post a reminder in an often-viewed location to assist in remembering why the simple task of doing laundry consistently is better than putting it off. No matter how large or small the achievement, successful individuals reflect on the outcome as well as what actions led to it.

Recovering:

Loehr and Schwartz (2003) explained that all living organisms “follow life-sustaining rhythms,” spring follows winter, the earth rotates, and humans sleep. Without oscillation between stress and recovery, the human body fails to function properly. “Healthy patterns of activity and rest lie at the heart of our capacity for full engagement, maximum performance and sustained health” (p. 30). To achieve success, action plans and schedules must include recovery.

For optimal health and productivity, individuals should practice approximately 15 minutes of recovery for every 90 minutes of stress, in addition to consistent sleeping habits, healthy eating, and adequate exercise. For example, if one schedules eight hours per night for sleep, the remaining 16 hours should be broken into 90-minute intervals with 15-minute breaks between each interval. That is 2.5 hours of recovery time, or 10 recovery-breaks, each day. The recovery-breaks should include activities such as healthy snacking, exercise, meditation, power naps, and reflection.

Ironically, those who believe there is no time for recovery, usually spend an equal or greater amount of time experiencing distress and complaining about problems. However, according to the Mayo Clinic Staff (2007) when one takes breaks to clear the mind “new perspectives and new ways of handling […] problems” emerge. (para. 6) Without breaks, the mind and body wear down. With breaks, the mind and body are re-energized and productivity increases.

Repeating:

People who permit long periods of stress to exist without recovery time burn out, become depressed, and develop illnesses. These same people may end up resting too much due to burn out or depression. However, just as too much stress is unhealthy, too much rest results in lethargy, thus, accomplishes nothing but the potential for more distress. People experiencing high-stress lifestyles succeed by maintaining a healthy balance, or oscillation, between stress and recovery. To ensure life is lived productively, happily, healthily, and successfully, follow stress with recovery and follow recovery with more stress consistently.

In conclusion, successful individuals with high-stress lifestyles are able to keep going and succeed consistently because they accurately define stress, develop clear goals, take action, reflect, recover, and repeat the behavior. Successful people understand that “Stress is the spice of life” (Seyle, 1976, p. 83) therefore, successful people consciously and consistently eustress for success.

References:

Diaz, D. (2004). Stress management: lecture. Retrieved December 9, 2007,

from http://academic.cuesta.cc.ca.us/wholehealth/lectext/strtxt.htm

Lenson, B. (2002). Good stress bad stress. New York: Marlowe & Company.

Loehr, J., & Schwartz, T. (2003). The power of full engagement. New York: The Free Press.

Mayo Clinic Staff. (2007). Meditation: take a stress-reduction break wherever you are.

Retrieved December 9, 2007, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/HQ01070

Selye, H. (1974). Stress without distress. New York: Lippincott and Crowell.