When, how you feel and think about stress is reframed it can be used to help with human performance. Stress can and does enhance not diminish performance. When you are in a situation that is stressful, visualize how the blood vessels around your heart, brain and eyes have dilated in order to get more blood to these crucial organs. Your heart rate speeds up, your visual field expands and your brain begins to release very power neurotransmitters…Dopamine, norepinephrine, and endorphins. These help you focus and think with clarity. These same neurotransmitters kick in when your fight or flight system kicks in. This is your bodies natural source of FLOW that can save your life when called into action. Instead of fighting this and naming stress “bad” next time you find yourself in a situation that causes the release of these neurotransmitters take a second if you can to close your eyes and perform the simple exercise above. Than tell yourself this is something you CAN handle. This is something you can use. Learn how to make Stress work for you.
Take a minute now and write down how stress can be beneficial to you. Write it in your phone or where you can, so the next time you find yourself in a situation that causes you stress you can read it again. Read it, feel it, believe it and soon you will notice how stress really does enhance your clarity of thought and performance.
Make it a great day and remember to Live Healthstrong!