How to Turn Your Stress into Success

Stress has become such a daily part of life that we just learn to accept it. Every person would like to lower their stress levels and lead a calmer, stress-free life. Although stress is viewed as something negative, stress also can be a source of energy and motivation that drives your success. In fact, without some stress in our lives, it would be very difficult to get things done.

Of course, long-term (chronic) stress negatively impacts on your health, relationships, and effectiveness. If stress takes over your life, it can lead to anxiety, panic disorder, heart disease, and trouble sleeping. Being under too much stress can prevent you from living a happy and fulfilled life.

Most people who are stressed out probably search online for “how to get rid of stress?” However, what if you could transform stress into a motiving factor that drives your success?

In this article, you will learn how to use stress to your advantage to become more successful in your pursuits.

The Difference Between Good Stress and Bad Stress

First of all, it is important to recognize how positive stress differs from negative stress.

A study published by the University of California says that stress can help push you to achieve your optimal performance. Short-term (acute) stress can make you more alert, improve behaviour, and boost cognitive performance.

The researchers based their findings on studies done on rats. The found that when the animals were exposed to brief stressful events, they developed new nerve cells in their brain. In time, this improved their mental performance and made them perform better.

Other scientists have found that what often makes stress good or bad is the person’s response to it. People with poor coping skills or few psychosocial resources tend to feel under stress more than ones who are optimistic and have developed good coping responses.

How to Covert Stress into Success

To make a success out of stressful events or situations, it’s essential to deal with stress properly. Stress can hamper your efforts in being successful just as trying to run in water takes a lot of effort and you don’t get very far.

How can you transform your stress into your success?

Identify factors causing stress

The first step in transforming stress into something you can use is to put the stress triggers into writing. One study found that labelling negative emotional experiences has a positive effect on the mind. Putting your fears, anxieties, and other stressful events into writing allows your brain to process them better.

Schedule the stress response

Another way to deal with stress in a more positive way is to schedule a time to deal with it. Hearing bad news can be like a dark cloud that looms over your day. This can happen if you allow the stress-causing events to dominate your thinking.

If you decide to set aside time to plan an appropriate response to later in the day, this immediately frees up your thought processes to deal with your current tasks. If the matter won’t wait and you need to take some kind of action, try to take some time out to calmly think about best response rather than reacting rashly.

Break stress into bite-sized chunks

Big problems or large projects can create stress that seems overwhelming. One way to prevent stress affecting your success is to break tasks or problems into more manageable parts.

For example, identifying the steps you need to take to accomplish individual parts of the project can help. You then need to set up a list of priorities and a timeframe for completing these smaller tasks. This will help to convert your stress into success as you will feel that you are in control.

Turn stress into a positive motivator

When used correctly, stress can be a positive force that can help you complete tasks to a higher standard. For example, responding appropriately to stress can make you more alert to resolving a conflict. Some people find that they are more productive when they are under a reasonable amount of pressure.

However, when using stress as a positive motivator, it is always important to take time out and relax. Stress can quickly become a negative issue in your life when it is constant, long-term, and endless.