What if we've been trying to get rid of the very thing that brings opportunity for our greatest level of performance, meaning and purpose? It's time we reconsider the role of stress in our life. Stress is only energy, and we have the power to wield it in a way that can help us rather than hinder our progress. More stress only means, more power- but first we must understand the tools to have it begin working for...
What if we've been trying to get rid of the very thing that brings opportunity for our greatest level of performance, meaning and purpose? It's time we reconsider the role of stress in our life. Stress is only energy, and we have the power to wield it in a way that can help us rather than hinder our progress. More stress only means, more power- but first we must understand the tools to have it begin working for us, rather than against us.
It's exhausting reading the constant headlines about reducing and getting rid of stress to better our collective health. We're all well aware of the stress and mental health crisis most of us face, but the solutions that we've been offered are not only out of date, but they are also often counterproductive! Has anyone in the history of stress ever calmed down by being told to calm down (or trying to calm down themselves for that matter)?
We don't need calm. We need control.
Afterall, Olympic athletes don't break world records at practice. They break them at the height of stress and pressure. With the right framework, stress can become our greatest competitive advantage.
Backed by decades of research, Springboard provides a detailed roadmap for profoundly changing our professional and personal lives through the T-minus-3 Framework.
- The Tiger, invites the stress in, rather than use energy to fight against what we cannot control. We allow our heart rates to increase, our hormones to send us into fight, flight, and freeze mode and ultimately recognize that our stressors, (even the truly awful diagnoses) don't typically kill us in the first three minutes. With a better understanding of the full purpose of the stress response, (which also initiates and deepens our connections to others) we can become more comfortable in the stress and start to invite the tiger in, finding new adventures and opportunities to take charge of our future as we do.
- The Transfer, is the shift in energy that follows the three minutes of screaming terror that our initial stress response was built for. If we've made it here, past the tiger, we now can take back control. But this is where so often we get it wrong. We try to dampen our response, push back against the natural state of arousal in an aim to feel calm, rather than change the emotional valence of that high alert state. You can't force your heart to beat slower or wish away the cortisol careening through your veins but we do have the opportunity to control how we interpret those signals. The transfer stage details how we can chose another emotion to serve us in that heightened state and beyond.
- The Trajectory, is the final stage in the T-minus-3 technique. With the stress energy now organized through a reinterpretation of its meaning, where do we wish to point that energy? How can we begin to use stress to move us not just away from fear (a state of anything but ....failure or rejection or...) but instead toward a goal or new opportunity?
Told in a compelling personal narrative with surprising truths gleaned from proprietary research, as well as case studies, interviews, and validated tests the reader can use to deeper their own personal understanding of their cumulative stress, Springboard will impart fresh, actionable tools that anyone can use to channel their peak performance even under the most challenging circumstances.
