stress! has the government got it wrong?

Note: This article was written in August 2003. At that time, a new government initiative was brought out in relation to stress in the workplace.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) defined stress as "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them." It was estimated that, in the UK, stress-related costs amount to some £3.7 billion (USD6 billion) in 1995/96 prices! As a result, the HSE piloted a set of draft standards, which could eventually become mandatory for organisations to implement.

In the US, it is similar. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work reported that over half of the 550 million working days lost annually in the U.S. from absenteeism are stress related.

Indeed, stress has become a central part of many of our lives today. I fully support the intention of HSE initiative, but I believe that it is rather more basic than that. As much as organisations can help, at the end of the day, the most powerful remedy rests with each individual – to change their own way of thinking and self-management, so that it is no longer about managing stress, but about not having stress happen in the first place.

It’s possible! I've done it, and many of my clients have too.

Here's the article.

Has The Government Got It Wrong?

Have you ever come across an individual who just takes everything into their stride? Nothing seems to faze them. At the other extreme, there are others where every little thing is just too much to handle and they seem to have more than their fair share of "catastrophe".

What is stress? Is it external or internal to us? Many people would say that it is external. The trigger is external, but whether a person then feels stressed depends on their own internal response. That internal response boils down to the thought that has the person feeling out of control or out of their depth. At the most basic level, it generates a feeling of fear, albeit of varying degrees.

Essentially, stress happens when we have two concurrent but conflicting thoughts. For example, "I have to do this by the end of today," and "I don’t have enough time". Or, "I’ve just been delegated this piece of work," and "I don’t know what to do or where to start".

If you look at it more deeply, it comes down to a feeling of lack or inadequacy – inadequate time, resources, ability, confidence, boundaries and so on.

Many people worry about whether they will get things right, whether they’ll be able to meet their deadlines, whether they are capable of doing their job, whether they’ll get "found out"... and often, these anxieties can be ill-founded. Some revert to drugs and alcohol as an escape.

We have learnt very well how to go down the spiral of, "What if it all goes wrong?" We almost feel that we must, in order to protect ourselves and put contingency plans into place. That is good, but once the plans are in place, why then do we continue to worry about, "What if it all goes wrong?"

Sometimes, the people who appear "laid back" are the ones who get things done with the least amount of stress. Yet, often, and especially in the work place, appearing laid back is frowned upon. If they are getting their work done and simply not getting het up about it, isn’t that OK?

Not About Positive Thinking

There are many things that can be done to help manage and handle stress; breathing techniques, taking time out, meditation, relaxation and so on. But here’s what I have found to be the most powerful - taking control of your thoughts, and following on from that, your subsequent approach and attitude towards things. When you take control of your thoughts and manage them more effectively, not only are you less likely to feel stressed, but you are also more likely to not feel stressed in the first instance.

It’s not about positive thinking either. It’s about thinking thoughts which are aligned. You know if your thoughts are aligned because any negative feeling that you have will disappear. For example, thinking, "It will all work out OK," but feeling unconvinced isn’t going to work. Some other thought leading to a different action which causes the negative feeling to dissipate is needed.

No-one can decide what is right for you. Only you can know because only you know how you feel inside. It often takes courage to change your responses. Saying no, taking a lunch hour, leaving work earlier than you’ve been used to, approaching problems from a "What’s right?" perspective. The key is to start, at least in some small way.

Consider this Principle

We are in charge of our own thinking.

Action Points

1. Continue with last month’s action points and in particular, watch out for the meanings that you assign to words and events.

2. Realise that not everything is personal to you. It may just have more to do with the other person than you!

3. Stop beating yourself up.

4. Stop playing the continuing game of, "What if it all goes wrong?" once you’ve put your contingency plans into place. Change the game to, "What if it all goes right?" and consider the idea of, "I’ll cross that bridge when (if) I come to it".

5. When you find yourself feeling paralysed from a feeling of lack of time, know that you can only focus on doing one thing at a time (Multi-tasking is a whole new topic which relates to getting a different types of things done). Take stock, prioritise and then focus on the task at hand with passion. Delegate what you can.

6. Take a breather. Find a way to take a mini-vacation each day. Remember how you feel when you are on holiday? Deliberately re-create that, if only for ten minutes during your working day.

7. Let go of those thoughts which you know aren’t doing you any good.

8. Instead of noticing what’s missing, look for what’s working well and then look to how you can raise the bar.

Quote

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." - Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

"To be free of destructive stress don't sweat the small stuff and by realizing that all stuff is small." - Author Unknown

"Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one." - Dr. Hans Selye

Back to Earlier Articles