Why Stress is Good for You.

Read time: 2.5 min.

Stress used to frighten me to death.

News headlines like these didn't help either:

• "Stress is Society's #1 Silent Killer—Are You at Risk?"

• "New Study Reveals: Chronic Stress Could Be Cutting Your Life Short"

• "The Deadly Consequences of Stress: Why It’s More Dangerous Than You Think"

It led me to believe that stress is inherently bad.

Every time I felt stress hit, my mind would go:

‘’Oh no, I shouldn’t be feeling this. This is damaging my health.’’

But once I read this study, this idea got swept away for good.

The study tracked 30,000 adults in the United States for eight years.

They asked the participants:

• "How much stress have you experienced in the last year?"

Next, they also asked:

• "Do you believe that stress is harmful for your health?"

Then they used public death records to find out who died.

The result: people who experienced a lot of stress in the previous year had a 43% increased risk of dying.

Sounds obvious, right?

But here's where things get really interesting.

It was only true for those who believed stress was harmful to their health.

The equally stressed people who didn’t view stress as harmful had the lowest risk of death of anyone in the study.

Even lower than people reporting very little stress.

This blew my mind.

The issue is not stress itself, but your response to it.

Since I read the study, I no longer want to eliminate stress.

I made it my mission to better manage my response to it.

But beware, I’m talking about acute stress here, like:

• Riding a roller coaster

• Competing in a game

• Going on a first date

Not for chronic stress:

• Being overworked

• Financial hardship

• Relationship problems

The next time your heart is pounding from sudden stress—remember this article.

Think to yourself:

‘’This is my body helping me rise to the challenge.’’

Realize acute stress is your companion, not your enemy.

It gives you maximum focus, alertness, and energy.

Ultimately, short-term stress is a source of great power.

How will you use that power?

Thanks for reading.

Much love,

— Martijn