START WITH 2 BIG IDEAS
Big idea 1
The key to understanding your relationship with stress starts with a big idea:
Watch David explain.
A lightbulb moment
Pressure and stress are two different things:
People often attribute their high stress levels to external factors like a demanding boss, a difficult partner, tight deadlines, or conflicting commitments. However, it is not these pressures themselves that inevitably cause stress, but rather how each individual interprets and reacts to them.
Understanding that external events do not cause stress, but how you interpret and react to them is a lightbulb moment for many people.
Big idea 2
For pressure to turn into stress, it needs one key ingredient.
Watch David explain.
RECOGNISE Rumination
Rumination is when you play the same thought over and over again in your head and attach a negative emotion to it.
We’re not saying avoid thinking about the future (planning), reflecting on the past, or being present. Those are healthy practices. Rumination is when you attach a negative emotion to those thoughts.
It’s worth noting that Rumination is not always obvious, and it can feel like it is helping. It can feel like you are working things out in your head, but the problem is that if there is no positive action, it just causes you stress!
The skill lies in recognising Rumination for what it is.
TODAY'S ACTION
- Understand the difference between pressure and stress and learn to recognise when pressure turns into stress for you.
- Learn to spot when you are playing the same thought over in your head & attaching a NEGATIVE emotion to it.
Tomorrow, we will start to show you how to stop rumination in its tracks.