1 Embrace adversity
To thrive under pressure is to stay well while staying challenged. To thrive under pressure is not to avoid adversity but to embrace it with a sense of challenge, confidence, commitment, and control, says relationship expert Walt Schafer. “People strong in the four Cs are more likely to stay well – indeed to thrive during periods of adversity, turmoil and change – than people with the opposite attitudes of threat, self-doubt, alienation, and helplessness.”
2 Strive to be a B
Whereas Type A personalities tend to isolate themselves socially because of being too driven, Type B personalities are more able to take the pace. “Rather than denying or retreating, thrivers, as opposed to non-thrivers, report staying engaged and tend to interpret stressful events in a positive way. They also display low Type A behaviour and seldom report feeling rushed or pressed for time.”
3 Be optimistic
Says professor of psychology and author of Learned Optimism: How to Change your Mind and your Life (Pocket Books), Dr Martin Seligman, “For my whole life, the field of psychology has concentrated on correcting what’s wrong. But rather than trying to minimise what’s worst in life, we should maximise what’s best. When pessimistic people run into obstacles in the workplace, in relationships or in sports, they give up. When optimistic people encounter obstacles, they try harder. They go the extra mile.”
4 Meditate
When you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious or perceive danger because your sense of how things should be is violated, stress triggers a myriad of symptoms, from increased heart rate and blood sugar levels to weakened immune system, halted digestion and accelerated ageing. As countless studies have shown, meditation is the most effective way of reversing these bodily symptoms by expanding awareness and accessing inner stillness. Deepak Chopra’s primordial sound meditation uses a personal mantra. Just half an hour a day provides more psychological rest than a full night’s sleep and increases energy and creativity.
5 Rewire your mind
When you start criticising yourself, your self-esteem drops, which increases anxiety and lowers performance. Notice when you are being hard on yourself and change your inner dialogue to more positive self-coaching.
6 Breathe deeply
An excellent technique to reduce muscular tension and focus on something positive, breathing deeply through your abdominal cavity or stomach reduces physical tension and helps clear the mind. After practising for a couple of weeks, you should be able to relax with just a couple of deep breaths which you can practise any time – in the car, at work or at home.
7 Harness your Mojo
Described by author Marshall Goldsmith, as “the positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts from the inside and radiates to the outside”, mojo is the vital ingredient which adds meaning and value to one’s life. In a professional capacity, performance often wanes when there is a gap between the professional and relaxed selves. He advises stepping back and analysing how often we drift out of professional mode into relaxed mode at work. “Avoid operating in relaxed mode. Assume that people are always paying attention and that you need to be a consistent role model as a leader.”
8 Slow down
Anxiety tends to make you feel tense, and speeds up behaviour on the court, field or in the office. If you’re walking faster, rushing to get a game going or speeding up the pace of your routines, make an effort to slow down. Take your time during warm-ups; relax between each shot. Be more deliberate without over-analysing the situation.
9 Normalise stress
For resilient stress-hardy personalities like New York architect Michael Jones, juggling multiple projects and surviving on four hours of sleep is normal. “If I didn’t feel like I was part of something important, I wouldn’t be able to do this,” he says. Psychologists say these kind of people tend to think of stress as a normal part of life, rather than something that’s unfair. They all appear to have early experiences in difficult environments that taught them how to regulate stress levels and can sense when they’re near their breaking point. “There’s this strong desire to go back to similar sources of stress they grew up with to master it.
10 Make it meaningful
“When people start feeling that what they’re doing is not meaningful, they take more sick days, begin looking for another job and complain of health problems,” says professor of psychiatry, Dr Andy Morgan.
