As a club operator, you’ve probably experienced your fair share of extreme stress. Maybe it resulted from having to fire a poor-performing employee, opening a new location, a renovation, implementing a new program or your personal life. Regardless where the stress came from, it probably wasn’t fun to experience.
In a TED Talk by Kelly McGonigal titled “How to Make Stress Your Friend,” McGonigal confessed that as a clinical Psychologist, until recently, she preached that stress makes you sick. According to McGonigal, for years, she believed that stress was the enemy.
Now, as a result of study conducted by Harvard University, she no longer believes that’s the case. The study found that believing stress is harmful to your health is in fact the enemy, and what’s harming your health — not necessarily stress itself. In fact, according to the study, people who didn’t believe stress was harmful to your health, were no more likely to die than Americans that experienced very little stress.
In fact, McGonigal now believes that stress can actually be beneficial to your health and performance. According to the study, telltale signs of stress — such as increased breathing or a quickened heart rate — are actually the result of your body preparing you to better handle stressful situations and take better action. As a result, instead of getting rid of stress, McGonigal would like to help you become better at managing it.
The next time you’re in a stressful situation, McGonigal suggested noticing the signs of stress, and being encouraged by them. After all, if a quickened heart rate is a sign your body is preparing you to better handle a situation, you should by default, be better equipped for it. And, by thinking positively about stress, your health will be better for it as well.
You can view McGonigal’s TED Talk on stress in its entirety below.
Rachel Zabonick is the assistant editor for Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@clubsolutionsmagazine.com. Reach out to her about exciting events or programs your club has implemented, or to share the amazing accomplishments of a member.
