Rethinking Stress: What If It's Not The Enemy

Stress gets a bad rap.

It’s blamed for burnout, anxiety, and exhaustion. But what if stress wasn’t the villain? What if, instead, it was the key to growth, resilience, and peak performance?

The research is clear: Not all stress is bad. And the way you think about it? That changes everything.

The Science of Stress: It’s Not All Doom and Gloom

Stress is your body’s built-in response to a challenge. It’s there to help you focus, adapt, and take action.

• When you wake up in the morning? Cortisol kicks in to get you going.
• When you hit the gym? More cortisol—helping you push through.
• Before a big presentation? Yep, cortisol again—sharpening your focus.

The goal isn’t to eliminate stress—it’s to use it wisely.

Good Stress vs. Bad Stress

✅ Good Stress (G. Fink, 2016): Releases cortisol and catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) to boost focus, motivation, and learning. It’s what helps you rise to the occasion.

❌ Bad Stress: When stress becomes chronic, too much cortisol floods your system—leading to brain fog, emotional exhaustion, and impaired memory.

The key? Knowing the difference and managing your stress mindset.

What’s Your Stress Mindset?

Dr. Kelly McGonigal’s research shows that stress isn’t just about fight-or-flight—it’s about how we perceive stress.  Do you see stress as something you can handle and learn from? Or as something that will overwhelm you?

McGonigal (2015) found that your body reacts completely differently depending on your mindset.

Here are the three ways stress can show up:

🔹 Fight-or-Flight: Your survival mode. Quick reactions, heightened alertness. Great for emergencies—but exhausting if you stay here too long.

🔹 The Challenge Response: Your power-up mode. Releases dopamine and endorphins, making you feel energised, confident, and laser-focused. The ideal stress response for peak performance.

🔹 Tend-and-Befriend: Your connection mode. Oxytocin and serotonin kick in, making you more empathetic, collaborative, and socially aware. This stress response fuels relationships and teamwork.

Reframing Stress: The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

Here’s the game-changer: Stress is only harmful if you believe it is.

McGonigal’s research found that people who saw stress as a challenge instead of a threat had higher resilience, lower burnout, and even healthier hearts.

💡 Example: That nervous buzz before a big moment? That’s stress. But instead of fearing it, what if you saw it as your brain gearing up to perform at its best?

Flow: When Stress Works For You, Not Against You

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research shows that when we push ourselves just beyond our comfort zone—and we’re fully engaged—we hit a state called Flow.

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You’ve been there before:

✅ Time disappears.

✅ You’re completely immersed.

✅ When you’re done, you feel energised, not drained.

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That’s stress used right.

How to Make Stress Work for You

✅ See it as a signal. Stress isn’t telling you to panic—it’s telling you that something matters.

✅ Channel it. That energy surge? Use it to take action instead of overthinking.

✅ Balance it. Short bursts of stress = good. Never-ending stress = not good. Prioritise recovery.

Stress Isn’t the Enemy, It’s a Performance Tool

Stress isn’t something to avoid. It’s something to master.

When you know how to harness it, stress can:

🔥 Sharpen your thinking

🔥 Boost your confidence

🔥 Push you to new heights

So next time stress creeps in, ask yourself:

💭 How can I use this?

Because your brain is wired to thrive when you make stress work for you—not against you.

Stress isn’t the enemy, not knowing how to use it is. Let’s change that. 💡

📞 Book a call to learn how coaching can help you reframe stress and perform at your peak.

📥 Or download my Thriving in 2025 Toolkit for practical, science-backed strategies you can use today.

References:

• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow (1990)
• Dr. Kelly McGonigal, The Upside of Stress (2015)
• Bruce S. McEwen, Physiology and Neurobiology of Stress (2007)
• G. Fink, Stress: Definitions, Mechanisms, and Effects (2016)

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