The Upside of Stress

When I decided to go back to uni full-time and work part-time I realised that I need to be able to handle stress. I remember Kelly McGonigal's TED talk and decided to give this book a go, and I'm glad I did. Even though I've known on some that stress that was good for self growth, reading this book helped me reframe the narrative of stares in my mind. I've noticed that I'm the happiest when I'm a little stressed and now I know it's because when I'm stressed is when I have something to care about. My work and study stress has given me a purpose and it's only going to make me resilient and stronger.

Not bad, but the concept probably could be summarized with sufficient support in a NYT article. If you're really interested, it's worth the full read, otherwise the basics are:

1) Most of what we call “stress” is not “bad” for you (unless you think it is, in which case it can kill you)

2) You can change your physiological response to stress through a mindset shift, such as framing it as excitement instead of anxiety

I thought the most interesting part was that doctors effectively took the “stress is bad” hypothesis for granted, which likely resulted in tens of thousands of (at least premature) deaths.

Don't be afraid to get that second opinion!