On Purpose with Jay Shetty - 7 Ways Successful People Stay Calm at Work and Manage Stress More Effectively

Episode Date: August 2, 2019

We are all dealing with stress in our lives one way or another. Remember, it’s not the load that breaks you down it’s the way you carry it. In today’s episode of On Purpose, we analyze how str...ess really works in our lives, when feeling stressed out can be a good thing, and 7 ways to manage it more effectively. If you’re ready to learn how to keep your cool at work and in life give this episode a listen!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 I am Yom Le Van Zant and I'll be your host for The R Spot. Each week listeners will call me live to discuss their relationship issues. Nothing will tear a relationship down faster than two people with no vision. There's y'all are just floppin' around like fish out of water. Mommy, daddy, your ex, I'll be talking about those things and so much more. Check out the R-Spot on the iHeart video app Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts. The world of chocolate has been turned upside down. A very unusual situation.
Starting point is 00:00:37 You saw this tax-appcussion in our office. Chocolate comes from the cacao tree and recently, variety of cacao, thought to have been lost centuries ago, were redc covered in the Amazon. Now some chocolate makers are racing deep into the jungle to find the next game-changing chocolate, and I'm coming along. Listen to the obsessions of wild chocolate on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jay Shetty and on my podcast on purpose, I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most
Starting point is 00:01:12 incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Oprah, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Hart, Lewis Hamilton, and many, many more. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw, real-life stories behind their journeys and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Join the journey soon.
Starting point is 00:01:37 He literally said those words. He said, I don't know how far you think this social media stuff is going to go, but just so you know, you're not going anywhere and I own you. He literally said, to grow. Thank you so much for being here. I hope that you heard the incredible conversation that I had with Katie Sackoff last week and Lala Anthony the week before they truly have some phenomenal stories and insights to tell
Starting point is 00:02:19 and I can't wait for you to hear next week's guest as well. Make sure that you've subscribed rated rated, and reviewed this podcast. It means so much to me. And as you know, I'm always looking out for some of my favorite ones to share on Instagram. Make sure you tag me in your post with your insights about what you're learning and gaining from these podcasts, because that helps me deliver more of what you're looking for. And if there are any themes that you'd love me to cover in the Friday topics, any episodes that you'd love to hear, any ideas, anything you're challenged with, anything you're worried about, concerned about, or just wanting to learn and are enthusiastic about,
Starting point is 00:02:56 please let me know on Instagram and on Twitter because I'd love to include some of the recommended topics as I'm always trying to do. And that's actually how today's episode came about. I had so many of you sending me messages about this and I had so many of you tagging me saying, please do an episode on this topic. And so here it is, I want you to know that I'm listening, I'm there, I'm present, and therefore I'm creating this podcast
Starting point is 00:03:22 for each and every one of you who requested it. So today's podcast is called Seven Ways Successful People Stay Calm at Work and Manage Stress More Effectively. How many of you are experiencing stress or pressure on a daily basis because of your workplace, because of your work pressures, because of the challenges that you're set out by your bosses and managers. And how many of you are wondering how people stay calm? Because you see people who are calm, who are successful, who are focused, despite having the same amount of time in the
Starting point is 00:04:00 day, despite having the same amount of pressure at you, what are they doing differently? And for a long time, I realized and studied what people were doing right. And what was different about the way that they functioned. And everything I'm about to share with you today is tried and tested. See, everything I share every single week is totally tried and tested. It's things that I've experienced personally, things I've witnessed personally, and things that I've observed in people who have functioned with happiness and success in their lives. And so what I'm going to share with you today are things that you can actually test, actually experiment with, and I really hope that you're going to find one thing. Just one thing out of the seven that I want you to try this week. So here we go, and we're going to dive into these seven ways, successful people, stay calm at work and manage
Starting point is 00:04:52 stress more effectively. I want you to listen carefully. I want you to listen closely. Thank you for being present. Thank you so much for your attention. Lou Holt stated, it's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Right, we've all experienced that before, it's not the load that breaks us down because we see people carrying heavier loads, we see people carrying loads, we see people doing so much, but it's about the way we carry it. And often we worry so much about lightening the load rather than how we carry it. So much of our life and time and energy gets spent on trying to think, how do I make my
Starting point is 00:05:30 life less stressful? How do I carry less load? And when we do that, then we think, well, where am I going? Like I want to find direction and where's my passion and where's my purpose? And now I need it all again. So today's podcast, I'm really focusing on how we carry the load, because that's really what makes the difference. So many of us are wasting our time trying to figure out
Starting point is 00:05:52 how to lower the load and lighten the load, both of which are important, but the real emphasis, the real focus, needs to be on how we're carrying the load. Because guess what? Any meaningful pursuit will always require pressure. Any purposeful objective will always have a little bit of stress. Any great achievement that's been made in the world had stress and pressure as key ingredients.
Starting point is 00:06:21 But it was the way that it was carried that made all the difference. When we carry stress effectively, when we manage stress rather than let it manage us, that's when we can create a successful and happy life. So, stress is something we all experience, but the way we manage handle and deal it, makes the biggest impact on our mental and physical well-being. Now, I really have to share this with you. Research shows each of us is managing around 60 projects at any given time. Now, hopefully you have a lot less than that. I can't believe it. the average is most of us are juggling around 60 to 66 projects at any given time in our personal and professional lives. If it feels like more
Starting point is 00:07:11 affiliate pain, if it feels like less, then feel good. I've heard it right. It's something to be grateful for. Now, this is true too. And I'm sure you experience this every day. We're interrupted seven times every hour and feel distracted for about two hours a day. Right interruptions in the form of notifications, someone coming over to our desk, right, needing to drink some water, whatever it may be, we're distracted up to seven times every hour. And for some of us, it's so much more than that. And that distraction not only distracts us from getting our work done, but it creates an irritation, right?
Starting point is 00:07:49 It creates a friction in our lives that we then have to work through as well that creates more stress on top of the work we have. And then we feel distracted for about two hours a day. This is because we're trying to make up for that time. You're trying to decompress from the conversation you had. You're trying to process something else. Now, think about this for a moment.
Starting point is 00:08:12 What are your greatest causes of stress? According to the 2015 Stress in America Survey, the top four sources of stress are money, work, family responsibilities, and health concerns. I'm sure you're probably the same money we're always worrying about. Do we have enough money? Do we have enough money for the future? Do we have enough money for my family?
Starting point is 00:08:36 Work. Am I going to get promoted? Wow, that person treats me really badly. I'm not connecting well with my coworkers, family responsibilities. Oh my God, I've got to take the kids to soccer practice. And I've got to take them to their birthday parties on the weekend and then health concerns. Am I getting enough time for myself? So these are the four top areas of stress.
Starting point is 00:08:57 And I'm sure they sound extremely familiar. And most of our stress comes from major life transitions and events like divorce, financial setbacks, death, but even positive moments like weddings and promotions and new relationships can be a source of stress often. At work are most common cause of stress. Guess what it is. 35% of people say it's their boss. Now I remember when I started working in the corporate world, I was just getting into the swing of demonstrating my skills and passions. So because I started my career fairly lay on, I actually had a high self awareness of what I wanted to demonstrate as my talents
Starting point is 00:09:41 and skills. And I remember I started demonstrating them and my organization was starting to notice and starting to reward that and starting to encourage me to demonstrate that. But the manager I worked with at that particular time was not someone who wanted to support and encourage that. And when I say that, this is kind of how it went. Actually, this is exactly how it went. One manager wanted me to remain in a role I did not want to be in.
Starting point is 00:10:09 And actually, that I was being headhunted from to move into a different role in the same company. And when he found out about that, he literally said to me, I don't know how far you think this social media stuff is going to go, but just so you know, you're not going anywhere and I own you. For years, we've all suffered through the work week, using weekends and an occasional
Starting point is 00:10:37 vacation as the time to heal and relax. But that doesn't cut it anymore. We want to feel good all of the time. That's why fully exists. Fully transforms the way we feel at work with desks, chairs and other tools to keep our bodies moving and our minds engaged. Our 20s are seen as this golden decade. Our time to be carefree, full in love, make mistakes, and decide what we want from our life. But what can psychology really teach us about this decade? I'm Gemma Speg, the host of the psychology of your 20s. Each week we take a
Starting point is 00:11:13 deep dive into a unique aspect of our 20s, from career anxiety, mental health, heartbreak, money, friendships, and much more to explore the science and the psychology behind our experiences, incredible guests, fascinating topics, important science, and a bit of my own personal experience. Audrey, I honestly have no idea what's going on with my life. Join me as we explore what our 20s are really all about, from the good, the bad, and the ugly, and listen along as we uncover how everything is psychology, including out 20s. The psychology of your 20s hosted by me, Gemma Speg. Now streaming on the iHotRadio app, Apple podcasts or whatever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:11:59 I'm Jay Shetty and on my podcast on purpose, I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Oprah, everything that has happened to you can also be a strength builder for you if you allow it. Kobe Bryant. The results don't really matter. It's the figuring out that matters. Kevin Haw. It's not about us as a generation at this point. It's about us trying our best to create change. Luminous Hamilton, that's for me been taking that moment for yourself each day, being kind to yourself,
Starting point is 00:12:32 because I think for a long time I wasn't kind to myself. And many, many more. If you're attached to knowing, you don't have a capacity to learn. On this podcast, you get to hear the raw real-life stories behind their journeys, and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHart Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the journey soon. Not too long ago in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest, this explorer stumbled upon something that would change his life. I saw it and I saw, oh wow, this is a very unusual situation.
Starting point is 00:13:11 It was cacao, the tree that gives us chocolate. But this cacao was unlike anything experts had seen, or tasted. I've never wanted us to have a gun fight. I mean, you saw this tax of cash in our office. Chocolate sort of forms this vortex. It sucks you in. It's like I can be the queen of wild chocolate. We're all lost.
Starting point is 00:13:29 It was madness. It was a game changer. People quit their jobs. They left their lives behind, so they could search for more of this stuff. I wanted to tell their stories, so I followed them deep into the jungle, and it wasn't always pretty. Basically, this like disgruntled guy and his family
Starting point is 00:13:44 surrounded the building armed with machetes. And we've heard all sorts of things that, you know, somebody got shot over this. Sometimes I think all this for a damn bar of chocolate. Listen to obsessions, wild chocolate. On the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Right, he literally said those words. or wherever you get your podcast. What's your favorite word? What's your favorite word? What's your favorite word? Right, he literally said those words. He said, I don't know how far you think this social media stuff is going to go,
Starting point is 00:14:11 but just so you know, you're not going anywhere and I own you. He literally said that to me. The crazy thing is, the next day, I moved from that role anyway due to higher authorities and I've never spoken to him again. But I remember feeling that pressure and stress in the moment of the fact that a senior person in the organization did not want to support me, did not want to notice the talent I had, did not want to help me bring out the best in me and literally said that they own me.
Starting point is 00:14:41 Now, when I heard those words, the first thing naturally that the mind does is feel scared or feel fear. And then I realized when you look at that reality, he doesn't own me. Really, whatever he thinks may affect me temporarily, but he can't affect me forever. Now, we have to be careful about this. Your mind believes everything you tell it
Starting point is 00:15:04 and everything you let others tell it. Give it love. See, your mind believes everything you tell it and everything you let others tell it. So if you let someone tell you that they own you and you accept that or you become fearful of scared of that, your mind is now accepting that as reality and what you're scared of is a false reality. Right, what you're scared of is the potential that someone says they own you, and you're not believing that for real, because the truth is that can never be the case.
Starting point is 00:15:30 No one owns you. And you're not truly dependent on anyone or anything, even if you desperately believe it. At that time in my life, I felt I was dependent on that job, but I knew I was coaching my mind out of that process of believing. I'm not owned by anyone,
Starting point is 00:15:46 I'm not dependent on anyone, I'm only dependent on myself. And it's so important that we understand this. We can so get lost in this world of feeling that we're dependent, feeling that we need someone to fulfill us, pay us, and that they're the only way it's going to happen. And that's just not true. Now, when I moved on because of higher authorities, and like I said, I've never spoken to him again, and if I was to speak to him again, I wouldn't do it with any bit of this or any anger I would actually thank him because it's taught me this lesson that I'm sharing with you today. So, this is kind of how it goes. 76% of people say workplace stress negatively affects their relationship at home. 66% have lost sleep due to work stress
Starting point is 00:16:30 and 16% have quit their jobs. But let's really analyze stress and look at how stress works. Now, I'm sure that even in your life, I was talking about successful people before and I'll go back to that, but even in your life and your successful too, because you're listening here, you're committing to growth and you're learning.
Starting point is 00:16:49 Like, that shows me that you're someone who's wanting to improve and grow, which is the greatest success in life. I'm sure that stress has been a key element in your greatest achievements. If you reflect on happy times or success moments, I'm sure that there's a little stress involved. Even if you're trying to make someone's day or put on the best birthday party of all time or serve someone that you love, there's always a little bit of stress and pressure. Now there's definitely an upside to experiencing stress.
Starting point is 00:17:19 When we experience intermittent levels of stress, it can actually increase our attention, our focus, our passion, our interest and performance. So actually intermittent stress can actually cause you to become more effective and productive and creative. This is something we don't give stress enough credit for. When we're put under deadlines, time pressures, some sort of time crunch and it's intermittent, right? I mean, it's not continuous.
Starting point is 00:17:49 That can actually spur us on and boost us to actually perform above and beyond what we experience. I had a mentor that always used to tell me, Jay, when you're in your greatest pain, that's when you'll realize your potential. And I'd always say to him, no, I'm proactive. I'm always focused. I'm always working hard. I don't need pain to spur me on. And then when I got to this place a couple of years ago, where I was literally four months away from being broke and I didn't know where to go next and where to start. That actually brought out the best of me. I never realized how truly organized, focused, hard working that I
Starting point is 00:18:32 could be until I was put under that pressure. Now, we don't need to wait for that or we don't need to create that, right? We don't need to wait for pain or create pain. We can just be proactive in our growth because pain will come of its own accord. But when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change, we have to change, right? When the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change,
Starting point is 00:19:02 we have to change. So these intermittent levels of stress, they actually boost us to grow. But if this stress becomes continuous, if this stress becomes long-lasting, that's when we go down from the tipping point and we start going into depression, anxiety, disappointment, you know, degradation,
Starting point is 00:19:24 like where our life starts to fall apart, burnout becomes much more common. depression, anxiety, disappointment, degradation, where our life starts to fall apart, burnout becomes much more common. When stress becomes continuous, it can lead to meltdown. The key is to manage our stress and not be controlled by stress. How can we balance that stress by having enough to push us forward, but not too much that it pushes us over the edge. It's almost like trying to climb up a mountain, but making sure that the momentum you're rushing up at the mountain doesn't mean that you're going to fall off the edge when you get to
Starting point is 00:19:54 the top. So you're always monitoring where you're at. And I can genuinely say in the last two years, I've consistently been monitoring this for myself. And I know that anytime I've even been close to feeling that burnout or meltdown or any of that could be a possibility, I've been careful and conscious of being aware to pull myself back. And this is what I want for all of you, because this is how the most happy, successful people in the world are using stress to their advantage, enough to gain momentum, enough to push forward,
Starting point is 00:20:28 but not enough to push you over the edge. Right? So here are the seven ways, successful people stay calm at work and manage stress more effectively. The first one is something that you may have heard before, but I want you to put your ego aside and I want you to listen carefully. Focus on what you can control, not what you can't control.
Starting point is 00:20:53 Our biggest cause of stress is when we feel things are out of control. The crazy thing about that feeling is a lot of stuff is out of our control. And when you focus on that, you increase your stress because you'll never be able to control it. This emotion activates the stress hormone, and if consistent can decrease our focus, confidence and our energy. Now Stephen Covey famously talked about the circle of influence versus the circle of concern in his incredible book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Now we spend most of our lives in the circle of concern in his incredible book, The Seven Habits of
Starting point is 00:21:25 Highly Effective People. Now we spend most of our lives in the circle of concern. These are things we can't control, like the weather, the manager we're given at work, work changes in hierarchy. Right, those are things that we can't control. When we talk about these things, when we think about these things, when we discuss these things, we end up feeling more stressed because you don't get more control by talking about them more. But actually,
Starting point is 00:21:52 when we live in the circle of influence, that's where all the impact is. Our performance, our network at work, our understanding of key skills required, our speed at learning a new skill, these are things that we can control. And these are the things we give the least energy and time to in the workplace. The most successful people in the workplace are reducing their stress by focusing on what they can control. When we say focus, it means talking about thinking about discussing, sharing, learning. If you're constantly focused on what you can't control, that will constantly take away your energy.
Starting point is 00:22:28 Now, when I was in an organization, I couldn't control that there were 1,000 people at the same level in my company. And we were ranked against those thousand people every single year. So you would literally be ranked from one to a thousand against those people. A certain percentage would get promoted.
Starting point is 00:22:44 A certain percentage would be asked to leave, and the majority of people just stayed in the middle. Now, when I started working, which was at 26 years old after I lived as a monk, most of the people that I worked with were younger than me. I couldn't control that. I couldn't control the fact that most people were 21, just coming out of college, fresh faced, young,
Starting point is 00:23:02 enthusiastic, more time on their hands, and all their lives to live ahead of them. And I was five years behind if that's how I saw it. Now, what I realized is, what I couldn't control was that I was five years older. What I couldn't control is that there were a thousand people. What I couldn't control is that everyone was younger than me. But what I could control is that I could use my age, my experience, and all of the learnings and skills I had to my advantage.
Starting point is 00:23:35 I could use my age as a maturity. I could use the experiences I'd had to demonstrate different skills. And this is when I started to realize everything I couldn't control, could actually make me feel like my career was never going to work out, that everything was going to fall apart, that nothing was going to work for me. But actually, everything I could control
Starting point is 00:24:00 could make all the difference. And I invested in that. I focused on my performance. I focused invested in that. I focused on my performance. I focused on my relationships. I focused on learning. I focused on being enthusiastic and energetic. I focused on building my presence. And when I did all of those things,
Starting point is 00:24:16 it made all the difference. Now, step number two, this is something that we underestimate and we usually ignore. Think ahead and expect change. The silliest thing we can do is not expect change. Organizations will change, hierarchies will change, structures will change, managers will change, teams will change, work will change. One of the biggest reasons why change surprises us
Starting point is 00:24:49 is that surprisingly we don't expect it, right? One of the biggest reasons why change surprises us is that surprisingly we don't expect it, which makes zero sense. Change is inevitable. Change is the only thing that's constant. Yet, we expect things to stay the same. Our desire for things to stay the same is a cause for stress. When you want anything to stay the same, you're
Starting point is 00:25:14 creating stress in your life because guess what, nothing stays the same. Even your body is constantly changing, your mind is constantly changing, your constantly growing, the cells are changing, everything about you is changing. Our desire for things to stay the same is probably one of the root causes of our suffering because nothing stays the same. When you accept that, when you think ahead and you expect change and you are constantly changing and growing and learning, you master the ability to be comfortable with change. Now, one of the places where I experienced change effectively in my life was, in the same year, this was 2016, I changed job three times. I moved country. I got married. I bought a home, put it on rent, moved into another apartment, all in the same country. Now, I've heard that you should never
Starting point is 00:26:14 get married, move, and have a child in the same year. So I did two out of those three in the same year and more with my work and career as well. And changing that often actually made me so open to change. It made me so comfortable with change because when I could change so many things in the same year and still be alive, I realized that change was beautiful and change brought about so much good. Our fear of change blocks us from our greatest potential.
Starting point is 00:26:42 And actually accepting and embracing change can be the most amazing thing. So, change is inevitable, it's natural, it's normal, but we get so complacent, casual and stagnant that we think nothing will change. Or we get attached to the familiar sense of things staying the same. Now, when you think ahead and you plan for change and prepare, that makes a difference. I always say when things are going well, that's when you work harder and smarter. That's when you go deeper. When you do that, you're always prepared.
Starting point is 00:27:13 Someone came up to me at a party the other day and was telling me that they've recently stopped meditating because things are fine now, right? She was telling me that she stopped meditating because things are good now. And? She was telling me that she's stopped meditating because things are good now. And my response to her was, no, this is the time to meditate more to make sure that good stays. Right? So when we get promoted at work, or we get to a good position at work, we get complacent, we take the foot of the pedal. Now, it's normal to become a little bit more
Starting point is 00:27:39 relaxed. It's normal to take more breaks. That's all great to become more Sustainable, but what is important that you're still learning? You're still growing, right? So this is the point that this is the time to continue to go deeper. Now, I found this so useful Consistently expecting change knowing things won't stay the same. I remember earlier this year and later last year when the social media algorithms were performing well. And I went all into creating content that I wanted to serve you and make a difference. And when the algorithms turned bad, when most people stopped, I mean they really went bad, right? Like I went from having all of this engagement, all these amazing comments and all of these views to getting less. I kept going, why? Because I wanted to help people,
Starting point is 00:28:25 but also I realized that all the hard work I'd put in would sustain me. And that's what I've realized. That life is like an algorithm. The algorithm will sometimes be in your favor and sometimes it won't. And you have a choice. When it's in your favor, you can go all in and work harder,
Starting point is 00:28:42 or you can get complacent. And if you get complacent when it's working for you, then guess what? When it doesn't work for you, it's going to be really, really hard. Right? So that's where you have to work harder. Think ahead, expect change when things are going well. Now, number three, this is probably something
Starting point is 00:29:00 you're told a lot in the workplace. And it's often something that we hear so often that we don't even do it properly. And it's your network is your network, right? And the workplace is an entrepreneur, whatever it is, your relationships are the most important thing. And everyone will tell you that workplace is about what not what you know, but who you know, but we really get to know people beyond our team and our manager. And it's so vital we spend time connecting and understanding other areas of the business, expanding our knowledge and also becoming embedded
Starting point is 00:29:31 into the larger organization. Now I did this. I literally pretty much knew ever in my company because I made an effort to reach out, have juices, have coffees with them. And these were not superficial reach outs, but people I genuinely wanted to connect with because of their background,
Starting point is 00:29:45 something we had in common. And this is the benefit, and I think people forget this. The reason why we have stress in the workplace is we think we have no options. And when I say options, I mean, inside and outside of the company, when you know that there's a demand for you inside
Starting point is 00:30:00 and outside of the company, because of your relationships, you reduce your stress, because you your relationships, you reduce your stress. Because you now realize that you're not dependent. The point I was making earlier, the moment you feel you're dependent, you're stressing creases. Because now you think this one person and this one place is the only place I'll get work. But when you know there are other options and you've explored them, you feel much more confident. Now, number four, and I've alluded to it slightly, but I mean this so much, keep learning and make yourself more valuable. Do you need to
Starting point is 00:30:33 learn cryptocurrency? Do you need to learn about virtual reality or augmented reality? What's happening in your industry? What are the conversations that are happening in your industry and parallel industries that could disrupt it? Are you aware of those conversations? This will also boost your confidence and reduce stress. See, when you can listen to a conversation and add more value based on your external reading or your external learning, or even if it's learning about how to coach people, how to lead people, it could be insights from this podcast that you could share in conversations
Starting point is 00:31:04 that's going to make you feel more valued It's also going to make you more valuable One of the reasons why we stress in the workplace is we fall behind in learning We think that our degree was enough learning We think that our job is enough But actually it's those of us that have consistent continuous consistent learning in our lives that makes all the difference. Tip number five, focus then free method. This is the method I call the focus free method. And this is to overcome that two hours of distraction and being interrupted every seven minutes.
Starting point is 00:31:41 You should create work chunks in around 60 to 90 minute bursts of focus and then have around 10 to 15 minutes free time. When you do that, you're building in the disruption, you're building in the distraction and this is for your personal organization. Plan your work, there's 69, 60 to 90 minute bursts of focus and then free. So focus free method. How do you switch from being focused and then free, giving yourself space to decompress, to reflect, to process what you've been doing, and then go back into that work? This is a method I've used constantly
Starting point is 00:32:12 in how I plan my days, and how I function in my work. That focused effort lets you go deeper quicker and get more done effectively, and then you get to get a break to decompress, process, and reflect. Principle number six, we have to remove self-imposed stress, again going back to what you can control. You can't control someone else, but you can control self-imposed stress.
Starting point is 00:32:39 If you think stress is bad, guess what? When you experience stress, which is natural, we automatically put ourselves into panic mode. But if you see stress as something that you can use positively, you can allow it to help you be focused and change its experience. Attitudes and perceptions towards stress actually change the way stress affects you. Your relationship with stress defines how stress affects you. If you see stress as bad and negative, your experience of it will be bad and negative. If your feeling towards stress is positive and that you can use and engage it and that it can make you focused and attentive, then that's what it will do.
Starting point is 00:33:26 So for example, if your television set is stolen and you take the attitude, it's okay, my insurance company will pay for a new one. You'll be far less stressed than if you think, oh my God, my TV is gone, I'm never gonna get it back. How bad, what if the thieves come back to my house and steal again? Similarly, people who feel like they're doing a good job at work will feel less stressed out doing a good job at work will fall less stressed
Starting point is 00:33:45 out by a big upcoming project than those who worry that they're incompetent. You can use your stress to learn about something you don't know, or you can use your stress to make you feel terrible and drag you down low. It's your choice. It's your choice to decide your relationship with stress. You've got to look at stress as something that can boost you and be positive and that you can use and then know when to move that stress away at the weekend. You can't have a stressful work life and a stressful social life.
Starting point is 00:34:16 You have to realize that everything goes in phases and needs to balance each other out and simplify. If you have a busy five days of work, planner relaxing weekend. If you have a simplified five days of work, planner wonderful weekend. Learn to live in that dynamic balance. And the seventh way, successful people case stay calm in the workplace is breathe.
Starting point is 00:34:42 Breathing is something I do throughout the day and you may say, of course, we all breathe, but I mean intentionally breathe. Breathing is linked to every major emotion. When you stress your breathing changes, when you cry your breathing changes, when you're happy your breath changes. The best breath for calm in the workplace and you can do this at your desk in the back of a lift or an Uber in a meeting and not even notice because you don't have to close your eyes. Breathe in for account of four and breathe out for account of more than four. In your own time at your own pace, breathe in a count of one, two, three, four, and breathe out for a count of more than four. One, two, three, four, five, six. No force, no pressure in your own time
Starting point is 00:35:48 In your own time, at your own pace, when you exhale for longer than you inhale and you elongate that exhale, you're relaxing and destressing your body. You can do this anywhere and at any time. I do it just before I walk on to stage when I'm about to give a presentation. I do it in the back of an Uber before a meeting. I do this at my desk while I'm typing. I can do this at any time. Use your breath as your partner to help you calm, relax, balance, find peace and ease.
Starting point is 00:36:19 Don't underestimate your breath. It's connected to every one of your emotions. Those were the seven ways successful people stay calm at work and manage stress more effectively. I hope that you learned from this podcast. I hope that you're going to take just one of the insights for the next week and practice it at work and see how it changes your experience. Become an experimenter and have new experiences. Thank you so much for listening again today. Make sure you share the insights that you're taking away
Starting point is 00:36:51 from the podcast on Instagram, on Twitter, on Facebook. I'm so grateful that you're here. Recommend this podcast to a friend and I can't wait for you to hear the next one. Take care everyone, see you soon. Thank you so much for listening through to the end of that episode. I hope you're going to share this all across social media. Let people know that you're subscribed to on purpose. Let me know.
Starting point is 00:37:19 Post it. Tell me what a difference it's making in your life. I would love to see your thoughts. I can't wait for this incredibly conscious community we're creating of purposeful people. You're now a part of the tribe, a part of the squad. Thank you for being here. I can't wait to share the next episode with you. I'm Eva Longoria. And I'm Maite Gomes-Rajuan.
Starting point is 00:37:57 We're so excited to introduce you to our new podcast, Hungry for History! On every episode, we're exploring some of our favorite dishes, ingredients, beverages from our Mexican culture. We'll share personal memories and family stories, decode culinary customs, and even provide a recipe or two for you to try at home. Listen to Hungry for History on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. When my daughter ran off to hop trains, I was terrified I'd never see her again, so I followed her into the train yard. This is what it sounds like inside the box car.
Starting point is 00:38:38 And into the city of the rails, there I found a surprising world, so brutal and beautiful, that it changed me. But the rails do that to everyone. There is another world out there, and if you want to play with the devil, you're going to find them down in the rail yard. Undenail Morton, come with me to find out what waits for us in the city of the rails. Listen to City of the Rails, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:39:03 Or, cityoftherails.com. Conquer your New Year's resolution to be more productive with the before breakfast podcast. In each bite-sized daily episode, time management and productivity expert Laura Vandercam teaches you how to make the most of your time, both at work and at home. These are the practical suggestions you need to get more done with your day. Just as lifting weights keeps our bodies strong as we age, learning new skills is the mental equivalent of pumping iron.
Starting point is 00:39:31 Listen to Before Breakfast on the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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