Issue 66: The #1 Tool To Beat Stress
THE LEAP
BY QUANTUM ORANGE
GROW, EXPAND & EVOLVE
ISSUE 66 | THE #1 TOOL TO BEAT STRESS
Each week The (Quantum) Leap summarises a key aspect of success into what you need to Think, Feel and Do to create a personal shift.
We can think of the mind as a lens and our inner voice as a button that zooms it either in or out.
~ Ethan Kross
THINK
When we get stressed, we tend to lose perspective and get hyper-focused on a narrow view, unable to think of anything else.
According to neurobiologist Andrew Huberman, our field of vision actually narrows, our pupils dilate, and our eyes turn in toward our nose slightly. This change creates a flood of sympathetic nervous system reactions. Our narrowing perspective is wired in both our physiology and psychology.
Stress causes us to get bogged down in the details, makes us very self-focused, and can make it difficult to pull ourselves out of the intensity of the moment. A big-picture view helps us be more positive, more practical and more detached about our situation and reduces the emotional charge and rumination that often accompanies stress.
Big-picture thinking will help you be more resilient when stress and adversity turn up. It begins with noting your thoughts and then identifying their tone. Essentially, big-picture thinking comes down to your inner voice and self-talk. Your self-talk helps you gain perspective, which in turn helps you with future planning, goals and negative emotions.
Bring to mind a situation that you are currently feeling stressed about, take a step back and work through the following steps to shift your thinking and handle the stress in a way that looks after you.
- What do you notice when stress or challenges arise?
- How did you feel physically?
- What thoughts were you flooded with in response to the stress?
- What was the ‘tone' of these thoughts?
- How important is this in the long run?
- Does it affect my life plan?
- Will this matter tomorrow?
- Will it matter next week, next month or next year?
- Does changing your perspective help you think more positively about the situation?
Sometimes you can’t change a stressful situation, but you can change the way you think about it. By changing your reaction, your expectations or your attitude, you can regain a sense of control.
FEEL
Simply put, big-picture thinking helps you regulate your self-talk. Ethan Kross, experimental psychologist and neurologist, tells us that zooming out in this way has also been, “discovered to rein in our flight or fight cardiovascular response to stress, dampen emotional activity in the brain, and lead people to experience less hostility and aggression when provoked.”
Bring to mind a situation that you are currently feeling stressed about, take a step back and work through the following steps to change the way you feel about it and handle the stress in a way that looks after you.
Find a quiet time to write down how you feel.
- What emotions are you feeling about this situation?
- How do you act in response to these emotions?
- What could you be doing differently?
- Accept the emotions, feel them and let them go.
- Who do you need to forgive to free yourself of these past feelings so that you can experience more peace?
DO
We need to make time for reflection rather than acting on short-term conditions such as emotions, fatigue, time pressure or distraction.
Here are a few methods you can use to think about the big picture:
- Meditate and/or mindfulness practice
- Keep a journal
- Go for a thoughtful walk
- Talk to a friend or family member who is a good listener
This week, put these self-distancing practices into your schedule. As any stressful situation occurs, step back and without an immediate response, survey the environment and reflect on a course of action instead of simply reacting.
- Did you notice the practice led to greater flexibility and control in your thinking and behaviour?
- Did it help un-cloud your judgement?
- Were you able to face your negative emotions without being overwhelmed by them?
- Did you become more positive?
- Were you able to get out of your endless loop of rumination?
When our focus is too narrow, we miss the big picture. The way to get better at big-picture thinking, and ultimately self-regulation, is psychological distancing. Noticing what we are saying to ourselves and then using some techniques to create space gives us clarity.
Read. Watch. Listen.
