Decoding Stress: Lessons from a Leader's Personal Health Journey
I started seeing a functional medicine doctor in the fall of 2021 when symptoms of my Rheumatoid Arthritis started showing up. As part of my intake appointment, my doctor ran a ton of blood tests… it almost felt like I was doing a blood donation! One of the outlier results was my Cortisol level. For those not familiar, Cortisol is a measure of the stress your body is experiencing.
When we reviewed the results, I was surprised because I felt my stress level was much lower after leaving my corporate leadership role. What I wasn’t factoring in was that just because I didn’t recognize that feeling of stress, my body was adding up all of the things it was dealing with - some exciting (training for races and building a business) but also those that were less positive (effects of the pandemic, a family member’s serious medical condition).
Our bodies don’t know the difference between good and bad stress. It just adds it up unless we find ways to release it. And…it takes active intervention and time for our body to readjust to normal levels (which thankfully I have gotten mine to).
So why am I sharing this?
Stress is not a bad thing by itself. Often, we benefit from a level of stress to push us toward achieving our goals. As I mentioned, positive life events also bring stress (think taking a new job, planning a wedding or adding a child to your family).
The effects of too much stress manifest differently for each person. Which of these do you experience?
Anxiety
Headaches
Poor sleep
Not eating or eating too much
Lack of patience
Distracted
Short-tempered
Skipping workouts or other healthy lifestyle habits
I’m sure the list can go on. I’ve experienced all of them at different times in my life.
This has been top of mind lately because I’ve noticed some of these showing up, and I was trying to figure out why.
Overall, life is good right now.
I’ve got some great clients, my family is healthy and happy, and I recently had a great family vacation.
Where is the stress coming in?
I realized that though I wasn’t thinking it was impacting me, I am carrying a level of stress with our upcoming two-part move, getting the kids settled with their housing situations for the fall, and focusing on the launch of the fall FIRE Circle offering. These are all good things…but our body sometimes feels the toll before our mind connects the dots.
As leaders of organizations, in your community, and with your families, those roles automatically add to your stress level.
As you read through this weekend's reflection, I encourage you to think about these 3 things:
What is your body telling you today about how you’re treating it? Are there signs of stress?
What changes are going on, personally or professionally, good or bad, that might be significant stress factors for you?
What actions do you want to take to mitigate the impact of the stress on your health - exercise, coaching or counseling, meditation, reinstituting healthy habits, etc.?
We all experience stress and that’s normal.
Let’s be honest with ourselves about how it’s impacting our physical, mental and emotional health, our families, and our work. We’re all focused on growth and impact, so we need to be at our best.
Let today be the day you focus on getting control of your stress factors and reactions.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s message. How does stress impact you?
If you’re excited to map out what success looks like for the rest of the year and how this idea of defying gravity will take you there, download our Reflections for Success tool.