Stress can make you stronger: the science of the stress-is-enhancing mindset
Alia Crum, Kelly McGonigal, David Yeager and Huberman all show that viewing stress as a resource rather than a threat changes hormones, performance and health outcomes. Because the reframe is quick to learn, it is one of the highest-leverage mindset shifts available.
What is the stress-is-enhancing mindset? Show answer
The belief that stress can improve health, learning and performance, as opposed to seeing it as only debilitating.
What did Alia Crum's study of bank employees show? Show answer
Nine minutes of video over a week shifted their view of stress, and they reported fewer symptoms and better performance.
How does Crum define stress? Show answer
As the experience or anticipation of adversity in pursuit of goals that matter to you.
What are Crum's three steps for handling stress? Show answer
Acknowledge it, welcome it as a sign of something you care about, and use the response toward that goal.
Does the enhancing mindset remove negative feelings? Show answer
No. It brings more positive emotion, but not necessarily less negative emotion.
What did the study of 30,000 adults described by Kelly McGonigal find? Show answer
Stress raised the risk of dying only among people who believed stress was bad for them.
How does David Yeager suggest reinterpreting a racing heart? Show answer
As the body sending more oxygenated blood to the brain and muscles to prepare for performance.
What separates a threat response from a challenge response? Show answer
Your appraisal. Threat follows when a demand seems beyond your resources, challenge when you believe you can meet it.
Why does Yeager combine the stress reframe with a growth mindset? Show answer
Without it, people read struggle as proof they lack ability, when it can mean they are expanding their limits.
What physical changes does Andrew Huberman describe with the enhancing mindset? Show answer
Shorter cortisol release, greater heart output, more blood flow to the limbs and clearer thinking under pressure.
When is stress harmful despite the reframe? Show answer
When it becomes chronic or disrupts sleep, with more than about three days of poor sleep as a warning.
What condition did Yeager find for lasting effects? Show answer
A supportive environment. Mindset lessons lasted only where schools and settings backed them up.