What do you do if chronic stress is taking a toll on your executive performance?

Addressing the impact of chronic stress on executive performance is crucial for maintaining optimal productivity and well-being in today's fast-paced business landscape. Exploring strategies such as mindfulness practices, effective time management techniques, and fostering a supportive work culture can play pivotal roles in mitigating its effects. Prioritizing self-care and seeking support from mentors or coaches can also offer valuable insights for navigating these challenges and maintaining peak performance levels.

hronic stress can manifest in various ways such as constant worry, feeling overwhelmed, difficulty concentrating, and physical symptoms like headaches or insomnia. Keep a journal to track your mood, thoughts, and physical state to help identify patterns and triggers.

One of the trainings I offer directly addresses this point. How do you recognize the signs? Most execs will tend to push through, despite the signs being already there. It is only when it is too late that they notice them. So the key is to learn to see them earlier. But how? This takes practice and awareness.

Chronic stress takes a toll on your mental and physical health. The earlier you become aware of the signs and symptoms and admit you have chronic stress, the better to take action towards reducing your stressors.

Next on from chronic stress is burnout and you don't want to go there. At.All. You've got to get a grip and acknowledge that you are too stressed too often and you need to do something about it. Do this... 1. Take a BIG cleansing breath. 2. Imagine you are observing yourself in the moments you feel chronic stress. 3. Notice how you are acting and behaving. 4. No judgement. 5. Allow yourself to recognise everyone gets stressed at certain times. 6. What would you tell this person (you) that you're observing, without judgement, to do? 7. What is the next small step you can do? Go, help yourself.

It takes strength to see support. I often see leaders pushing through their chronic stress and not asking for support because they feel that it might be a sign of weakness. So seeking support means being able to ask for help. It means being ok with being vulnerable. Again, not easy for many leaders.

Same as you learn about management techniques and acquire other knowledge to do a better job, why not learn about stress and how to manage and prevent it? A stress management expert can help you identify more easily your stressors and create an action plan to deal with them.

Note down where and to who you can seek help and support from. Add to your notes "asking for help is a strength not a weakness." There are resources and there are people who want to help you.

Seeking support is often the hardest part, especially when you are stressed and cannot find a spare moment in your day to eat, go to the bathroom, or drink your coffee. When seeking support, first look for help that comes in very small doses as to not pile more onto your already overwhelmed shoulders. Reaching out to a resilience coach that specializes in stress and burnout means you are getting help from someone that doesn't expect you to give more than you have left. I am a certified resilience coach with 3 decades of personal experience living in a state of executive burnout. You need to take baby steps and I wouldn't expect anything more. Neither should you.

Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and adequate sleep are crucial for stress management. Allocate time for physical activity, such as morning runs or yoga sessions, to boost energy levels and reduce stress.

The first step to peak performance is OPTIMAL HEALTH. Poor Nutrition = Poor Focus Poor Fitness = Weak Poor Resilience = Fragile Poor Adaptability = Falling Behind Getting what you want is hard & takes time. Optimal Health is the buy in.

I would pick ONE physical health priority to initially focus on, to help improve your wellbeing. This way it will help to manage any feelings of overwhelm. Choose something that would be the easiest thing for you to actually do. What could that be? Start small. Take action and as you feel the benefits it will more likely motivate you to carry on. Some suggestions for you... * Go to bed at the same time. * No tech 1 hour before bed-time. * 10 min walk outside during your day or when you finish work. * 1 healthy meal daily. * Cut down your alcohol or cut out if you are an all or nothing person. * Weekly exercise class. What else could you do?

Healthy practices are different for everyone. You don't have to eat broccoli, meditate, or run a marathon if it isn't your thing. However, by working with a resilience coach you can identify healthy practices that work for you. Once you establish one system, you then move onto another. The secret to success is in small changes and small increments, repeated for long periods of time. Rinse and repeat. I often suggest my clients start with a 30- minute earlier bedtime or by increasing daily water intake. Sleep and hydration are very important to create a foundation that supports other healthy lifestyle changes. You can't exercise if you don't have enough sleep or if you are not adequately hydrated. Start small and start smart.

You think you'll feel better if you carry on working to get through your workload but you NEED to set clear boundaries when to stop work. Then stop. Focus your mind and attention on something non-work related. Allow yourself this rest-time. It's essential.

Let me explain why being grateful will make you happier and more productive. Gratitude is the most powerful emotion because it rewires your brain to be happier and more optimistic. Even Harvard University recognizes how powerful it is. They say gratitude helps people feel more positive, improve their health, deal with adversity, sleep better, build strong relationships, and improve their appearance. To rewire your brain to be happier, use my 2 min morning routine: 1. Think of 3 people you’re grateful for. 2. Send a text saying you’re grateful for them. BOOM! This daily 2-min routine will restructure your brain to be happier and more optimistic improving your ability to perform during the day.

Mindfulness involves staying completely present in the moment. Techniques include guided imagery, where you visualize a peaceful scene or situation, and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a meditation program that helps reduce stress. Start each day with a few minutes of meditation or deep breathing exercises to cultivate a calm mindset.

Mindfulness is everywhere and has become very much of a buzzword. Hard to not be suspicious... And yet, it is still one of the most powerful tool for stress reduction. It does not have to be spiritual. Look at it as mind training. Which is by the way how it has evolved in Asia for the past thousands of years: to cultivate the mind. Regular practice has been shown to dampen the stress response.

One of the most powerful ways to build resilience and adaptability is through cold exposure. Deliberate cold exposure is an opportunity to stress our body on purpose, with the goal to learn to maintain mental clarity and calm while our body is in a state of stress. There is currently more mainstream awareness and scientific evidence about this crazy idea. By exposing ourselves to cold temperatures, we can train our bodies and minds to better handle stress and discomfort. This can be particularly beneficial for leaders, who often face high levels of pressure and need to be able to remain calm and focused under difficult circumstances.

To cope with chronic stress affecting executive performance, focus on resilience. Practice mindfulness, maintain healthy habits, seek social support, and set realistic goals. Engage in activities like exercise and hobbies to recharge. Seek professional help if needed. Building resilience helps manage stress and enhances performance.