How Identifying Stress from Pressure Can Impact Your Mental Health
All of us experience moments of stress AND moments of pressure–yes, even you “the high achieving leader.”
Oftentimes the words stress and pressure are used interchangeably, conveying that they mean the same thing. Does that resonate? However, if you really think about the moments of stress you experience and the moments of pressure you experience they don’t actually feel the same … do they? To say it bluntly, stress and pressure have critical differences. It’s about time we learn the difference between these two emotions. When you do, you will set yourself up for the success you actually desire and on top of it all, it will profoundly impact the state of your mental health for the better! I’ll take those wins over anything.
Think about the last time you had a hard day at work. You probably used phrases like “I am just under immense stress right now” or “gosh there is so much pressure on me” when venting to a friend or loved one. So how can you tell the difference between what is actually stress and what is actually pressure in situations like these? My guess is it is happening more often than you think too! In order for us to know the difference we must break down both stress and pressure.
STRESS: Stress refers to a situation that has too many demands and not enough resources. Maybe you don’t have the time, the money, or the energy to meet the demand or expectation you, your company, or even your life has set for you. I know you can relate. We often spread ourselves too thin. I mean I get, we think we can do it all! And, on top of that, do it all alone. News flash, we can’t. We need help, we need support, we need resources, OR we will continue to burnout due to stress.
PRESSURE: Pressure refers to a situation in which you perceive that something at stake is dependent on the outcome of your performance. So for my high achieving leaders, you can’t hide from this! I know you put an insane amount of pressure on yourself to nail a presentation to get the potential work promotion, OR try to get all the new clients just to hit a sales goal. The examples are endless . We confuse the pressure we often put on ourselves with feeling stressed. However, if we look back at stress, it’s lacking resources. Ask yourself, “Did I have the resources (time, energy, support)? OR Did I just not work within those resources because of the pressure I put on myself to succeed?”
When we feel stressed, there is typically a list of life things that contribute to our stressed state. Try to think about a day recently when you felt stressed. What were the things that led to that feeling–kids oversleeping, running late to work, a meeting running over, coming back from vacation to hundreds of unread emails, or having multiple deadlines falling on the same day? Any one of these circumstances can instantly raise the level of stress we feel. AKA, we lacked the resources to sustain everything that needed to get done. But, can we agree that this doesn’t always mean we are also under PRESSURE?
Our pressure situations tend to thrive in the “Sink or Swim” mentality. These are those “Oh boy I have to get this right” kinda things–like the presentation I mentioned above, or the sales goal you just HAD to hit. This mentality causes an overwhelming sense of anxiousness and sometimes fear knowing that this could be a big critical moment in time. Let’s think about it. Can you think of a day when you faced pressure? What did that day look and feel like for you? This could be a big job interview, taking the SAT when you were a teenager, or pitching a sales idea to a customer.
Are you starting to see the difference?! When we lay out stress and pressure in this way, what we can usually see (when we’re honest with ourselves) is that the moments of pressure are fewer and far between than the moments of stress. THANK f*@#$%! GOODNESS.
Now, let’s go one step further and identify ways we can relieve or tune into these feelings. That sounds nice and refreshing doesn't it? It also probably feels unattainable, but it’s not. Are there certain things or activities that have always in the past lowered your stress levels? Maybe it’s starting or ending your day with a walk outside, having ice cream on the patio, or playing a game of soccer with your kids. If there are certain things that lower your stress levels, take note of them and DO THEM not just when you’re feeling stressed, but before you’re feeling stressed.
Pressure is a little bit different. When you are in a situation that is filled to the brim with pressure, your usually desired outcome is a successful performance. Unlike stress, instead of relieving pressure, you need to focus your energy on performing your best. Lower expectations, staying in the means of your resources, and believing in yourself that you are capable. A basketball player on the free-throw line with the potential to take his team to the NCAA finals needs to focus on his energy on successfully making the basket at hand. He can’t take a short walk outside before heading to the line. His belief that he’s practiced this throw a million times before is the mentality that will help him make the shot. Not the “oh $h!+ I have to make this shot, or my team will hate my guts.”
Understanding the difference between stress and pressure can and WILL help you make big strides throughout life. Think about it … do you really want to keep confusing the two and inadvertently making small stress-related events feel like high-pressure situations? I think not. If you constantly feel as if you are in high-pressure situations, you may always feel as if you are failing, and we don’t need any more of that.
This behavior takes a toll on our mental and physical health. How? It diverts our minds and energy to the wrong things. Everyday activities become sink-or-swim moments which can lead to exhaustion, burnout, and an inability to perform well when a true pressure situation happens.
When we act in alignment, we can appropriately assign concern to the situations we face. When you do so, I know you will start to notice that your overall stress levels are decreasing because you: 1. Have the tools to reduce your stress. And 2. You aren’t confusing stress with pressure and making things even more stressful. This prevents burn-out, HALLELUJAH, and keeps you top of your game when it is time to combat pressure situations.
I’m Krista Ryan
My job is to help you learn a little, laugh a lot, and get clear on action steps for your success.
It may have taken a life changing event to shake me awake and decide I no longer wanted to live a comfortable life… I wanted to embrace the discomfort and live a life of courage and intention.
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