The Goldilocks Paradox: When Stress is Just Right

Dan Rockwell

2 years ago

“People who experienced a lot of stress in the previous year had a 43% higher risk of dying. But that was only true for the people who also believed that stress is harmful for your health.” Kelley McGonigal*

Kelley went to on to say, “People who did not view stress as harmful … had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study.”

Stress doesn’t kill you, what you believe does.

Image by house of legacy from Pixabay

The Goldilocks Paradox:

In the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks finds a bowl of porridge, a chair, and a bed that are just right. She finds the ideal state.

How much stress is ideal?

Factors that impact ideal stress levels:

#1. Cognitive demand.

High stress hampers problem solving. Low arousal is conducive for intellectually rigorous activities.

#2. Stamina.

High arousal states keep you going longer than normal. Then you crash. Sometimes you get sick.

#3. Experience.

When you give your first performance review you can’t sleep the night before. When you’ve given performance reviews for years, optimal stress brings out your best.

#4 Challenge and skill:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi researched the flow state. The key is finding a balance between perceived challenge and perceived skill. (Read, “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.)

Optimal performance requires stress.

Low challenge, low skill activities bore you.
Low challenge, high skill activities are low stress.
High challenge, low skill tasks cause anxiety and stress.
High challenge, high skill results in intense focus and optimal performance.

Image by Clavellin from Pixabay

The most important thing about stress:

What you believe about stress can kill you.

Mindset shapes response.

When you think stress is bad for you – it is. When you think stress brings out your best – it does.

How has stress improved your performance?

How has stress contributed to the performance of people on your team?

Special thanks to Kristi for mentioning a Ted Talk by Kelley McGonigal yesterday in the comments on Leadership Freak. Kristi sent me on a learning mission that is reflected in today’s post.