Managing stress in alamily business

$oun sUPPLTFR just informed you |. that your shipment is going to be two weeks late. You've just had a call from your son, who's going to take the day off for the fifth time this month. You've just found out that the computer system in the office has broken down again.

Are you stressed yet? What do you do? How do you react? Do you know that how you respond to these circumstances could either shorten or lengthen your life? Do you know that you have a choice about how you react? Do you know what to do for stress management?

What is Stress?

In technical terms, stress is the body's reaction to a real or perceived threat. The stressors are events that cause our bodies to release a flood of adrenaline, cortisol, and other stress hormones that produce powerful changes. Our heart rate and breathing rate go up, our muscles tense, and our stomachs produce more acid. We are ready for fight or flight, a vestige of our lives thousands of years ago. But, in today's world, stress can lead to physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral problems.

For over 50 years, researchers have been studying the relationship between stress and disease. They have found that stress can lower our antibody production, which makes us more susceptible to diseases. It can deplete us of vitamins, increase bone loss, and, over time, increase our risk of accidents.

Some researchers believe that stress stimulates many of the condi- tions that cause early aging. If we get into the habit of overreacting, we will subtract years from our lives.

It should be added here, though, that not all stress is bad. In fact, our productivity actually improves with an increase in stress, until the stress becomes too great and our performance falls off.

Our lives would be boring without any stress. It is a normal part of life and only dangerous when it becomes too much for us, or we allow it to turn our reactions into damaging overreactions.

Stress in the Workplace

Research has found that 60Vo to 90% of medical office visits are for stress-related symptoms. An estimated 1 million workers are absent on an average workday because of stressrelated complaints. Job stress is estimated to cost U.S. industry $300 billion annually, in the form of absenteeism, diminished productivity, employee turnover, and direct medical, legal and insurance fees. Workplace violence and industrial accidents are increasing, and are also thought to be due to increasing stress.

Most of my clients are busY entrepreneurs. They have worked long hours and have little time for themselves. They are often referred to as Type-A personalities and have been blamed for causing their own stress, by pushing themselves to achieve. Being a Type A is not in and of itself harmful. In fact, these usually successful people often get more stressed when they try to relax or slow down.

They need to find outlets for their energy; a vacation sitting on the beach will probably not work. They also need to identify what stresses them and avoid those situations, if possible, or practice better ways to handle the stress. Some of us are better than others at handling the stressors in our lives. There are many ways to accomplish this: r KeeP your mind alive and active.

Get control of your responses.

Make and keep friends.

Live within your means.

Finally, dealing with stress means dealing directly with emotional upsets and conflicts, which is a critical challenge for families who work together. Stress is very individualized; what may be stressful for one family or business, may be brushed off as "no big deal" by another. The trick is to identify what you can and what you can't change.

Stress Management: Where Do You Start?

While you may not be able to control all of the complications in your life, you can change your responses. The most important step is to take control. "Stress hardy" individuals and families have that ability.

The best way is to learn to replace the stress response with a relaxation response, which can be elicited by regular meditation. Research suggests that regular mediation, for 10 to 20 minutes a day, can reverse the ill effects of stress. Meditation basicallv consists of calming the mind by focusing on something simple, like breathing, contemplation, prayer, or visualization.

A recent study found that individuals who took an eight-week meditation course showed increased activity in the left frontal cortex of the brain. In contrast, members of the control group, who did not meditate, did not. The lefrfrontal cortex is under-active in people who are stressed, overanxious. or depressed, but more active in people who are usually calm and happy. People with more active left frontal cortexes produce less of the stress hormone cortisol, recover faster from negative events, and have higher levels of certain immune cells.

There is also evidence that those who can calm themselves are less likely to suffer deleterious effects from real trauma and are, in fact, less likely to suffer PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Since stress is "contagious," positive changes in your mood and self-awareness can work wonders for your business and family.

- Jane Hilburt-Davis is president of Key Resources, LLC, Boston, Ma., a fami' ly business consulting firm. She has trained, mentored, and coached hundreds of familv business advisors and is co-author o/ Consulting to FamilY Businesses. Reach her at (617) 577-0044 or at j .hilburtdav i s @ c omc ast.c om.

Reprinted with permission of Key Resources LLC. No portion of this article may be reproduced without its permission. Send

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