Played Spikeball in the rain with some friends tonight 🙂 

It was a great reminder to not let weather keep you from having fun!

Enjoy today’s Habit Example!

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(This Habit Example is heavily derived from Kelly Mcgonigal’s TedTalk, “How to Make Stress Your Friend”)

30,000 adults.

8 years.

2 questions:

• How much stress have you experienced in the last year?

• Do you believe stress is bad for your health?

This study by University of Wisconsin-Madison set out to determine just how deadly stress is.

But before I tell you the results, imagine this:

You’re breathing fast…

Heart pounding…

You’re even breaking into a sweat.

Is this stress you’re feeling?

Or is it something else, like courage? Or excitement?

And if it is stress… is that okay? Or is that a bad sign?

Hold that thought. Back to the study…

It turns out, those who had experienced a lot of stress the year before had a 43% higher risk of dying.

But there’s a catch… that was only true for those who believed stress was bad for them.

Think stress is good, or even just not bad?

You would be no more likely to die, regardless of how much stress you actually experienced.

So basically, whether you think stress is bad for your health or not… you’re right.

Mcgonigal goes on:

“The researchers estimated that over the 8 years they were tracking deaths, 182,000 Americans died prematurely not from stress, but from the belief that stress is bad for you.”

Sheesh!

That’s a lot of humans going to Heaven early.

So what do you do if you prefer to stick around on the planet a while longer?

Kelly references another study where participants were given a way to reframe their own response to stress:

• What if your pounding heart is actually preparing your body to act?

• What if your heavy breathing is just your body making sure your brain gets enough oxygen to think clearly?

Try this reframe next time you feel stressed, and watch the rest of Kelly Mcgonigal’s TedTalk to learn more about How to Make Stress Your Friend!

What ideas popped in your head while reading? Hit reply and let me know!

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- Kody

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P.S. These take 5 hours to research, write, and design. It only takes you 5 seconds to share.