So I have just come back from a wonderful week in Cape Verde, and what a place it is, but also a massive eye opener. The capital we drove through on a day trip was very much run down, with people living in shipping containers, and stray dogs roaming the streets.
All this aside, no matter where you ventured to on the island, everyone had one thing in common. They lived by the words ‘No Stress’ and ‘Happiness’. And they certainly did live to this rule; everyone was happy, relaxed, helpful and friendly.
The ‘No Stress’ belief run through the entire island. This got me thinking, is it the stress that gives us the edge, is it our ability to deal with the stress which allows us to get better, improve, and come back better prepared and stronger?! I finished a wonderful book recently by Nick Hall, PhD titled ‘I Know What To Do, So Why Don’t I Do It’. This is a must read by the way.
And part of the book talks about stress and states that we need more stress in our lives, not less stress. Stress teaches us to cope, and as I mentioned previously, how to come back better prepared, stronger and ready for the challenge. This also got me thinking about how your body grows, for example, I have a personal trainer from Sevenhills Fitness, and for me to grow larger muscles, I need to load my muscles with enormous amounts of weight to stress the muscle. If I don’t stress the muscle, it shows no growth or change, the stress and tension placed upon the muscle is what causes it to be better prepared next time, and as a result grows.
So judging this on Nick Halls thesis about needing more stress in our lives, does this mean that the No Stress culture could be a reason why some don’t expand and grow like others. I personally am a great believer in challenges, tackling conflict, and taking the road with the greatest resistance, for I believe this is where you get the best results. Looking back over everything I’ve achieved in my life, the things that hold the most value never came easy, and I suppose caused a degree of stress.
Anything worth having doesn’t come easy!
Now don’t get me wrong, I understand stress is very real, but its more of a mindset shift that needs to be applied to understand where the real stress is and what’s the surface covered area we disguise as stress. Suppose we stop using stress as an excuse to mask issues and suppose we address these issues, challenge them, take the road with greater residence instead of the least, maybe it’s about time we stopped looking at stress as a bad thing, and look at it as a process of development, and develop the ability to Expand by Demand!
Have I missed anything? Add your voice by leaving a comment below…