Written by: Chandra Zas, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
A dear friend of mine, in a globally known tech company, revealed to me that she keeps getting promoted. At first, she didn’t know why. And then, she realized it was because of her psychological awareness. When everyone shows up to a meeting freaked out about the recession, the company’s future, and potential job loss, she is the boss in the room, regulating not only her stress but the groups stress.
The boss in the room is the one who is best able to regulate the nervous system when a stressful situation arises. In a pack of animals, the alpha is the best regulated.
In the entrepreneur world, stress seems to be in fashion, as if it is a sign of status to be stressed, too busy, hustling, and overworking. The unquestioned, unconscious belief in our brain that “stress leads to success” is the number one reason we are exhausted at the end of the day, not enjoying the journey, and lack the work success desire.
Allowing our brains to believe “stress leads to success” drains our energy, time, health, and success. Other similar unconscious thoughts:
“Stress is useful,” “Stress is necessary,” “Stress is cool”
“Stress helps us get things done”
Stress IS useful for survival, like when someone pulls a knife on us in a dark alley. The high-alert adrenal response is an evolutionary way of surviving.
But day in and day out, for a to-do list, for a project deadline, for a hard conversation, stress not only drains our energy but also limits our access to our logical boss brain. Stress is the opposite of useful.
What is normal in the entrepreneur world is that we're running on stress chronically; we're putting pressure, aka stress, on our teams and ourselves to perform better, meet deadlines, reach goals, and make clients happy.
Health-wise?
Stress creates inflammation and sickness in our bodies, which increases sick days and health costs. In other words, stress decreases performance and productivity.
Being in a stressed state means we are in a reactive survival state, which lowers our brain function; because our survival brain is able to only think about right now.
To be the boss means to have the skill to manage our survival brain and intentionally respond from our prefrontal cortex, which I like to call the CEO or the parent, the part of our brain. Performance Signs of Using our Boss Brain:
The ability to think about the future, to be calm when plans don’t go as planned, to be able to see the zoomed-out perspective, to efficiently show up for the job at hand, to take care of a to-do item grounded and less likely to make a mistake, or to engage in a necessary hard conversation with a solution-oriented mind instead of a reactionary explosive manor.
Health Signs of Using our Boss Brain:
The cultivation of vitality from good sleep, home-cooked meals, and regulated stress is the sustainable energy source that compounds into energy and brain power.
How do we regulate stress to be the boss?
First, we need awareness of what stress feels like in our bodies. Second, to notice when it arises and to consciously choose to shift our brain mode into using mental and emotional management. (Yes, this is what I teach my clients in my program.)
When we manage our mind and emotions, then we regulate our nervous system and we can think like a boss. It is very simple and unnoticeable to any observer, yet a powerful internal skill that helps us feel and show up like a boss.
Parents do the same for kids by helping them regulate stress and calm us down through physical contact as well as phrases like, “It's ok,” “We will figure it out,” or “I’ve got you, I am here.” We can parent our inner kid, the reactionary survival part of our brain.
The Benefits of Unquestioned Stress
The practice of switching modes into the boss part of our brain empowers us to make higher quality decisions that are more effective, saving us time, money, and energy. Showing up in this higher-level thinking, this higher-level state, is really a game changer, not only for our productivity and our performance at work, but it also has a long-term positive effect on our health.
When we're stress-free, we are less inflamed, which means our body is not having to repair itself, which means less need for sleep which means more energy and more actual time in the day. Think bonuses on all fronts, there's really no downside to regulating your stress both for our work-life and our personal life.
This article is inspired by a free video, “The 3 Lies that Drain Entrepreneurs” click on the link to go check out my free video to learn more.
From my personal and my client’s experience learning how to regulate stress to be the boss in the room is the most important skill we can learn for our own health and the health of our business.
Chandra Zas, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Chandra Zas is helping entrepreneurs prioritize their health with the goal of super-athlete performance and presence, both in their business and their personal life. Her childhood lack of health made her realize at a very young age how crucial health is for being able to function fully and thrive. The same Food and Mood process that Chandra used to heal her health is the very process that her clients use to become their own body and brain expert, empowering them to perform at exceptional levels and achieve their dream work-life.
The leader is the one who is able to regulate stress under pressure. A high-performing mind starts with a healthy gut.
