#317 The Upside of Stress with Kelly McGonigal

Feeling overwhelmed by stress and struggling to cope? Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, Stanford University lecturer, and best-selling author of "The Willpower Instinct" and "The Upside of Stress,” shares practical strategies for making stress work in your favor and tools for personal well-being. She discusses the benefits of stress, emphasizing that it can enhance human abilities such as courage, learning, compassion, and joy. Kelly also shares how stress is a preparation mechanism and proposes taking a more accepting attitude towards it. We discuss reframing stress as excitement, anchoring actions in personal values, and the importance of human connection during stress. Don't miss this enlightening conversation with a pioneer in "science-help" who has changed how we approach stress management and mental health. Watch Kelly’s TED Talk - How to Make Stress Your Friend Learn more about Kelly, her books, and book her for a speaking engagement Sign up for Erik’s weekly newsletter - Adaptation Join the AIM7 Beta Community   Quotable moments: "Stress can activate your capacity for every human strength from courage, the capacity to learn and grow, compassion for other people, even joy." - Kelly McGonigal "Stress is our brain and our body preparing us to do something effortful." - Dr. Alex Auerbach from Erik "When you take a more accepting attitude towards stress, stress is part of life, and also this positive mindset towards stress, that it can bring out what's good in you...people just cope better." - Kelly McGonigal "The things that cause us the most stress are often the things that are most important to us...when you bring to mind your values in a moment of stress, it's a very real resource, that can allow you to view the stress that you're going through as an opportunity to choose your values." - Kelly McGonigal "One of the great stress mindset techniques or strategies is to bring to mind your values in a moment of stress...The things that cause us the most stress are often the things that are most important to us...the roles, the relationships, the goals that we're striving for, they're gonna be the things that cause the most stress, and that also provide the most meaning." - Kelly McGonigal ABOUT THE BLUEPRINT PODCAST: The BluePrint Podcast is for busy professionals and Household CEOs who care deeply about their families, career, and health. Host Dr. Erik Korem distills cutting edge-science, leadership, and life skills into simple tactics optimized for your busy lifestyle and goals.   Dr. Korem interviews scientists, coaches, elite athletes, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and exceptional people to discuss science and practical skills you can implement to become the most healthy, resilient, and impactful version of yourself. On a mission to equip people to pursue audacious goals, thrive in uncertainty, and live a healthy and fulfilled life, Dr. Erik Korem is a High-Performance pioneer. He introduced sports science and athlete-tracking technologies to collegiate and professional (NFL) football over a decade ago. He has worked with the National Football League, Power-5 NCAA programs, gold-medal Olympians, Nike, and the United States Department of Defense. Erik is an expert in sleep and stress resilience. He is the Founder and CEO of AIM7, a health and fitness app that unlocks the power of wearables by providing you with daily personalized recommendations to enhance your mind, body, and recovery. SUPPORT & CONNECT Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/erikkorem/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/ErikKorem LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-korem-phd-19991734/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/erikkorem Website - https://www.erikkorem.com/ Newsletter - http://link.aim7.com/adaptation-newsletterSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The BluePrint Podcast is for go-getters and high achievers who crave practical strategies to elevate their health, well-being, and performance. Host Dr. Erik Korem delivers bite-sized, science-backed tactics to optimize your busy life and help you excel in all areas. Whether climbing the corporate ladder or managing a hectic household, this show equips you with the tools to thrive. Oh, and we also talk about pickleball! Dr. Korem interviews scientists, coaches, elite athletes, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and exceptional people to discuss actionable science and practical skills you can implement to become the most healthy, resilient, and impactful version of yourself.   Dr. Erik Korem is a high-performance pioneer on a mission to equip people to pursue audacious goals, thrive in uncertainty, and live a healthy and fulfilled life. Over a decade ago, he introduced sports science and athlete tracking technologies to collegiate and professional (NFL) football and has worked with the National Football League, Power-5 NCAA programs, gold-medal Olympians, Nike, and the United States Department of Defense.   Erik is an expert in sleep and stress resilience. He is also the Founder and CEO of AIM7, the first pickleball health and performance app designed to prevent pain and injury and elevate performance. SUPPORT & CONNECT   Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/erikkorem/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/ErikKorem LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-korem-phd-19991734/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/erikkorem Website - https://www.erikkorem.com/ Newsletter - https://erikkoremhpcoach.activehosted.com/f/ QUOTES   “The key is using stress and adapting to it and improving. That’s what high performance is to me, the ability to adapt rapidly so you can achieve your potential. There are five key pillars to creating the conditions for adaptability: sleep, exercise, mental resilience, nutrition, and community/relationships.” - Dr. Erik Korem   “I maybe have a different concept on leadership. To me, leading is a verb. If you’re leading, you’re a leader. If you’re swimming you’re a swimmer, if you’re driving you’re a driver. If you’re leading you’re by definition a leader. I define leading as being looked to in a particular moment to make a decision or perform an action based on your unique gifts and abilities. So by that definition, everybody is a leader. All rank and role really describe is how many people are hoping you get it right when it’s your turn to wear the weight.” - Clint Bruce "Attention is the currency of performance." - Dr. Peter Haberl “That’s what I’ve discovered in the lives of brilliant, prolific, healthy creatives, is that they have networks of people they leverage in the course of their work. That they learn from, that they were challenged by, that they gave great insight and purview into their own life and work, in such a way that they were able to receive feedback that helped them get better at what they do.” - Todd Henry "Restful and fulfilling sleep enables you to grow, adapt, and thrive. It creates the conditions for adaptation, so you can pursue audacious goals and thrive in uncertainty." - Dr. Erik Korem "Most exercise programs fail, not because the reps and sets are poorly designed, but because the program doesn't adjust for how much stress your body can adapt to that day!. That's why Dr. Chris Morris' research and practical application of fluid periodization is the key for unlocking your performance potential." - Dr. Erik Korem