Stressed or stretched?

Are you stressed?

Somebody gave me this beautiful material years ago, and I would like to share this with you:

Ten Commandments for stress reduction

I. Thou shalt not be perfect, or even try to be.

II. Thou shalt not try to be all things to all people.

III. Thou shalt sometimes leave things undone.

IV. Thou shalt not spread thyself too thin.

V. Thou shalt learn to say “no”.

VI. Thou shalt schedule time for thyself and for thy support network.

VII. Thou shalt switch thyself off, and do nothing regularly.

VIII. Thou shalt not even feel guilty for doing nothing, or saying “no”.

IX. Thou shalt be boring, untidy, inelegant, and unattractive at times. (I am not sure I fully agree with this…)

X. Especially, thou shalt not be thine own worst enemy.  But, be thine own best friend.

It’s not good to be stressed all the time, but personal growth and improvement will never happen without stress.

When or what is the work situation that brings out the best in you? What kind of work have you done that made you fulfilled? What happens when your skills exceed your work challenge? Is that a good situation? Most people want the situation to be like this. They can wing it. They do not need a lot of brainwork and so they don’t need to work so hard. They’re comfortable. It’s just another day at the office. It’s business as usual. This may surprise you, but here’s what I want to say — this is not good.

And then there are people who are happy with their work. They are fulfilled. They find meaning. They wake up in the morning excited to go to work. These are the few, the proud, not the Marines, but the achievers and the leaders. And we need to dissect this a little bit and find out what makes them click.

Here’s what I have found out. People get most fulfilled when the work challenge exceeds their work skills a little bit. Not too much, or else they will be stressed; but just a little bit so they can stretch. Listen to the different words: “stretched not stressed.” When they get the job done, they are forced to learn a little, and then they stretched a little, and become a whole lot better over time.

In my recently concluded two-day leadership seminar workshop one participant gave a wonderful testimony. He said, “There was a time when I loathed my boss for dumping so much work on me. I couldn’t understand why he intentionally wanted to stress me out. Today as I look back I realize he was not stressing me out, he was stretching me. And I couldn’t have arrived at where I am today had it not been for my boss who stretched me.”

Aristotle says it right: “We are what we repeatedly do, excellence therefore is not an act, but a habit.” And for those who read Scriptures, this is the most convincing of them all: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

Every single speaker with me in my March 1 event are winners who have been stretched. They have experienced stress, yet today they are the best in what they do.

Are you stressed? It could be good for you because you are being stretched.

No one has ever achieved success and sustained it without working hard for it.

(Attend Francis Kong’s once-a-year big event this March 1, 2013 entitled: “Inspiring Excellence” at the SMX Convention Center. Learn best practices on business, finance, and good citizenship from Butch Jimenez, Chinkee Tan and Alex Lacson. For registration and tickets call Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. 632-6310912 OR 09228980195. You can also send an email to [email protected])