Stress Isn’t the Enemy

At some point, stress became the villain of modern life. We talk about it like it’s something to eliminate entirely. All I see on social media is…cut back, slow down, and find balance. I’m actually one who is constantly preaching this stuff. I’m still a HUGE believer in knowing when to take breaks, but it’s not the enemy. It’s letting the to-dos and more importantly our frame of mind get the best of us.

In fact, I actually like a little stress. It keeps me sharp, engaged, and (most of the time) excited about the work I get to do. That’s not to say I don’t have my moments. If I head into a packed workweek thinking, This is going to be exhausting, my brain follows suit. I’ll drag myself through it, with no real energy. But if I flip the script and remind myself, I get to dig into the work I love, challenge myself, and push my creativity, suddenly, stress has a purpose. It fuels me instead of draining me. I find myself grooving through the day, energized by the pressure!

Harvard Business Review backs this up—research shows that when we reframe stress as something positive, it can actually boost resilience, enhance performance, and sharpen focus. Positive stress, or eustress, is what pushes an athlete to train harder, a leader to step up, or a creative to do their best work. It’s not the stress itself that’s the problem—it’s how we think about it.

Of course, not all stress is productive (if you hate what you do, that’s another blog post entirely). But for those of us lucky enough to love our work, learning to channel stress can be the ultimate motivator.

So next time stress knocks—probably sometime this week, let’s be real—don’t run from it. Put it to work.