Stress management, business prioriety.

I have written this case study due to my experiences with significant traumas. The death of my parents, a business failure, cancer, heart attacks and the excitement of business. Stress has become a significant health hazard for owners, employees, and businesspeople. Today, anxiety and depression have become commonplace, affecting the health of many, along with their businesses, lifestyles and careers.

See a Case Study By Peter Sergeant in the Knowledge Base.

Life isn’t always easy.

I started my entrepreneurial journey at 19 when I didn’t even know what the word “stress” meant, let alone know much about business. Luckily, I had a few mentors who helped me get off to a good start.

A few years later, I was running my own multi-million-dollar business. The money was great, but what excited me was the freedom it provided, or so I thought. Even though you might own a business, some things that are beyond your control will negatively impact your life. Economic downturns, droughts, floods, disasters, losing a good employee, a death in the family, and unexpected health problems can all create stressful situations.

Many businesses set corporate and financial goals but overlook those related to stress, health and well-being for management and employees. Something that took me two major health crises to do something about. The consequences can result in high staff turnover, a decline in customer service, tension between staff members, low staff morale and overall productivity declines.  From the employee’s point of view, it impacts their family, lifestyle, and career and leaves them uncertain about their future health and well-being.

Stress is commonplace in our lives.

Everyone suffers from stress at some point, and it occurs more often than not in business. To deal with stress, you need to understand what it is about. This means identifying common causes and then regularly practising some method of stress reduction. Stress is generally considered a harmful syndrome that needs to be avoided, which is not surprising when you investigate it.

You soon realise that research has been preoccupied with its adverse effects. However, Hans Selye (1), one of the original stress pioneers, states that “the only escape from stress is death.”

If this were the case, then you would have nothing more to look forward to but more stress, depression, and death. There is much more to life than this, and by avoiding and learning to cope with stress, you can live on the more positive side of life. This will involve exploration, challenge, mastery, fun, excitement, success, and happiness.

Do you have a coping method for the different types of stress?

The good news is that many people beat diseases and recover from car accidents. 

Quotable quotes

“In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plough your anger and your energy into something positive”. Lee Iacocca

“In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers”. Fred  Rodgers