Stress That Motivates

8/8/2019 Stress That Motivates

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Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any

form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.


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If you are like most people, your life is full of stress, of all kinds, coming from

all directions. This stress can make you or break you. It can build you up or

tear you down. It can make you healthy, vital, alive and successful or it can

make you negative, angry, depressed and even ruin your health.

Its Inevitable

The one thing we know about stress is that it is inevitable, unavoidable and

continuous. It never stops. It is triggered by every single event around you

of which you are aware in any way. As Hans Selye the pioneer in stress

research once said, Stress is any non-specific reaction to a stimulus from

your environment.

This means that everything around you causes you stress of one kind or

another. Your job is to learn how to identify, manage, control and turn stress

to your advantage. Your goal should be to make yourself a highly effective,

highly energetic, positive, focused, goal-oriented person with a continuous

river of personal power flowing through your veins and into everything you

do.

What You Will Learn

In this report, you are going to learn how to take the raw material of the

unavoidable stress that goes with living in a dynamic, fast-paced society and

transform it into a source of inner strength that you can use to accomplish

any goal you can set for yourself.

All human beings experience stress of some kind. Since it is a non-specific

response to stimuli, it means that everything around you causes you to react

in some way. The only question is whether or not you are going to allow

stress to build you up or to tear you down. And heres the key: Stress is not

contained in people or events themselves, but onlyin your reaction to those


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people or events.

The World is Neutral

The world around you is largely neutral. It is how you respond to what is

going on around you that determines how you think and feel about the event.

The only thing over which you have complete control in the entire world is

the way you think. When you choose to exercise your power of thought in

responding to anything that occurs, you determine the positive or negative

content of that event and everything that you will subsequently do in dealing

with that event effectively or ineffectively.

For example, two people could be driving to work and be caught in the same

traffic jam. One person could become upset, angry and frustrated, shouting

at other drivers, banging on his horn and generally working himself into a

lather of stress that may take many hours to dissipate. Another person, in

the same traffic jam, could be listening to classical music or an educational

audio tape, or perhaps talking to someone on his or her cellular telephone.

He or she completely ignores the traffic jam and instead goes about calmly

utilizing every moment to his or her advantage. Its the same event but two

different people respond totally differently.

It All Depends

Heres another example. The same person could be caught in a traffic jam

on two different days. On one day, the individual is late for an extremely

important appointment as the result of not starting out early enough or

preparing well enough in advance. This person begins to imagine all kinds ofterrible consequences that might occur as the result of being late for this

appointment. The more he thinks about the negative possible consequences,

the more frustrated and upset he becomes as the traffic inches along.

However, this same person, caught in a traffic jam the very next day with no


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pressure to be at work on time may be completely relaxed and accepting of

the event. Its the same person and the same situation, but two totally

different reactions.

The bottom line is that how you feel and react is largely determined by how

you interpret events to yourself. And heres the key to the kind of inner

control that leads to outer power and personal effectiveness. When you

interpret an event to yourself in a positive and constructive way, it makes

you feel calm, clear, poised, powerful and creative. When you interpret an

event constructively, your mind, your body and your emotions all harmonize

and function in a fully integrated way, enabling you to think and respond

better and more effectively to anything that happens to you.

Its How You Interpret It

However, if you interpret an event in a negative or destructive way, allowing

yourself to become excited, angry, frustrated or depressed, these thoughts

will affect your emotions and your physical body, completely disintegrating

your ability to function effectively and leading to high levels of disharmony

and dysfunction in your reactions and responses to the people and situations

around you.

And you are always free to choose. This is the great discovery that enables

you to take full and complete control over your thoughts, your feelings and

your reactions. You are always free to choose how you deal with anything

that happens to you. You can choose to react in a positive, calm, and

constructive manner or you can fail to choose, and end up acting in anegative, irritable, reactive-responsive mode that leads to feelings of

frustration and unhappiness. The choice is always yours.


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What Have Others Done?

If you want to be successful in life, the formula is quite simple. Just find out

what other successful people do, and have done, in your field of endeavor,

and do the same things that they do until you get the same results. The

world is full of people who are trying to succeed by doing the opposite of

what successful people do and they are always amazed at their lack of

progress. But this is not for you.

If you want to be a high performance person in a world of constantly

changing stimuli and stressful events, you need only to study the most

effective people around you, and do what they do, and you will be just like

them.

Peak Performers

Men and women who have been defined as peak performers self-

actualizing, high-achieving individuals have been studied exhaustively over

the years to find out how it is they think, feel and interpret events to

themselves to keep functioning at the very peak of their abilities. Lets look

at some of these discoveries and see how you can use them to turn your

stress into success in everything you do.

Nobel Prize winning author Arnold Toynbee studied the rise and fall of 28

civilizations over the course of human history. He developed what has come

to be known as Challenge-Response Theory of Civilization Life Cycles. The

same theory is perfectly applicable to your life and experiences as well.

Unexpected Challenge

What Toynbee found is that every civilization began to grow as the result of

an unexpected challenge from the outside to which it reorganized and

responded effectively. Because it responded effectively to the challenge, the


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small group of people, often a single tribe or village grew larger. As a result,

it bumped into another group or tribe, thereby triggering another external

challenge to which it had to respond effectively. As long as the tribe or group

of people responded effectively, it continued to grow and grow until, over

time, great empires and civilizations were formed.

You Will Always Be Surrounded

In your life, it can be very much the same. You are surrounded by a

continuous succession of problems and difficulties all of the time. In fact,

your life is one never ending series of problems or challenges to which you

have to respond effectively if you want to survive and continue to grow in our

fast-paced and competitive society.

Heres the most important part. The challenges or problems come unbidden.

They come in spite of your very best efforts to avoid them. If you are

intelligent and reasonable, you organize every part of your life so as to

minimize the number of unexpected difficulties that will occur. Therefore, the

ones that do occur are ones that you have been unable to anticipate or avoid.

Challenge Response

The only part of the Challenge-Response equation that you have any

control over is your response. In fact, it is your response-ability that

determines your success, health, happiness and effectiveness in life. If you

continue to respond in a positive and constructive way to the inevitable

challenges that you face every single day, you continue to grow and develop

as a person, just as a civilization would continue to grow and develop.

Your response-ability is the most important single measure of everything that

you are and everything that you have become as a human being, to this very

moment. All of your education, your experience, your background, and your


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personal growth are measured at the moment of response to the inevitable

and unavoidable challenge or crisis that occurs, despite your best efforts to

avoid it.

Learn to Respond Better

Highly successful people are those who have learned to respond better than

unsuccessful people. As a result, they grow and move forward in their lives

far more rapidly than others who respond ineffectively or inappropriately.

According to Robert Fritz, author ofThe Path of Least Resistance, most

people are in what he calls a Reactive-Responsive mode of living. That is,

something happens in their environment and they immediately react or

respond, without thought or analysis. Sometimes their response is

appropriate or correct, but because they give no thought at all in their

automatic reactions, too many of their responses turn out to be wrong or

ineffective.

However, you can decide that, between the event that occurs and your

response to that event, you are going to stop and think for a moment before

reacting. In this moment of thought is contained all the knowledge and

wisdom that you have developed in your life to this date. When you chose to

exercise this ability to think before reacting, you become sharper, calmer,

more creative and more alert than ever before.

Mental Rehearsal

And the way you develop this faculty or skill of success in dealing with

stressful events is through the process of mental rehearsal. When theevent occurs, it is too late for you to stop and think before reacting

constructively and creatively. You must prepare mentally in advance. You

must rehearse, in your mind, the upcoming event so that when it does occur,

you are subconsciously programmed to respond effectively to it.


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This is a method used by the highest performing and most effective men and

women in our society. It is used by all peak performing athletes, all high

achievers and all self-made millionaires. It is as simple as it is powerful.

This is how it works. In your life, there are a variety of situations to which

you can respond either positively or negatively. In many of these situations,

especially with regard to negative people or experiences in your past, you are

unconsciously programmed to respond negatively the very instant the name

of the person or the thought of the situation arises.

For example, if you think of someone who you intensely dislike because he or

she did something that really hurt you in the past; the very mention of the

persons name will cause an instant, negative high-stress response from you.

You can even be driving along and something can occur to cause you to think

about that person and you will respond instantaneously the way you have

been conditioned to respond when you thought about or talked about that

person in the past.

Rewire Your Thoughts

You have to re-wire your thoughts about this person. You have to disconnect

the reactive response button that causes you to feel negative. And the way

you do this, using mental rehearsal, is you think about the person and

mentally picture yourself responding in a calm, relaxed, positive and

unaffected way to any thought or mention of that person.

As you visualize yourself responding in an effective way to an experience that

used to make you angry or upset, you are gently removing the hot wires

from this situation and neutralizing it in your mind. The next time that this

person comes to mind or conversation, you will find that you experience little


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or no reaction at all. In time, the situation or person will not trigger any

feelings in you of any kind. You will have taken full mental control over the

situation.

When I started in selling, I found myself becoming very tense and anxious

when I approached a new prospect. I steeled myself and got all wound up,

ready for the negative response, objection, turn down or disappointment that

accompanied door-to-door and office-to-office selling. In fact, this kind of

selling leads to rejection as much as 20 times for ever sale.

Then, I decided to rewire myself with regard to rejection. I decided that I

would use every rejection as a stimulus to greater action. I decided, in

advance, that every time someone turned me down, I would become more

positive, more motivated and even more energized in going after the next

prospect. And it worked like a charm!

The very first day I tried this technique, by the time I had been turned down

three or four times, I was so positive and motivated I could barely keep my

feet on the ground. And my sales career turned around 180 degrees. Within

a few months I was the top salesman in my organization, and within a year I

was the sales manager. Within two years, I had 95 salespeople under me in

six countries and I was enjoying the kind of life I had never dreamed of. And

it all happened because I began practicing mental rehearsal and deciding,

in advance, that I would respond in a positive, constructive way to every

stressful or difficult event. And you can do the same thing.

There are some wonderful techniques that you can use to turn stress into

success. They are all ways of taking complete control of your thinking, and

thereby your feeling and your responses. Here are some of the most popular

ones used by the most effective people in our society.


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The Law of Substitution

All of these techniques are based on the Law of Substitution. This law says

that you can only hold one thought in your mind at a time, either positive or

negative. And you can substitute a positive thought for a negative thought.

You can, in fact, knock a negative thought out of your mind by simply

switching your thinking to something positive.

Successful people are those who continually think and talk about the things

they want. Unsuccessful people are those who continually think and talk

about the things they dont want. When you think and talk about the things

you want, you are calm, positive, purposeful and self-directed. When you

talk about the things you dont want, you are angry, frustrated, disappointed,

and depressed. And the choice is always up to you.

Make a List!

There is an old saying, Feeling listless, make a list! The starting point of

eliminating stress in your life is for you to make a list of goals, of the things

you want to accomplish in the next 12-24 months. The very act of making a

list focuses your mind on the things you want and takes it immediately off of

anything else. You cannot write down your goals and think of something else

at the same time. One cancels out the other.

Organize your goals in order of priority and pick your most important goal.

On a separate piece of paper, write your most important goal at the top of

the page and then make a list of 10-20 things that you could do right now to

begin moving toward your goal. Then, select one item on that list and starton it immediately.

This little exercise is so powerful that it will amaze you. The very act of

writing out your goals, organizing them by priority, selecting your most


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important goal, making a plan to achieve it and taking action on your plan

will cause your negative stress to disappear and will fill your life with the kind

of positive stress that energizes you and drives you forward.

Stay Calm and Think of Your Goal

Every time you feel angry or stressed for any reason, think about your goal.

Visualize your goal. Talk to yourself about your goal. Do something

constructive that moves you toward your goal. All successful people have

very clear, specific written goals that they are working on every single day.

Unsuccessful, highly stressed people, do not. So to start with, its as simple

as writing down a goal and getting busy on it.

Another major source of negative stress in our workday world is having too

much to do and too little time. As a result, you become like a person who is

trying to carry too many bags of groceries and is always in danger of

dropping one bag completely. This causes an enormous amount of stress and

anxiety and impairs your effectiveness in everything else you do.

Focus and Concentration

The antidote to stress is contained in the two words, Focus and

Concentration. When you focus on the most important thing that you could

possibly be doing and concentrate all of your time and energy on doing that

one thing and getting it completed, all your stress evaporates. All your

positive energy begins to work in a forward direction.

Heres my simple formula for generating positive stress: It is for you to

concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, and to

stay with it until it is 100% complete.


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In fact, sustained, concentrated effort on a high value task releases energy,

enthusiasm and motivation in the direction of achieving that task or goal.

When you discipline yourself to work single-mindedly on a high value task

and you stay at the task until it is complete, you actually get an endorphin

rush that energizes you and gives you an overall sense of well-being and

personal power.

Successful people have learned this little trick to keep themselves operating

at the very peak of their potential. They insist on working on big tasks that

really make a difference. As a result, their mental, emotional and physical

energies are all harmonized and they feel terrific about themselves. They are

positive, motivated and creative in everything they do.

Look for the Good

You turn stress into success by looking for the good in every situation. An

attitude of positive expectations, constantly expecting something good or

beneficial, even a valuable lesson, to be contained in every situation you

face, is a major source of positive energy. And because of the Law of

Substitution, you cant be looking into a situation for something good and

simultaneously feel negative for any reason.

The major forms of negative stress in your life revolve around blame, anger,

resentment, envy, jealousy and other negative emotions that preoccupy the

great majority of mankind. The wonderful discovery is that you can short-

circuit or de-wire all these emotions by refusing to blame anyone for anything

and instead accepting complete responsibility for everything you are and

everything that happens to you. Repeat the words, I am responsible, I am

responsible over and over to yourself whenever you face any problem or

difficulty at all.


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These words give you a tremendous sense of personal power and control.

They make you feel that you are on top of your life and the situation rather

than having the situation determining how you think and feel.

Dont Worry!

Many people suffer stress because of worry. Worry is a sustained form of

fear caused by indecision. Indecisiveness in any situation will translate into

negative stress that trips you up and impairs your effectiveness. It will

actually cause large parts of your brain to shut down and stop working for

you in the attainment of your goals.

The very best technique I have ever learned to deal with worry is what one of

my students called the Worry Buster. The worry buster consists of four

simple steps that you can use when you face any difficulty or problem at all

that is bothering you.

First, define the worry situation or problem clearly, preferably in writing.

Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center. On one side of the

piece of paper, write out a clear definition of exactly why it is you are

worrying. Proper diagnosis is 50% of the cure. When you have a clear

definition of exactly the situation that is causing you to experience worry or

stress, you almost always begin to see steps that you could take immediately

to resolve the problem.

The second step in the worry buster formula is for you to determine the

worst possible outcome of your problem or situation. What is the very worst

that could possibly happen? Whatever it is, write it down on the right hand

column next to your definition of the problem.


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Most worry is caused by resistance, a refusal to face or to deal with the worst

thing that could possibly occur if your worry situation were to happen. Once

you have defined the worst possible outcome of the situation, much of your

stress will disappear, and your mind will become calm and constructive again.

The third step in this formula is for you to resolve to accept the worst, should

it occur. Just say to yourself, Well, if it does happen, Ill learn to live with

it. Your decision to accept the worst, should it occur, eliminates the worry

situation as a source of stress from your life.

The fourth step in the worry buster formula is for you to begin immediately to

do everything you possibly can to make sure that the worst does not occur.

Now you will begin thinking positively and creatively, looking for different

things you can do, and actions you can take to minimize the worst possible

outcome.

The only real cure for worry is always systematic, purposeful action on the

achievement of a goal or the resolution of a problem. Get so busy working

on your goals or your solutions that you simply dont have time to worry at

all. And suddenly, all the negative stress caused by the worry is transformed

into positive stress that drives you forward toward achieving something you

really want.

Turn Negative to Positive

Turning positive stress into negative stress is no mystery. Negative stress is

caused by having no goals, procrastinating and putting off work on high value

tasks, blaming other people for your problems, and worry about things that

are vaguely defined or about things you cant control anyway. You turn

negative stress into positive stress by setting clear, written goals and


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organizing them by priority. You organize every hour of every day so that

you are always working on high value tasks. You motivate yourself to

overcome procrastination by selecting the most valuable thing you could

possibly be doing, and by setting in on that one task and staying with it until

it is done.

You eliminate the negative stress caused by worry by defining the worst

possible thing that could happen and then getting to work to minimize the

worst possible outcome.

Overall, you become a high performance person by controlling your inner

dialogue, by interpreting events to yourself in a positive way, and by always

accepting complete responsibility for everything you are and everything that

happens to you.

Success is a series of habits. When you develop the success habits of

thought and response that we have talked about in this session, you will

become more and more positive, more and more creative and constructive,

and more and more effective in everything you do. You will wake up every

morning full of energy, enthusiasm and excitement. You will become a highly

productive, highly effective person in everything you do. And your future will

become unlimited!


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About the Author:

Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company

specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations.

Brian is also a founder of iLearningGlobal, the preeminent online Business

Training portal in the world

Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster

and easier than you ever imagined.

Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed

more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars throughout the US,

Canada and 40 other countries worldwide. As a Keynote speaker and seminar

leader, he addresses more than 250,000 people each year.

He has studied, researched, written and spoken for 30 years in the fields of

economics, history, business, philosophy and psychology. He is the top

selling author of over 45 books that have been translated into dozens of

languages.

He has written and produced more than 300 audio and video learning

programs, including the worldwide, best-selling Psychology of Achievement,

which has been translated into more than 20 languages.

He speaks to corporate and public audiences on the subjects of Personal and

Professional Development, including the executives and staff of many of

America's largest corporations. His exciting talks and seminars on Leadership,

Selling, Self-Esteem, Goals, Strategy, Creativity and Success Psychology

bring about immediate changes and long-term results.


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Prior to founding his company, Brian Tracy International, Brian was the Chief

Operating Officer of a $265 million dollar development company. He has had

successful careers in sales and marketing, investments, real estate

development and syndication, importation, distribution and management

consulting. He has conducted high level consulting assignments with several

billion-dollar plus corporations in strategic planning and organizational

development.

He has traveled and worked in over 80 countries on six continents, and

speaks four languages. Brian is happily married and has four children. He is

active in community and national affairs, and is the President of three

companies headquartered in Solana Beach, California.

Brian is also the President of Brian Tracy University, a private on-line

University for sales and entrepreneurship.

If you have any questions about Brian Tracy learning programs and services,

please [email protected] or call 1-858-436-7300.

Brian Tracy International

462 Stevens Ave. Suite 202

Solana Beach, CA 92075

www.BrianTracy.com

Stress That Motivates

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