Stress The Thriller Or The Killer

Welcome to the Coach Lew, evening edition. This week you might be saying, why are you live in the evening, coach? What happened? Well, this morning I did the best show ever and it was just amazing and I get down to it and there was a software technical issue where although my mic looked like it was on, it wasn’t on, it did not record my voice. So we had a lot of going on and I was like, Hmm, seriously here. We missed out on one of the greatest shows in the world. And then I’m like, don’t stress, that’s what I’m teaching about. Don’t stress. Let me figure out what the reasoning is here. And I came out of it with a couple of new distinctions that I was like, wow, this is something that’s going to help me learn and grow and do even better for you guys. So today’s show is about thrills or kills.

Okay? The answer to that question is literally stress. Okay, stress. Does it thrill or does it kill? Okay? And we’ll get right to the answer in a second. In today’s world, there is stress is like an everyday occurrence occurring all the time. It feels like you can’t get away from stress, right? And stress comes in so many forms, especially now. It’s either the news, it’s weather issues, it’s health issues, it is financial issues, it’s political issues. Stress is coming at you from every different direction, plus you’ve got family issues, plus you’ve got a business to run or a job to go to, plus you’ve got trying to figure it all out and create a life and carry on forward. And you go, what in the world is going on here, coach? And these stresses you would think are all bad. So is stress all bad?

I don’t know. I think the truth is that stress can be good or bad and may go by a totally different name entirely sometimes, okay? And that’s going to be an exciting revolution. I’m Revolution resolution I’m going to share with you on the show is that stress can be known by a different name, and that’s kind of exciting. Okay? So stress can save your life or stress can kill you. It’s just that simple. Let’s think of an example. A tiger’s chasing you, and you start to decide of what does this mean? And you go, I need to run. Okay? And you go, you run and you get away from the tiger. It saved your life. Stress saved your life. What if you’re worried about something all the time and you’re always stressed out and you’re always worried and it just, it’s eaten at you and it’s eaten up your organs, and it’s tearing up your body, your relationships and everything else.

In that case, stress can kill you. So what is this stress? Is it good or is it bad? It can save your life. That’s got to be good. It can kill you. That’s got to be bad. Let’s first discover exactly what stress is. Okay? Stress number one is a physiological response to a feeling or perception of something that needs your attention. When you start to stress out, something needs your attention. That is a warning sign. So something you think about or something you’re feeling is requiring your attention, creating a physiological response and a physiological response is nothing more than a physical chemical response in your body. So stress number two, it is kind of number 1.5 or two is a stress, a release of neurochemicals, neurotropic chemicals in your body to create the fight, flight, or freeze response to a perceived threat or a real threat.

A perceived threat might be, for instance, that you’re getting called to the office and you think you’re in trouble when you might be getting accommodation or a real threat is somebody’s kicking in your front door at three o’clock in the morning and you’re being home invaded. That’s a real threat. You don’t want to sit there and go, is this for real? You’re going to have to respond if you’re getting called to the boss’s office or the office at school, you might not respond in the same way. You don’t really know is it really something bad? Okay? Usually when you get called to the office, it might be a challenge you got to deal with, but it could be something really good. Number three, remember, stress is a warning. It is a simple warning that action is necessary. If you’re stressing out about something, that means you’re probably procrastinating or you need to take action on it.

If something urgent happens and that stress response occurs, that means you need to take action right now. Okay? So let’s stress be a warning that something requires action or your attention. Interesting, right? So then you ask, well, what exactly does this stress feel like? I’m stressed out. Well, what does that feel like? Okay, this can be different for each and every person, and it can be a combination of symptoms, et cetera and manifestations, but generally you’re going to have a rapid heartbeat or feel anxious, nervous, uptight, a tighter, nauseous feel in the gut. You could be sweating, shallow breathing, hyperventilating, possibly get dizzy. You might feel like you want to pass out. You might feel confused, you might feel like you want to run or you want to cry. These are all stress responses, so that’s a good way to recognize it. Okay? I’m a little concerned about something doesn’t necessarily mean you’re at a high level of stress about it.

I’m fearful over this or taken to my knees or can’t function because of it. That’s heavy duty stress. Okay? Guess what? There is a twin force to stress, and that is a really exciting discovery. Have you figured it out yet? It’s excitement. Excitement is almost identical to stress Physiologically, the chemicals that are released, the faster breathing, maybe your heart rate elevates. It has a very different connotation. Stress has a negative or worry feeling to it, whereas excitement has a positive or expectant or excited feeling to it. Let me give you a real great example. Okay? Barbara Streisand versus what’s his name? Yeah, you could tell it’s later in the day.

Bruce Springsteen, and these are true stories. Barbara Streisand, call her therapist or a coach, whoever. I’m having problems with panic attacks, okay? She’s getting interviewed about this and she goes, oh, I got to get my psychologist there or coach, whoever, because I go to get on stage and my heart starts to race. I start to sweat. I feel this tightness in my throat, and I know I’m having a panic attack and I can’t go on stage, and they’re not making any mockery out of that. That’s very real feeling. It’s very scary. You can feel like you’re having a heart attack, you’re going to die. Panic attacks or nothing to scoff at. I mean, for those people that don’t have ’em, somebody that does have ’em, they’re very real. But listen to what she said. She starts to sweat, her heart rate goes up, her throat tightens up, and she knows she’s having a panic attack. Bruce Springsteen, on the other hand, somebody’s interviewing him, and they said, how do you know when you’re ready to get out there and give your all? He says, I start to sweat a little bit. My heart rate goes up, my breathing gets shallow, and I get this tight feeling and I know I’m ready.

You see the pattern? It’s the same physiological response. Bruce is ready to storm that stage. Babs can’t get out on stage. Okay? What’s the difference? The difference is do they put the negative connotation of the stress IE panic attack or the excitement of being ready to go the same physiological response. So when you get that in your head and in your heart and your emotions, then your body’s going to respond to either or. Your body’s going to give you the panic attack or give you the excitement. You’re going to interpret that and you’re going to go, oh, this is happening. What does it mean? Okay? So you might ask the question of, okay, this is great coach, and we know what stress feels like. We felt it before we get it. All right? Makes sense that it’s positive or negative connotation. And the connotation is just meaning.

The meaning that you put on something, the belief about it. That’s a big word for just simply what it means to you. Okay? So the connotation, alright, that makes sense, coach. So how the heck do we combat this stress from the start? Okay, so how about finding ways to change your associations to things that do stress you out? Example, learn to get excited about things that used to worry you. Okay? And have you ever done this? You’ve been really worried or scared about something and then you finally do it and it turns out that it was actually exciting. Okay? Most people have done this, and a pretty darn good example is a roller coaster or skydiving. Probably more people have been on a rollercoaster than skydiving. Okay, I’ve done both. But think about it. You get on the rollercoaster or you’re at the fair or whatever with your kid, and they go, daddy or mommy, I want to go on that.

And you see this thing and people are, it’s flipping upside down and you’re like, Hmm, I don’t really want to do this. So you start to get nervous about it, but your kid keeps nagging you, so you’re like, fine. And you’re like, well, it can’t be that bad. Well, it’s not that bad until you’re the first one and it comes rolling and people are like, ah, getting off of it. And you’re like, oh no, you get in and click no. Going back, say, enjoy your ride. No. Hey, can I get off? You’re moving, click, click, click, click going up, and you’re like three quarters of the way up and you’re already turning to the side and freaking out and you’re still going click, click. You’re not even moving a mile an hour, okay? You get there, you get to that top and it’s like, I don’t want to be on there.

Oh my God, this, oh wow. Oh wow. You get off, you get to the other side. I want to go on again. I want to go on again. Okay, at the top of that, click, click, click, click. You were living, hell didn’t want to do this. This was like death to you. Now you want to go do it again? I thought it was stressful. I thought it was scary. I thought it would. See now that you did it turns out that it was actually exciting. Same thing with skydiving. My skydiving story was a buddy of mine’s like, Hey, let’s go skydiving. I think I was like 19, 20 years old. And I’m like, yeah, sure. Well, we had had a couple of drinks, I think, and next day he’s like, oh, today’s the day we’re going. And I’m like, so you get there and it’s the whole plane right up and the whole safety thing and that you’re going to die.

You’re going to hit the ground. You fall out of that airplane and it’s like, oh my God. And that’s the only time you’re falling is that first, second and a half when you drop out the door, all of a sudden you fly in the skies. You’re literally, you don’t feel the drop because of the wind resistance plus your 30,000 square foot or 30,000 foot in the air, 15, depending on where you jump from and you’re flying. It’s the coolest feeling in the world. Then you go, I want to do this again. Until you pull the chute and you feel like your body’s being separated in three different directions. I didn’t know the next day you’re going to be in pain because you yank about 1500 foot up when that chute opens. But at that point, it’s so beautiful and you’re just floating, and it’s kind of like, how could you not do this and go through it and go, wow, I was scared to death and it’s great.

So that’s just an example of facing something that was like, whoa, scared, worried, stressed, amazing. What if you applied that to some lesser craziness in life, getting your taxes done instead of, oh, I’m worried I’m going to owe so much or something. Like just get ’em done before the 14th of April, okay? Don’t do ’em on the last night and be all stressed out and sweat and everything else. Look at it and go, Hey, what can I learn here? How to save some money on these? Maybe if I pay attention, maybe if I feel like I’m mining for gold to hold onto some of my money here. Make it a fun, playful thing. What about if you got to make sales calls? Nobody loves making cold calls, stuff like that. What if you treated yourself like you were a treasure hunter, and when you got a new client, you found treasure?

How much cooler would that be? It’s still work. It’s still is what it is. It’s still a little scary, but when you get to the other side of it, how many times have you made a call or called on somebody or had to do something where you had to meet somebody new, you were nervous about it, and now they’re friends. Now you look forward to the next call with that person, or a date that you were scared to go on and now you’re married to that person or something and you look back and go, I was so scared and now I’m so happy. Or you go, oh God, I should have paid more attention to my gut. It’s always a possibility. See, there’s a thing about the gut feel. It’s amazing. It’s a little offshoot right now, but they have found, research has found that we have neurons and cells in our gut area that are the same type of cells as our brain cells.

So we do that gut feeling is actually a thought process going on in the gut. It’s not just woo woo or an old wives’ tale. Gut feeling has a meaning. Wow, pretty darn cool, huh? Okay, so I got a tool for you when you’re starting to get stressed out, how to diffuse this and combat this feeling of stress. Number one, when you begin to feel stressed, ask yourself, what does this really mean? Is somebody chasing me with a hatchet down the road, or do I have to make a phone call with somebody I’ve never talked to before? There’s a big difference there. So what does this really mean? Okay, what if you get a phone call at three o’clock in the morning? A lot of people would stress out and go, something’s wrong with one of my kids or a family member. Could be a wrong number.

Could be somebody calling to tell you when lotto, but that’s doubtful at 3:00 AM Could just be a wrong number. Or it could be maybe your child gotten a little fender bender and they’re fine. And the minute you answer that phone, this is so-and-so from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and you’re going, my God, is my child dead. And you come to find out that somebody backed into ’em in a parking lot and put a little dent on the thing, but they’re young and they want to get mom and dad there to be supportive, or it could be a drastic emergency. Hey, you can’t. But at that point then you go, what does this really mean? This means I need to get up and get to the hospital. The other one means, okay, my kid’s good. We got a little dent and a quarter panel of the car.

I’m okay. That’s what it really means. Everything’s fine. It’s going to be just a little inconvenient. Not my child is in critical condition, getting in a helicopter, going to the hospital. So asking what this really means is the key number one tool. Number two, ask yourself, how can I learn, grow, and actually enjoy this challenge? Because usually stress is there because something challenging is coming up, whether it’s major, perceived, or whether it’s really challenging, it’s still challenging to you. So then you take it one step further. If you go from there, you go, okay, how can I actually enjoy this or learn or grow from this challenge? But then how can I help somebody else after I go through this conquer the same stressful type of situation? How could I teach somebody else how to get through that? Okay, maybe that’s health issues, financial issues, relationship issues, or something else.

Maybe if you go through a challenge, instead of just stressing out about it, if you take it on and go, you, how do I make this make me grow? How can I be a better person and how can I help somebody else in the long run? See, we’ll all do something more for somebody else, especially those we really care about than we will do about it for ourselves. You’ll do way more to save your child’s life than you will yours, I guarantee you. Not that you shouldn’t do everything you can to save your own life, but you would give up. Most people would give up their own life in saving their child. Okay? So think about that. Or what if you had a million dollars in the bank and you know, were like, okay, maybe I’ll buy a new house. Well, that’s okay. What should I do?

What investment should I make? Hey, your child needs a surgery right now and it’s a million dollars, but it’s going to save your life. You wouldn’t think about it. You would just do it. You’ll always do more for somebody that you care about. Then you’ll do for yourself. That always helps to attach that to meaning as well. What does this mean? Why would I need to overcome this stressful situation? So pretty cool, huh? I hope this has really opened up the door for you to understand what stress is, number one. Number two, how to deal with stress. And number three, how to make stress serve you. And number four, really what’s cool is you can change stress to excitement pretty darn easily because it’s the same physiological response in the body. It’s what you think and feel about it that makes a difference. It’s Kelly, me and Simon, the cross that makes you feel better.

So seriously, guys, I seriously, seriously think about this One more thing, and I always got one more thing for you is Hormetic stress. And you’re like, what? Stress, hormetic stress. This is a stress that is generally good for you. Now, I’m going to disclaim right here. Now, I’m not a medical doctor. Always check with you medical doctor before doing any self-help, physical dietary changes, anything like that. Check with your medical professional, make sure you’re up for it. Herma stress is like cold and hot therapy and stuff like that. I do a cold plunge every day. I do sauna almost every day. So I go from less than 50 degrees to 160 degrees in the same day. And you might go, what does this mean? That’s a physical Hormetic stress. The Hormetic stress that makes you tougher, makes your body stronger. Weightlifting is a Hormetic stress. You make micro tears to grow the muscle. Running is a Hormetic stress on your cardiovascular system to make your heart stronger, your lungs function better. So that’s a good stress. Hormetic stress is a good stress. Again, this claiming, making sure that you are capable of what you take on there. But I will leave you some links for Ice Pod because they’re an amazing company. Please, please, please, whatever you do, don’t ever spend retail or not retail, don’t ever spend thousands on an ice bath.

Entry level gets you into an ice pod for less than 200. Then if you want to get a chiller, which I choose to, it’s much easier than doing the ice all the time. You can start out there and make sure that it’s what you want. But I don’t like the bathtub type of, I love Ice Pods set up. It’s just the primo. And that’s not just because I’m one of their affiliates. It literally is the one, excuse me, that I use. Also, ClearLight Sauna is the one that I use as well. I use ClearLight for my hot therapy for many reasons, and that’s a story for another day. So I don’t keep you too long, but you can ask me, you can email me, check with me why I choose ClearLight. And a lot of it has to do with chemical treatments on the woods, the EMFs, all kinds of stuff.

It was very important to me to make sure that doing one good thing for your body, you’re not doing three or four bad things to your body. Makes sense? Okay, so I’m going to put the links for those in and we’ll do more information on those as we go, but in the meantime, don’t stress so much. And then there’s one last thing I want to leave you with, and that is stress prevention, stress diminishment or stress relief. So you can reduce stress by being more organized, being on time, learning to ask the right questions, and don’t put yourself in those last minute positions, leaving the house late, getting in your car and spilling your coffee in a hurry for getting your report. You got to run back in the house, you trip and fall and break your phone while you’re going back in the house.

And now you can’t even call the boss and tell ’em you’re going to be late and this, that, and the other. Boom. That is setting yourself up to be stressed out, reducing the stress of be having everything ready, getting out early, waking up early, having a plan and all that. Now you could have all that and be on your way to work. And somebody goes smack India, and you’re getting a car crash and you’re stuck there waiting to do a report and everything, and you’re still late. And it’s not even your fault, but that’s not the norm. The norm is the people. The stress is coming from the not being prepared, not having your stuff organized, not having a plan. Okay, so that’s your stress reduction. Have a plan, have take out the things in life. Learn to say no. Turn your phone on silent once in a while.

We learned earlier that I didn’t, okay, normally I put it on do not disturb. I had no idea I was going to get hit with a phone call. So those are the things that can reduce stress. Now, what about the stresses? You can’t, like somebody drove into your car, you got a new boss and they just have it out for you. Stuff like, well, then there’s stress relief. The other hour of stress, and that is stress relief, getting a massage, a walk in the woods, meditation. Maybe it’s a run, maybe it’s a heavy workout, maybe it’s going to a concert, whatever relieves the effects of stress because you’re never going to totally avoid stress. There’s only one way you avoid stress permanently, and that’s to be dirt nap and done out of the game. You’re gone. Then there is no stress. As long as you’re alive and breathing and kicking, there is going to be some stress.

Now the best thing is to reduce that as much as possible. And then what you can’t reduce, you need to relieve the effects on your body and on your mind and on your soul. Stress. Stress can get to everything. So when we first started, does a thrill or does it kill? Well, if you let it be negative and overwhelming, it’s probably a killer. If you get curious, when you get stressed and you take action and you learn and grow and you get excited, maybe it’s a thriller. So I love this. I love teaching you guys. I appreciate you getting on my show. Breakthrough with Coach Lew all the time and learning and growing. Also, it’s that time of year. I want to remind you on acceleratelife.com, and I’ll leave you the links in there and everything. For that, you can take my 30 day HEALS course.

Healthy eating and lifestyle, simplified stress is one of those things we cover. We cover dietary, we cover exercise, breathing, hydration, the whole nine yards, okay? Because you are a whole person, holistic does not mean woo woo. Holistic means you take care of the whole picture of you. It’s a 30 day course. It’s amazing, guys. It’s extremely affordable. I lowered the price way down from what it should have been because I want everybody to have the opportunity to live their best life ever. So have an amazing day. Live with faith, energy, passion, always live your dreams. I’ll see you on the next roundabout. And yeah, this is Coach Lew signing off on the evening edition of Breakthrough with Lew.