The Journal #38
Stress. Nowt. Shadows. Flu.
Steve, Jay & Alex walking through nature - The Hundred 2024
01. HEALTH - Joe Gaunt
Stress
It feels quite easy to get stressed in the current climate. Family, work and day to day life pressures can often lead to us feeling overwhelmed by what is happening day to day. But did you know some stress can be a good thing? That stressors seen as challenges help drive and shape us?
Stress is a natural physical and emotional response to external pressures or demands, often referred to as ‘stressors’.
These can range from daily responsibilities to unexpected challenges, and stress can manifest both mentally and physically further evidencing the mind-body relationship.
While prolonged or intense repeated stress can be extremely harmful (chronic stress), a certain level of stress, known as ‘eustress’, can actually be beneficial. Eustress helps motivate and energise us, sharpening focus and enhancing performance, particularly when facing challenging tasks or goals.
Eustress vs. Distress
Eustress: This is positive stress. It feels stimulating and can be associated with feelings of excitement. It arises in situations that are perceived as challenging but manageable, such as starting a new job, preparing for an exam, or training for a sports event. Eustress can improve productivity, enhance creativity, and increase resilience.
Distress: Negative stress that can overwhelm a person when demands seem too high or unmanageable. This type of stress can lead to anxiety, fatigue, and various health problems if it persists over time.
Joe’s Top Tips for proactively managing Stress with positive coping strategies
Sleep: Quality sleep is essential for recovery from stress. Establish a calming bedtime routine and aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
Regular physical activity: Physical activity reduces stress hormones, boosts endorphins, and helps clear your mind. Even moderate activities like walking can have a significant effect.
Nature - walk, run, take the dog out, take the kids out or just be outside near some green space/ water. The effects are transformational for wellbeing and stress management.
Its good to talk: Social support plays a crucial role in stress management. Sharing your feelings with friends, family, or a therapist can help reduce the burden.
Mindfulness/ Meditation: Simple breathing exercises or guided meditation can help lower cortisol levels and create a sense of calm.
Time Management: Prioritising tasks and setting realistic goals helps prevent feeling overwhelmed. Using tools like a to-do list or a planner can help you stay organised.
Develop Healthy Boundaries: Learning to say no and understanding your limits can prevent overcommitment and reduce feelings of stress.
Positive Self-talk and Cognitive Restructuring: Challenge negative thoughts by reframing them. This can change your perception of stressors and help you respond more positively.
Maintain a Balanced Diet: Good nutrition positively impacts energy levels, helping your body manage stress better. Proteins, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and magnesium are known to have a positive effect on stress.
Rich relaxes during a breath work session - The Hundred 2024
02. FITNESS - Recovery
The Benefit of Doing Nowt
I’m really bad at doing nowt (nowt is how we say nothing up here in God’s County (Yorkshire)).
Yet I know I need to do more of it.
Having been brought up at the school of hard knocks and brainwashing, also called the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, I was always told to do more.
Do more and you get more. Do less and you’re either lazy, weak or not worthy of the Green Beret. Simple.
But, not it turns out, when it comes to recovery.
I’m not a Dr. of sports science or Olympic athlete and so I’ll resist the urge to explain why doing less quite literally gets us more when it comes to feeling better, performing and maintaining output over time.
Check out this brilliant podcast I listened to this week on Modern Wisdom.
Episode #842 - Dr. Mike Israetel - Exercise Scientist’s Masterclass on Recovery & Stress Management
Mike delivering a keynote to NHS leaders
03. MINDSET - Mike Bates
Shadows
This week I posted on Instagram for the 1000th time.
Now isn’t that something for a 44 year old guy to celebrate?! Ok, maybe not.
But it is a big deal for me and here’s why.
I guess you might call me a late adopter of social media.
Starting an online profile and connecting, sharing and hashtagging (did you know that hashtags didn’t make an appearance until 2007?) in one’s 40’s isn’t normal.
Then again I hadn’t been living a normal life up to that point.
The nature of my work meant that I wasn’t authorised to have a social media account.
In fact, I wasn’t allowed to have my image or name (especially both together) on the internet at all. Anywhere.
This was for obvious security and operational reasons which make complete sense.
No Friend’s Reunited. No MySpace. No Twitter. No Grindr? No LinkedIn.
No social connections or a life online at all. Period.
But, emerging from the shadows following my resignation at the MOD during lockdown gave me an opportunity to explore a different way of living and connecting.
I had stated my intention to raise a serious amount of money for Leeds Hospitals Charity by rowing solo across the Atlantic ocean and that mission needed to be shared with as many people as possible.
In a strange way I was more terrified of posting online than I was of rowing the ocean.
I’d spent half of my entire life in the shadows and I was institutionalised.
A quick scroll back through the memory lane of 1:1 imagery (Instagram for those still not there yet) and it’s clear to see the struggle I was having showing anything of the real me as I navigated this shift from covert to overt.
My first 20 posts didn’t show my face at all!
Fast forward four years into this game of social self-promotion (a must I believe for anyone serious about pushing their business or brand forward in 2024 and beyond) and I share my story and life online without hardly a thought.
I’ve spoken openly on social media about my poor relationship with food and my body, the lack of a relationship with my father, parent guilt, tears on the ocean and everything in between.
I’m doing it right now as I one-finger type these thoughts into issue #38 of The Journal.
For me, sharing these things gives me confidence. It allows me to be the real me; good, bad and the downright ugly.
It provides a platform for me to try out new ideas before I share them with audiences on stage and that is something to be grateful for as a speaker. I certainly didn’t see a professional career on stage coming a little over four years ago.
For the best part of two decades I couldn’t be the real me. Now I can.
Life in the shadows is exciting, rewarding and fun but it isn’t real.
Granted, it’s no more real than the life we live online but at least we get an opportunity to be honest.
Being our authentic selves in person and online, especially so online I’d say as it’s easy to be fake, is how we find peace with who we truly are.
If we bullshit, lie and pretend we’re someone we are not then we will rightly be called out for it and that can only be a good thing. In fact, it’s one of the reasons we all benefit from being around other human beings.
They keep us on the straight and narrow. They tell us when we deviate from our path of truth.
Ignore them at your peril.
Ignore them and end up alone.
Provided you remain honest to yourself, you have good people close to you who call out your behaviours when they don’t match your intentions and you can sleep soundly at night despite it all then basking in the spotlight of life is most certainly the best place to live.
#outoftheshadowsandintothelight
04. QUOTE
“Probably the happiest period in life most frequently is in middle age, when the eager passions of youth are cooled, and the infirmities of age not yet begun; as we see that the shadows, which are at morning and evening so large, almost entirely disappear at midday.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
08. TIP
It’s coming into flu season and a lot of us are starting to catch the bugs that do the rounds at this time of year.
It’s obvious but often worth reminding ourselves of the things we can do to try and avoid illness this winter:
Get the flu vaccine. I’ve just been offered it on the NHS as someone who has mild asthma. If you’re not eligible then consider paying privately - Boots offer a service for £21.95 - a damn site cheaper than missing a week of work if you’re self-employed.
Practice good personal hygiene. Especially important when hot-desking at work or sharing small spaces with others. Wash your hands. Use tissues.
Stay active. Get plenty of fresh air. Eat well. Sleep well.
Consider reducing anything that may compromise your immune system - alcohol for example.
Stop training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
We wish you and your families the very best of health and happiness heading into winter.
Tickets for The Hundred 2025 go live in November.
Here about the Early Bird release first and gain the biggest discounts by registering here.
We believe that when men live happier, healthier & more fulfilled lives…everyone wins! - NXT45
The Journal by NXT45
