As a mindfulness teacher and mentor, I used to think stress was the enemy. Something to eliminate, manage, or avoid altogether. I thought it was cooler to be calm and stress only ever brought overwhelm and issues my way…
Then I recently picked up my guitar after about ten years of it gathering dust and this got me thinking about stress. When guitar strings are slack, no matter how well you strum, nothing happens. No sound, no music, just the dull thud of loose wire against wood. So you tune it. But crank those tuning pegs too tight and ….. SNAP! The string will break under pressure.
There's a sweet spot though. That precise point where tension meets possibility, where resistance becomes resonance. Where it’s pitch-perfect and music can be made.
Last week was super busy and at times just too hectic and stressful for my liking. This morning, looking at my packed calendar for the week ahead, I found myself asking: What if stress isn't something to survive, but something to tune, just like my guitar?
The Goldilocks Zone of Pressure
Psychologist Dr. Robert Yerkes discovered something remarkable over a century ago that we're still learning to apply today. He found that performance increases with stress, but only to a point. Too little, and we drift. Too much, and we break. But there's a sweet spot where challenge meets capability, where pressure transforms into flow.
The Yerkes-Dodson law shows us that optimal performance happens in what researchers now call "eustress." It's the difference between the energising buzz of a meaningful deadline and the paralysing weight of impossible demands.
The question isn't whether you're stressed. The question is whether your stress is serving you.
The Art of Stress Calibration
Elite athletes understand this intuitively. They don't aim to eliminate pressure before a big competition. They aim to find their optimal arousal zone. That precise level of activation where their body is energized but not anxious, where their mind is focused but not rigid. Where they can perform at their peak.
Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's research on flow states reveals that the most fulfilling and productive experiences happen when challenge slightly exceeds our current skill level. Not by so much that we're overwhelmed, but by just enough that we're stretched into growth. We’re transforming in real time and it feels good.
What if your overwhelming week isn't a crisis to manage, but a signal to recalibrate?
Think about the last time you felt truly engaged at work. Chances are, you weren't coasting through easy tasks, were you?. You were navigating something challenging enough to require your full attention, but achievable enough that you believed you could succeed. Not drowing, not bored … just nicely stretched.
The Mindful Stress Assessment
Here's where mindfulness becomes your tuning fork. I’m talking about the practical conscious kind of awareness that helps you read your own internal signals, moment to moment.
The Check-In Questions:
Where do I feel this stress in my body? Energising tension in my chest, or overwhelming pressure in my shoulders?
Is my thinking getting sharper or more scattered?
Am I moving toward solutions or just reacting to problems?
Does this challenge feel meaningful or just burdensome?
As usual, it’s also a case of mind over matter! Dr. Kelly McGonigal's groundbreaking research shows that how we think about stress matters as much as the stress itself. People who view stress as enhancing rather than depleting actually show different physiological responses. Their hearts beat faster, but their blood vessels stay relaxed. Their bodies prepare for action rather than protection.
THE DIAL THEORY
Imagine your stress response has a dial, not an on-off switch. Most of us live at either 2 (underengaged and drifting) or 9 (overwhelmed and reactive). But what about 6 or 7? What about that zone where you're activated but not agitated, challenged but not crushed? This is the sweet spot - where stress is optimal. So how do we get there and stay there?
Dialing Up (When You're at 2-4):
Choose one meaningful challenge that slightly exceeds your comfort zone
Set a deadline that creates gentle urgency without panic
Ask for feedback or accountability that raises the stakes
Dialing Down (When You're at 8-10):
Remove one commitment that doesn't align with your core priorities
Build in recovery moments between intense tasks
Shift from reactive mode to responsive mode through conscious breathing
The skill isn't eliminating stress. The skill is becoming fluent in your own stress language and using stress to your advantage.
The Pause That Powers Performance
There's a moment between stimulus and response. Viktor Frankl called it our greatest human freedom. In that space, we choose not just how to react, but how to calibrate our internal state for what's coming next.
The Calibration Pause: This one’s easy to do. Take three conscious breaths to simply tune in. Ask yourself: "What level of activation will serve me best for this next task?"
Sometimes you need to dial up. That big presentation requires energy and presence. Sometimes you need to dial down. That complex problem needs steady, clear thinking.
Here’s what I’ve learned - the most effective people aren't those who maintain constant calm or constant intensity. They're those who can consciously adjust their internal state to match what the moment requires. Understanding this is what helped to reshape my stress story and transformed how I view and experience stress both personally and professionally.
Your Stress Signature
Every person has their own optimal stress signature. Some people thrive with multiple competing deadlines. Others do their best work with focused, sequential challenges. Some need external accountability to activate their best performance. Others need space and autonomy.
Your stress sweet spot is as unique as your fingerprint.
The overwhelming week you're facing right now is in fact, giving you valuable data. It’s providing information about where your dial is currently set and whether that setting is serving your goals and wellbeing. It’s your choice whether to dial up or down accordingly. You can majorly use this to your advantage.
The Reframe That Changes Everything
What if stress isn't happening to you, but for you? What if your body's activation system isn't broken when it responds to challenge, but brilliantly designed to help you rise to meet what matters?
The guitar string that's perfectly tuned doesn't avoid tension. It uses it to share something beautiful.
An overwhelming week isn't something to survive. Your stress is something you can fine-tune.
Where is your stress dial set to right now? What would it feel like to consciously adjust it to match what you most need to accomplish today? Let me know your insights in the comments below.