“I’ve got a super stressful week coming up,” Adam, a project manager, announced in our Monday session. “We’re meeting with our most important and most difficult client on Thursday afternoon. I’m dreading it.” He sighed. “My job is really stressful.” Adam slept poorly all week, was irritable and impatient with his assistant, fretted about the meeting when he was home, and snapped at his kids, causing his wife to shoot him a glare. A single meeting had hijacked his nervous system for the entire week.

Do you believe your job is very stressful? Good. That means there’s something you can do right now to make it less so. Stop telling yourself that your job is very stressful.

The Problem with Defining Your Job as Stressful

Our nervous system doesn’t distinguish well between real threats and anticipated ones. By describing your job (or your week) as........

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