Research has documented the benefits of this approach. Andreas Keller and his colleagues published a report that examined surveys of nearly 186 million U.S. adults who participated in the 1998 National Health Interview. In the survey data, 55 percent of participants reported experiencing moderate to high levels of stress during the previous year. Nearly 34 percent indicated that this stress had negatively impacted their health to some extent during that time.
The researchers found that those who reported higher stress and beliefs that stress negatively influenced their health had a 43 percent increased risk for premature death.
The study supports the idea of changing your perception of the stressors that are in your life and using interventions such as cognitive restructuring and problem solving techniques to manage stress.
For better or worse stress is here to stay, whether you become its master or servant. Great leaders master it. Now it’s your turn.