Stress vs. Passion

From our founder:

“I’m so stressed!”

Why am I so stressed? Because I really care about how this thing turns out. I want to do well. I want to deliver my best. I want people to respect the hustle I’m putting in - our team is putting in.

But does it need to be stress? My garmin says stress is good. But it’s also bad. So stressing my body a little is good. And I think maybe stressing my mind a little is good too. Maybe that’s where new ideas, solutions, and problem solving comes from. But I would rather not die of a heart attack.

So how do I keep caring so much without killing myself?

Seriously.

Ok so I’m kind of using this email as a therapy session - hope that’s ok.

Here goes.

I think I can reframe my stress into passion. ‘Passion’ is a positive word most of the time. It makes me feel motivated, strong, and fulfilled. The word ‘stress’ makes me feel even more stressed!

So let me try to do this…

Today I’m feeling stressed because I was filming all week and missed two video calls and didn’t get back to most of my emails until Friday.

New statement: Today I’m feeling PASSIONATE because I filmed all week (something I really wanted to do) and I have two really exciting video calls that I’ll be able to reschedule for next week. I can also use my passion and dedication to reply to all my emails this weekend and do a great job.

Wow. That actually worked. I actually feel good.

It’s so funny. I’ve always felt my stress in my butt. Like, my butt muscles are tense when I’m nervous but when feeling calm or present I can feel my butt muscles release. That actually just happened. Huh.

Well, I feel better. Thanks.

If you get a chance to try that one, let me know. Maybe we can all feel a little less stress and more passion in our lives (and golf too).

Passionately relaxed,

Sam Goulden

PS. I didn't use Ai to write this email so please excuse any grammatical errors or human ramblings ;)

Stress vs. Passion

Reading next