Almost everyone wants to know how to reduce stress. After all, stress can have many negative effects on both our physical and mental health. An increasing body of evidence shows that changing the way we think about stress might actually better help us manage it. Not only can this improve our well-being, including our mental health, it can also make us better able to thrive in stressful situations in the future. And the way you can learn to do this is from athletes.
The way a person thinks about stress in general is called a “stress mindset.” Some people see stress as something negative and think that it should be avoided completely. Others see stress more positively and think it will have benefits for their health, performance, or productivity.