We need to distinguish between stress and stimulation. Having deadlines, setting goals, and pushing yourself to perform at capacity are stimulating. Stress is when you're anxious, upset, or frustrated, which dramatically reduce your ability to perform.

Look closer at the stress in your own life and you can identify that negative emotions are always built on counterfactual statements.

If you're successful and stressed out, you're succeeding in spite of your stress, not because of it.

You can't tell yourself that your stress is produced in your head and feel better. You still need to learn how to create a change.

Remember that stress doesn't come from what's going on in your life. It comes from your thoughts about what's going on in your life.

You might think that shifting your thoughts is as easy as setting your mind to it. But stressful thoughts aren't held in place through choice or will power. They're held in place through perceived truth value.

During the financial crisis, I worked with hundreds of executives who struggled as a result of their thoughts about job security. When their beliefs changed, so did their emotional experience - and they were then able to focus on the task at hand more effectively.