Everyone gets stressed - NO ONE is immune. The usual stress advice is “calm down.” But study after study shows better advice is “get excited” - embrace the challenge. Whether it’s a student taking on an exam or an athlete going for gold, those who adopt a “get excited” way of thinking show greater confidence, handle pressure better, & perform better than those who try to “calm down.”

So practice excitement. Ask: Why is this challenge good for me? How can it make me stronger? Embrace the stress - whatever it is. Love it. Use it as fuel.

This is old life advice - nothing new. Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor) in his book ’The Meditations’ writes about the power of loving your fate – in his view he had to remind himself that strife “makes the soul stronger.” Here’s a short video of some of Aurelius’s stoic performance principles: watch this video below…amor fati!!!