Here is the last installment of this Blog posting. Be sure to try at least one of the nine...and...don't be shy about sharing one of your own ways. Just post it here as a "Comment."

7. See your work in terms of progress, not perfection
We all approach the goals we pursue with one of two mindsets: (1) the Be-Good mindset, where the focus is on proving that you have a lot of ability and that you already know what you're doing; and (2) the Get-Better mindset, where the focus is on developing your ability and learning new skills. You can think of it as the difference between wanting to show that you are already as good as your're going to get, versus wanting to get better.
 
When you have a Be-Good mindset, you expect to be able to do everything perfectly already, and you constantly compare yourself to others. You quickly start to doubt your ability when things don't go smoothly, and this creates stress. Ironically, worrying about your ability makes you much more likely to perform less than your best.
 
A Get-Better mindset leads instead to self-comparison and a concern with making progress — how well are you doing today, compared with how you did yesterday, last month, or last year? When you think about what you are doing in terms of learning and improving, accepting that we all make mistakes along the way, you experience far less stress.
 
8. Think about the progress that you've already made.
It's not whether we've reached our goal, but the rate at which we are closing the gap between where we are now and where we want to end up that determines how we feel. Think of it as moving from "I Am Not" to "I Am". Take a moment and reflect on what you've accomplished during previous seasons before turning your attention to the challenges of the upcoming season. How far have you come already?
 
9. Know whether optimism or defensive pessimism works best for you.
Sometimes it's hard for players to stay positive when they've got a long hill to climb, with lots of competition along the way from other players vying for that same spot on the roster. Staying positive for some players isn't just hard — it also feels wrong. And as it turns out, they are correct — optimism doesn't work for them.

Promotion versus prevention focus. Some athletes think of their careers as opportunities for achievement and accomplishment — they have what psychologists call a promotion focus. This focus is about maximizing gains and avoiding missed opportunities. For others, doing a job well is about security, about not losing the positions they've worked so hard for. This prevention focus places the emphasis on avoiding danger. It's about minimizing losses, and trying to hang on to what you've got.
 
Understanding promotion and prevention motivation helps us understand why people can work so differently to reach the same goal. Promotion motivation is the desire to really go for it. This is enhanced by optimism. Believing that everything is going to work out great is essential for promotion-focused performance.

Prevention motivation, on the other hand, feels like keeping danger away. It is sustained not by optimism, but by defensive pessimism. Prevention-minded athletes actually work best when they think about what might go wrong, and what they can do to keep that from happening.

So, pick which one works best for you: optimism or defensive pessimism and use it to your advantange. Maybe a little of both is more your style. 

In summary, try one or all of the nine and see how it works. You won't know until you try.

Adapted from HBR's "Nine Ways Successful People Defeat Stress" by H. Grant Halvorson


 

4. Take five (or ten) minutes to do something you find interesting.
It doesn't matter what it is, so long as it interests you. Recent research shows that interest doesn't just keep you going despite fatigue, it actually replenishes your energy. And then that replenished energy flows into whatever you do next.

Keep these two very important points in mind:

First, interesting is not the same thing as pleasant, fun, or relaxing--though they are not mutually exclusive.
Second, interesting does not have to mean effortless. The same studies that showed that interest replenished energy showed that it did so even when the interesting task was difficult and required effort.

5. Add where and when to your to-do list.
Do you have a to-do list? And do you find that a day or a week will frequently pass by without a single item getting checked off? If so, then change you to-do list by adding where and when.  "Where and when" planning is a great way to help you get more done. Nearly 200 studies have shown that deciding in advance when and where you will complete a task can double or triple your chances of actually doing it.
 
6. Plan your responses in advance.
Another way to defeat stress is to consciously plan a positive response to circumstances, events, or people that typically cause you to stress out. For example, plan to respond to someone's usual critical comments with understanding rather than stress.
All you need to do is to consciously decide what kind of response you want to have to a given circumstance, event, or person instead of unconsciously responding with stress.

Next, make a plan that links your desired response to the situations that tend to cause stress. Imagine what it would be like prior to the actual encounter. It may not be easy the first time you try this, but do not give up. Persevere, and like with any other new task you're learning, it will become easier and easier with practice.

Check back for the last three ways tomorrow.

2. Remember the Big Picture
Anything you need or want to do can be thought of in more than one way. For instance, "exercising" can be described in Big Picture terms, like "getting in better shape" — the why of exercising — or it can be described in more concrete terms, like "running two miles"— the how of exercising.

Thinking Big Picture about the work you do can be very energizing in the face of stress and challenge, because you are linking one particular, often small action to a greater meaning or purpose. Something that may not seem important or valuable on its own gets cast in a whole new light

3. Rely on Routines
If you were asked to name the major causes of stress in your professional life, you probably wouldn't say "having to make so many decisions," because most people aren't aware that this is a powerful and pervasive cause of stress in their lives. Every time you make a decision you create a state of mental tension that is, in fact, stressful. 

The solution is to reduce the number of decisions you need to make by using routines. If there's something you need to do every day, do it at the same time every day. Simple routines can dramatically reduce your experience of stress. 

Check back for the remaining ways to defeat stress posted in upcoming blogs.

Feeling stressed? Of course you are. You have too much on your plate, people are counting on you, and to top it all off, you‘re getting ready for the upcoming season. It’s difficult to be a professional baseball player these days and not experience times of stress. Yet when it comes to stress, the difference between athletes who are successful and those who aren’t is not whether or not they suffer from stress, but how they deal with it.

In the next few blog postings, we share nine scientifically-proven strategies for defeating stress from a recent article by H. Grant Halvorson, Ph.D., associate director for the Motivation Science Center at the Columbia University. 

Let's begin with number one: Have self-compassion.

Self-compassion is cutting yourself some slack. It's being willing to look at your mistakes or failures with kindness and understanding — without harsh criticism or defensiveness. Studies show that people who are self-compassionate are happier, more optimistic, and less anxious and depressed.

And, they are more successful, too. Most of us believe that we need to be hard on ourselves to perform at our best, but it turns out that's 100%  wrong. A little self-compassion when things are at their most difficult can reduce your stress and improve your performance, by making it easier to learn from your mistakes.

Learning and growing involves making mistakes. So, if you make a mistake. Acknowledge it. Learn from it, and move on. Don't stress over it on into the night, the next day, and so on. Have some self-compassion, and while you're at it, show some compassion for your teammates, coaches, and manager. I'll bet they will be thankful that you did.