Yes the Mic Will Be on Tonight
With Ari Garber, Special Guest
Stress. Gosh don’t I know it? I’ve got enough of it in my life. But then, you do too. Who doesn’t?
So, I asked a friend who knows a bit about the stress experience — he was a full-time trader and now he works in a firm run by four partners (all Ph.D.s). He and I thought that it’s time we talked about stress. Maybe we have ideas on how to have less stress and more fun.
I introduce, my friend, Ari.
Liz,
Thanks for inviting me to submit the open mic topic for this week. I chose stress as the discussion starter, how it comes about, how we combat it, how we avoid it.A few basic thoughts to throw to everyone, from my experiences and random mental meanderings.
Stress is caused by our interpretation and attitude towards the circumstances we find ourselves in. Attitude colors interpretation, it prevents us from coping at optimal levels, it can solve 90% of issues by allowing the freedom to creatively address what otherwise might be viewed as a crisis.
Stress is largely the result of our own decisions. We place ourselves in circumstances. We choose to care. We lose self awareness in the moment, and react emotionally. Our attitudes in dealing with the consequences of our decisions then come into play.
Stress is also directly keyed to physiology as well as the psychology. Health is a key factor. If my diet is off, if I have not been to the gym to release some energy in a positive fashion; my stress levels rise. I need to take care of my body as a baseline, to then be able to take care of my brain.
Stress is subjective, and amazingly can be adapted to in some fashion. I used to be a full-time trader, moving, winning, and losing most peoples salary in seconds, hundreds of times a day. Stress for me today is too many things on my to-do list, and too many people wanting to chat with me while I am attempting to accomplish my own goals.
Oddly, doctors say that the stress I feel today is just as negative to my wellbeing as the stress back then.
I cannot be happy without some stress in my life. Without some pressure, I am not producing at my optimal levels.
What causes you stress?
- What specific little tricks and methodologies do you use to combat it?
- Do you focus on psychological, physiological, or holistic approaches to deal with it?
- Do you self medicate? Do you have prescribed medication? I didn’t want to be the alcoholic cliche of a trader, but the heroin was fun… (That was a joke.)
- Is stress just the luxury of those who have time to dwell on it?
I look forward to hearing everyone’s ideas.
Thanks again Liz for making this available to all,
ALG
Oh, and bring a link about how you deal with stress to share, if you have one.
The rules are simple — be nice.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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