Brian Johnson argues that how you interpret stress shapes your body's response. Seeing it as a threat triggers anxiety and hurts performance. Seeing it as a challenge activates a state that improves performance.
There are two different orientations to stress. We can think that stress is debilitating, or we can think that stress is enhancing. If you think that stress is debilitating and is going to decrease your performance and lead to anxiety and all these other things, you might find yourself falling into a protector mindset. Or if you just want to get rid of it too fast, you can tell people, "Oh, you shouldn't feel that." You can be the enforcer. But the reality is, we can see stress as enhancing. And the science is remarkable on this. If you have a stress is debilitating response or kind of mindset, then you see stress as a threat. Something's wrong with you when you feel these different physiological drives. Or if you see it as enhancing, then you see that same challenge as a challenge rather than a threat. Your underlying physiology will change, your performance will change, etc.
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