Professor Pete Alexander went from a stress-induced diabetes diagnosis in 2008 to coaching executives on stress relief. He outlines seven life areas to master, from career to relationships, and recommends a technology detox to break free from constant phone notifications. His approach combines personal stories and interactive exercises.
Chapters
Stress almost killed me. You know that feeling of mental and emotional strain that comes from being completely overwhelmed? That happened to me in 2008. It was a perfect storm of stressful activities culminating in my diagnosis with stress-induced diabetes. Yet, did I listen to my body about what stress was doing to me? No. Instead, 10 more years of burning the candle at both ends until I ended up in the emergency room with a severe case of diabetic ketoacidosis. My body was eating itself alive because of my stress. It was an epiphany moment for me. I knew I had to change, or else I might not get to meet my future grandchildren. So I started experimenting with different tools and techniques, and I noticed my stress went down, and so did my glucose numbers, my weight, And I gained energy. I knew I had to share this newfound knowledge. So my new mission is to help other hard-driving leaders experience stress relief, because I believe you can reach your full potential if you can get a handle on your stress.
I'm Professor Pete Alexander. I help hard-driving executives overcome their self-imposed barriers to success using clever stress relief tools.
Long-term stress relief requires you to have 7 areas of your life in balance: your livelihood or career, your imagination or conscious mind, what I like to call your genius, your unconscious mind, your physical health, the time you have available, your environment, and your network of relationships.
I'm different from other speakers and experts, A, because I'm not your typical professor who bores their students with lectures that drone on. I also engage my audiences with personal stories, humor, and interactive exercises that keeps the audience focused.
An excellent way to get stress relief, especially as a leader, is to detox from technology. I'm talking about your electronic leash known as your cell phone. When you are responding to messages in the evenings, on weekends, on your vacation, you have effectively not stopped working. And when you haven't stopped working, you haven't given your mind nor your body the opportunity to recharge.
Common symptoms are things like individuals, leaders who are stressed out beyond their means. Or a corporation has a sales team that's not meeting its numbers, and sales management wants to try a different approach or technique to motivate their team.
Stress and I have had a long history together, dating back to when I was very small. It came from the family dysfunction associated with my parents combined having 9 marriages, 7 divorces, and 1 widowing. Can you imagine what the family tree was like of step-siblings? And what the holidays were like as a kid? Uh, hi, I believe we're now related. My name's Pete. What's your name? It was weird and stressful at the same time.
The common reasons why clients hire me is because they want to understand the impact negative stress has on their corporations and individuals. In addition, they want to learn simple stress relief techniques that their employees can implement right away.
Pete was amazing! I couldn't believe what he had to share about stress. I'm so glad I got to see this presentation. So impactful.
Pete just had so much to say about stress, and I really didn't connect the dots until he got up there and just laid it out for me. I'm really— my whole perception's changed.
Pete is amazing. I just think he has such a great energy level and is such a great communicator. Awesome job.
Ken and I were friends for over 30 years. We met in high school. We served as each other's best man. At our weddings, and we supported each other as proud fathers. Fast forward 20 years. Ken was struggling in his personal and professional life. He ended up in the emergency room with intestinal cancer. The doctors had to remove over two-thirds of his intestines. On many occasions, Ken told me he was convinced that stress caused his cancer. Two weeks before his 49th birthday, Ken passed away because of his disease. The relationships in our life are precious. Don't be like my dear friend Ken again and let stress get the best of you. I urge you to take action today, even if it's trying one or two simple yet clever stress relief techniques. The people in your life who love you will thank you for it.
