The research about stress and it's effects on humans gets better every day. In a decade we may all be as well informed and conscious of the negative effects of stress as we are currently of fast food, smoking and lack of exercise.
There are different forms of stress. Some good, some bad. Good stress is often referred to as short term acute stress, and this type can often be exciting and promote positive action. This kind of stress will cause you to work hard on an upcoming presentation or push yourself off the starting line of a Saturday obstacle course race. It will help an extreme kayaker focus on making it down a tough section of whitewater, or help a Commando to overcome almost insurmountable obstacles to succeed and survive in almost any situation. Short term acute stress is usually good and is the bodies natural response to a stimulus that requires immediate action.
The stress I'm focusing on here is of a particular variety that is so prevalent in modern society, and especially the modern corporate workplace, and is referred to as chronic stress. Simply defined, chronic stress is constant, relentless and occurs when people are perpetually overwhelmed with no way out of their situation. Chronic stress is very real and presents a serious threat to individual and organizational survival.
Most people, whether civilian or military are constantly balancing multiple and disparate missions. In the military individual soldiers, even SOF Operators in elite units, have to balance different levels of mission priority. There are national objectives, theatre specific objectives, unit objectives, team objectives and finally individual objectives and each has a purpose. Along with different missions come different levels of stress that can impact individual team members, teams and units. Successful SOF operators learn to balance the different mission circles, and focus on the one that is most necessary at the moment to ensure total mission success. I refer to this as the 3 circles of Mission Focus (Individual, Unit and Strategic).
Employees, Managers and Executives in civilian organizations have the same types of competing objectives. The strategic mission of the organization, the department or division's mission, the individual business unit and individual employee's goals may all be out of alignment with each other. Misaligned goals can create stress. Poor communication, lack of trust or inability to build rapport among other team members creates dysfunction among small teams. Managers who lack leadership skills, or support from above often create more problems than they solve. Poor leadership creates massive stress among employees and companies. The result is widespread stress, organizational distrust and extremely low morale among some of our nations largest and most "trusted" corporations. Household names that touch many sections of the US economy are filled with employees who are suffering under chronic stress, many don't even recognize the signs.
I am extremely concerned with the amount of chronic organizational stress I see in almost every organization and also by the fact that the preferred course of action seems to be to ignore it.
Individuals that serve in the military are generally much more knowledgeable about the effects of stress, how to recognize and guard against it, or how to harness it for useful purposes. The ability of the Special Forces, Navy SEALS and other SOF operators to endure stress or suffer the negative effects less than other troops in the military is well documented and is linked to research conducted around Special Operations stress inoculation as individuals participate in classified training.
Research shows that among the reasons that SOF operators perform in a superior way under stress is that they release more of a chemical known as Neuropeptide Y. This amino acid (NPY) is known to help regulate blood pressure, appetite and learning and also to buffer the effects of anxiety and adrenaline (all successful Commandos excel in these areas). The presence of increased levels of NPY also helps SOF Operators recover quicker from exposure to extreme stress.
What does this mean? Higher levels of performance and survivability. Higher levels of individual and organizational health. And in terms of US Special Operations, it means that when called to action, our nation's Commandos remain laser focused on successful outcomes of their missions, much to the dismay of those who would do our nation harm.
Just knowing that SOF operators possess more of NPY isn't enough, and the SOF units and personnel certainly don't rest in that knowledge. They are constantly training in realistic scenarios and stressful missions. Individual skills (marksmanship, fitness, driving, parachuting, leadership, climbing) are constantly trained and then integrated into small team drills, which are integrated higher into larger organizational goals. Throughout the training, difficult scenarios replicating current, past or future missions are the foundation of elite units preparation. These scenario driven training evolutions are what individuals and teams use to refine, and perfect their reactions to stress, and ensure that they possess superior mindset and abilities.
You, your company, or your organization can benefit from this knowledge by creating a custom training event that is tailored to your specific goals and abilities. Ranging from 1 Day to 1 week, AOG's solo, small group and team courses are perfect for creating mission focus. Led by some of the most talented and diverse instructors in the industry, AOG's courses blend multi-sport and tactical skill training with elite final missions in some of the most spectacular locations to create a truly epic experience. Need help creating the right goals? AOG offers custom coaching and leadership seminars to get your team SOF focused. AOG's staff are accomplished tactical thinkers and successful corporate leaders and are the experts in small group Human Performance Training.
You can take action to help your individual situation right now.
1) Start a real workout program. Individual physical readiness is at the very core of every successful SOF operator and is a huge focus of elite individuals in all walks of life. Two places to start your search are:
www.crossfit.com (large national presence with thousands of "Boxes" around the US and a supportive culture that encourages beginners to push hard)
www.mountainathlete.com (focusing on training programs for the most elite athletes and warrior athletes based out of Jackson, WY)
Both of these organizations are recommended by AOG and will get you on the right track for functional fitness and a healthy lifestyle. If you are not familiar with the terms WOD, AMRAP, Paelo, 1RM, Thrusters, Box Jumps, Ruck and Explosive energy then you need to get started today. Forget what you learned in school, don't waste your money on traditional gym memberships unless you want to continue to be disappointed and not get results. AOG, other similar companies, current and former SOF Operators and the most elite outdoor athletes overwhelmingly support a very similar approach to fitness and lifestyle. This is the standard. The links above will get you started down the right path. You can contact us for additional help and information. Get serious about your health. It's the single fastest way to beat stress.
2) Orient yourself around missions, learn situational awareness, get motivated and SOF focused.
ADVENTURE OPERATIONS GROUP
David Rutherford-FROGLOGIC
SOF motivation and situational awareness are absolutely necessary for successful missions and for winning battles with stress. You can't choose when stress shows up, but you can choose how you react to it.
3) Train hard, increase capabilities, take risks, set a high standard and be a leader on your team every day.
Somewhere right now, someone is training to beat you, take your job, or impart their will on you at work. You can choose to increase your ability through training and improve your odds of winning every situation and surviving each stressful encounter.
ADVENTURE OPERATIONS GROUP
Out,
B-Rad
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