心靈雞湯:如何變壓力爲動力

Kate Matheny isn't exactly someone who shies away from stress. Throughout her career, the Aurora, Colo., certified public accountant has pursued a progression of high-pressure management jobs. 'I'm hard core,' says the 44-year-old wife and mother of two. 'I wanted to be on top of the food chain [at work], and I wanted to be a great mom' -- one who could attend lacrosse games, drive carpool and help with homework even after an hour-long commute and workdays that started, more often than not, with a 5 a.m. marathon-training run.

凱特•馬西尼(Kate Matheny)並不是那種逃避壓力的人。44歲的馬西尼家住科羅拉多州奧羅拉(Aurora)，是一名註冊會計師，也是兩個孩子的母親，她在職業生涯中曾連續從事過很多壓力很大的管理工作。她說：“我做事情非常專注投入。我想[在工作上]處於食物鏈的頂層，我也想做一位偉大的母親”──一位能夠參加長曲棍球比賽、與人拼車出行、工作日通常是以每天早上五點的馬拉松訓練開始、下班路上花了一小時回家後還能輔導孩子作業的母親。

That is, until she hit the proverbial wall.

她就是這樣的一個人，直到她撞到了衆所周知的那堵牆。

After months of losing sleep, dropping weight and 'feeling pushed to the brink of losing my mind' by her juggling act, Ms. Matheny decided she had to address her stress -- and turn it to her advantage. The new job she recently switched to still has its share of pressure, but with more support from her boss and more flexibility in her schedule, she says she feels great.

在經歷了幾個月的失眠、體重下降和感覺追求面面俱到“將我推到精神崩潰的邊緣”之後，馬西尼認爲必須要解決壓力問題──讓壓力變得對自己有利。她最近換的新工作仍然有壓力，但是能夠得到老闆更多的支持，工作時間也更靈活，她說她感覺特別好。

Contrary to popular belief, stress doesn't have to be a soul-sucking, health-draining force. But few people know how to transform their stress into the positive kind that helps them reach their goals.

與普遍的看法相反，壓力並不一定就是一種讓人心力交瘁、健康衰竭的力量，然而沒有多少人懂得如何將壓力轉變成能夠幫助他們達到目標的正能量。

Recent research confirms that gaining control over job demands, doing work that lends meaning and purpose to life and enjoying support and encouragement from co-workers are all linked to beneficial stress. Simply changing attitudes and expectations about stress -- through coaching, training or peer-support groups -- can also foster the constructive kind of stress.

最近的研究證實，能夠調控自己的工作內容、從事能夠讓自己的人生變得有意義有目標的工作、獲得同事的支持和鼓勵都可以幫你將壓力轉化爲助力。只需改變對待壓力的態度和預期──通過教練指導、培訓或同伴支持團隊──也可以培養這種建設性壓力。

'Stress is paradoxical,' says Alia Crum, a research scholar in the management department at Columbia Business School who studies how people's attitudes shape their response to stress. 'On one hand, it can be the thing that hurts us most. On the other, it's fundamental to psychological and physical growth. Our belief system, the lens through which we choose to view and approach stress, will shift the outcome.'

哥倫比亞大學商學院(Columbia Business School)管理系的研究員阿利婭•克拉姆(Alia Crum)說：“壓力是個矛盾的東西。一方面，它可能會對我們造成很深的傷害。另一方面，它對身心的成長都是必要的。我們的信念系統是一面透鏡，透過它我們可以選擇如何看待和處理壓力，它可以改變結果。”克拉姆博士研究的課題是人們的態度如何改變他們對壓力的反應。

Employees at a troubled financial-services company were able to change their attitudes toward stress with the help of a video-training program showing athletes, leaders and professionals accomplishing great feats in the face of daunting challenges, according to research led by Dr. Crum that was published this year in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 'We found a consistent shift in the mind-set among participants,' she says, toward seeing stress not as a drain, but as an aid to performance. And, the research showed, people who made the shift were more likely to experience a healthier physiological response during a difficult public-speaking exercise, exhibiting only moderate levels of stress hormones.

克拉姆博士領導的一項研究今年在《人格和社會心理學雜誌》(Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)上發表了論文，研究顯示，在一家陷入困境的金融服務公司工作的員工藉助一項視頻培訓計劃就可以改變他們對待壓力的態度，視頻展示的是那些不畏挑戰取得偉大成就的運動員、領導者和專業人士。克拉姆博士說，“我們發現參與者在心態方面發生了一致的轉變”，不再把壓力看作是一種耗人的東西，而是將其視爲提升自身表現的輔助手段。該項研究還顯示，在一次難度很大的公共演講演習中，成功轉變了心態的人更有可能產生比較健康的生理反應，應激激素只達到了中等水平。

Ms. Matheny, the Colorado C.P.A., felt more than moderate stress levels in her previous job as a chief financial officer for an investment company. The smallest snag, such as bad weather delaying her kids' school bus, could derail her tightly wound daily schedule. After dropping 20 pounds she didn't want to lose, she says she found herself too weak to enjoy running a marathon. 'I asked myself, 'What are you doing?''

前文所述的科羅拉多州註冊會計師馬西尼之前在一家投資公司擔任首席財務長，當時她感受到的壓力超過了中等水平。最細微的一個小問題，比如惡劣的天氣耽誤了她孩子的校車，都會打亂她排得滿滿的日程安排。在並非自願的情況下體重掉了20磅以後，她說她發現自己太虛弱了，無法再盡興地跑馬拉松。“我問自己：‘你在做什麼？’”

Her new job, as C.F.O. for a smaller, less financially stable company, has let her blast her biggest causes of harmful stress. She gained control of her time by cutting her commute to 20 minutes and getting work done from home during off hours while still making time for her kids' activities -- which her new boss endorses. She is sleeping better, her weight is rising and she is strong enough to enjoy running again. 'Work is still extremely stressful,' she says. 'But it's not personal stress.'

她的新工作是在一家規模小一些、財務狀況不那麼穩定的公司擔任首席財務長，這讓她甩掉了產生有害壓力的最大成因。她可以掌控自己的時間了：通勤時間縮減到了20分鐘，可以下班時間在家完成工作，同時還能騰出時間參與孩子的活動──這一點得到了新老闆的批准。她的睡眠改善了，體重正在回升，身體好到可以重新盡情跑步了。她說：“工作壓力還是非常大，但那不是個人的壓力。”

In a healthy stress response, the heart pumps faster and the brain goes on high alert as stress hormones flow into the bloodstream, temporarily shutting down the digestive and immune systems to devote more resources to the challenge at hand. Stress becomes harmful when these indicators stay chronically elevated, raising blood pressure, damaging the cardiovascular system, compromising immunity and causing aches, pains, digestive upsets and insomnia.

在健康的壓力反應中，隨着應激激素進入血液，心臟跳動加快，大腦處於高度戒備狀態，消化系統和免疫系統暫時關閉，好讓更多的資源用於應對手頭的挑戰。當這些指標長期保持高位，壓力就變得有害了，會導致血壓升高、損害心血管系統、危害免疫系統並引起疼痛、消化不良和失眠。

It is difficult to reverse an extreme stress response once it is under way, researchers say. More often, people who succeed in turning stress to their advantage make changes in advance, in their mind set or beliefs about stress, or in the way they work or organize their lives.

研究人員說，極端的壓力反應一旦出現就很難扭轉。更多的時候，成功實現壓力對己有利轉變的人都是事先在對待壓力的心態和理念上做出了改變，或者在他們的工作或安排生活的方式上做出了改變。

When severe stress caused Gary Schmidt to fail repeatedly in job interviews after graduating from college years ago, he tapped a peer-support group for help. He learned, through coaching from other members of Toastmasters International, a nonprofit communication and leadership-training group, to frame challenges as an opportunity to perform well, rather than a threat, he says.

多年前，巨大的壓力讓加里•施密特(Gary Schmidt)在大學畢業後屢次在工作面試中失敗，於是他選擇了向一家同伴支持團體尋求幫助。他說，通過國際演講協會(Toastmasters International)中其他成員的指導訓練，他學會了將挑戰構想成做出更好表現的機會，而不是威脅。國際演講協會是一個非盈利性的溝通和領導能力培訓組織。

The old anxieties struck anew after he was thrust into the job market in 2008. Beset with negative thoughts about what would happen to his finances if he blew his first job interview, he fidgeted, perspired heavily and studded his answers with 'ummm' and 'ahh,' he says. The interviewer rejected him immediately, Mr. Schmidt says.

2008年他被迫再次尋找工作時，過去的焦慮死灰復燃。他說，在第一次面試中，由於滿腦子都是萬一搞砸了自己的財務狀況將會如何這樣的消極想法，他坐立不安，使勁出汗，回答問題時滿是“嗯”、“呃”這樣的字眼。他說，面試官當即拒絕了他。

Recalling his Toastmasters' coaching, he approached a later opportunity with a different attitude: 'I'm excited, my adrenaline is pumping,' he told himself, visualizing a home run. He 'nailed the interview,' his new boss later told him, and landed the job as a county government-affairs director in Oregon City, Ore.

施密特回想了自己在國際演講協會接受過的指導，在後來的一次面試中採取了完全不同的態度：他想象着自己完成了一次本壘打，告訴自己，“我很激動，我的腎上腺素在噴涌而出。”他“搞定了面試”（這是他的新老闆後來跟他說的原話），得到了擔任俄勒岡州俄勒岡市(Oregon City)一名縣級政府事務主管的工作。

People differ in their capacity to dial down the stress response. Some are hard-wired by genetics and early-life experience to react more fearfully to challenges. Others who experience early adversity seem to stop responding to stress at all, posting little or no physiological reaction. No stress-management technique works for everyone; many people find their own best tactics through trial and error.

人們控制壓力反應的能力存在差異。有些人因爲遺傳因素和早年的生活經歷根深蒂固，面對挑戰時表現得比其他人更加害怕。而有些早年經歷過逆境的人似乎對壓力完全不會作出反應，很少或者沒有任何生理反應。沒有一種壓力調節技巧對每一個人都有效；很多人都是在反覆嘗試中才找到了適合自己的最佳方法。

For stress to be most beneficial, it's important to find meaning in your work, says Debra Nelson, a management professor at Oklahoma State University who has been studying stress for 30 years. 'You have to have hope -- the will and the way to accomplish what you are trying to do.' A 2011 research review in Stress and Health co-written by Dr. Nelson found that even workers doing intense, high-stakes jobs, such as air-traffic controllers and intensive-care nurses, thrive under heavy stress if they are optimistic about the future and find their work meaningful.

研究壓力問題已有30年的俄克拉荷馬州立大學(Oklahoma State University)管理學教授德布拉•納爾遜(Debra Nelson)說，要想盡量讓壓力於己有益，發現工作的意義很重要。“你必須心懷希望──完成你試圖做的那件事情的意願和方法。”2011年刊登在《壓力與健康》(Stress and Health)雜誌上的一篇納爾遜博士與人共同撰寫的研究評論指出，如果人們對未來持樂觀態度並發現他們的工作很有意義，哪怕是從事高強度、高風險工作的人在沉重的壓力下也會從容應對，比如空中交通管制員和重症監護室的護士。

It also helps to eliminate known predictors of harmful strain, such as a lack of autonomy on the job, an unsupportive boss or co-workers, Dr. Nelson says. Some people, for example, assert themselves by negotiating to trim down impossible work loads or asking for more of the kind of work they enjoy, says Lois Barth, a New York City career coach.

納爾遜博士說，消除諸如缺乏工作自主性、老闆或同事不支持等你知道會導致有害壓力的因素也很有幫助。例如，紐約市的職業規劃教練洛伊斯•巴思(Lois Barth)說，有些人通過與老闆磋商減去無法完成的工作量，或者要求給予更多自己喜歡的工作，以此來維護自己的權利。

Desiree Adaway was chronically stressed in a previous job as a senior manager for a nonprofit organization. She traveled half the time, often carrying three phones to respond to clients, co-workers and volunteers, and felt powerless to implement her ideas in a big organization. She often fell ill with bronchitis, her hair was falling out and her weight rose. In 2009, she says, her doctor looked at her, saying, 'Your stress levels are off the roof.'

家住北卡羅來納州阿什維爾市(Asheville)的德西蕾•艾德維(Desiree Adaway)是一位單身母親，以前在一家非盈利組織擔任高級管理人員的時候長期承受着壓力。她的工作有一半時間在出差，經常帶着三部手機接聽來自客戶、同事和志願者的電話，常常感到要在一家大機構裏實施自己的想法是那麼地有心無力。她經常因支氣管炎而病倒，頭髮開始脫落，體重也增加了。她說，2009年她的醫生看着她說：“你的壓力大得驚人。”

The exit route she chose -- starting her own business consulting for and coaching nonprofits -- actually compounded her stress by some measures, says the Asheville, N.C., single mother. She continues to work 10-hour days to support herself and put her two daughters, 19 and 22, through college. 'I have to juggle payroll and cash flow, I have to blog and market myself. . . I go to networking events several nights a week,' she says. But her work, helping clients reach their goals, 'just lights my fire,' she says. Now, stress is 'the kind of tension that leads me to action, and it feels really good. I'm exhausted, but I'm exhilarated.'

她說，她選擇的出路──開辦了自己的爲非盈利機構提供諮詢和指導的公司──按某些指標衡量，實際上是增加了她的壓力。她繼續每天工作10小時來養活自己，供養19歲和22歲的兩個女兒上大學。她說：“我必須同時應對工資單和現金流問題，我必須寫博客推銷自己……我一週好幾個晚上都要去參加社交晚宴。”但是她說這份幫助客戶實現目標的工作“正好點燃了我心中的火炬”。現在，壓力是“激勵我行動的一種緊張情緒，這種感覺真的不錯。我很累，但是我感到精神振奮”。