S+R=G

S+R=G or Stress + Rest = Growth. Shared this equation (that I learned from Brad Stulberg) with a team in a practice recently. Too little stress without adequate rest leads to chronic fatigue, burnout, sickness, injury, etc. Too little rest without enough stress leads to chronic boredom, stagnation, lack of growth. You want the sweet spot – challenging spikes that elicit a productive stress response, that when followed followed by appropriate amounts of rest result in growth and learning.

Same as the weight room – if you try to max out squats five days in a row, you won’t actually get any stronger. A heavy squat day followed by rest is what allows the muscles to repair, rebuild, come back stronger.

The interesting and to all of this is that data and research consistently show that stress is mediated by meaning. In other words, if the stress you take on feels meaningless to you, your body’s response to it will be far less effective. When the stress is pointed toward work or a goal you find meaningful, the body produces an entirely different stress response.

What does this mean? We know you can burn out from too much stress, yes. You can also burn out from not doing enough of the right kind of stress – the kind that actually lights you up. The good stress of hard work that you find deeply meaningful. Chase meaning, remember?