Focus on the task

But you don’t have to constantly be battling your fears. You only need to be courageous for 20 seconds at a time.

If you courageously confront fear for 20 seconds every single day, before you know it, you’ll be in a different socio-economic and social situation.

Thinking Big Picture about the work you do can be very energizing in the face of stress and challenges because you are linking one particular, often small action to a greater meaning or purpose. 

Something that may not seem important or valuable on its own gets cast in a whole new light. 

Every time you make a decision, you create a state of mental tension that is, in fact, stressful. 

The solution is to reduce the number of decisions you need to make by using routines. If there's something you need to do every day, do it at the same time every day. Have a routine for preparing for your day in the morning, and packing up to go home at night. Simple routines can dramatically reduce your experience of stress. 

The ability to perceive setbacks as temporary and solvable.

Instead of viewing stress as a sign of failure or as a threat, you can choose to look for the challenge within it or the lesson to be learned.

Finding meaning within chaos is a core component of resilient leadership.

Resilient people take the time to understand what they’re feeling, even if it’s uncomfortable.

To manage your emotions effectively, you must learn to express yourself clearly, assertively, and with empathy for others.

...is the belief that your abilities can be improved through effort. 

And this means you can get better and hard work pays off.

• Don’t praise ability or intelligence: That promotes a fixed mindset. Compliment effort, process and choices.
• Don’t ignore outcome, tie it to effort: You can be happy about success, but attribute it to effort.
• Respond positively to failure: Failure isn’t bad, it’s a tool for improving.
• Don’t just say “Try hard.” Set goals: Blind repetition doesn’t work. 
• Practice a Growth mindset in all areas of life: There’s no area where they cannot improve with hard work.
• Share your own Growth mindset efforts: Practice it yourself and share your results.

You are obsessed with your idea of perfection and end up spending way too much time on a specific task. This leads to feelings of being overwhelmed, missed deadlines and delaying other priorities.

Solution: Make sure you have achievable standards that don’t get in the way. Train yourself to do things that fall short of your idea of perfection until you begin to accept that the “imperfect” but functional is enough for most things.

You often miscalculate how long it will take to do something to the point of missing deadlines and having to reschedule.

Solution: Schedule more time than you expect to take to finish a task, learn how to work faster and to estimate time more accurately. Reviewing past assignments duration will give you good time estimates for future reference.

Whether it’s taking a few deep breaths, doing some light stretching, or having a quick phone call with someone you trust, spending your last few minutes doing something active before a big event will prevent you from spiraling into worry, so you can perform confidently.

... and to the task at hand. 

Mindfulness can help you regain a sense of calm and focus your attention, so you can avoid being caught off guard by your anxiety. You can see it for what it is, and choose to direct your attention elsewhere. 

Great, world-changing work is when you enjoy the process.

If you are focussed on earning more due to external and social pressures and expectations, you won't have a long career.

Your work has to be your art. You have to be obsessed with your craft, and be able to do it for free, if need be.

If you don't know what your art is, that is ok. You are just early in the process. Most people in their 20s and 30s haven't had their entire lives figured out.

Try different jobs, have varied experiences and find your calling.

... is the fastest, most effective way to trigger the relaxation response, enabling you to think more clearly and perform better under pressure.

The Navy SEALs use 2 breathing techniques that force the body into a more relaxed state when they’re in a high-pressure situation:

• Tactical breathing
• Box breathing.

...has to do with heart health: Intervals can boost cardio-respiratory health with a smaller time investment compared to continuous forms of exercise. 

It's not about superior fat-burning capacity or bigger muscles, but about improved VO2 max, a measure of endurance that calculates the maximum volume of oxygen the body can use.

VO2 max is one of the best predictors of overall health.

People can burn comparable amounts of calories in HIIT routines lasting, compared to longer continuous exercise routines. But  this doesn't mean that calorie burn translates into weight loss. 

This is the problem with HIIT, just like with any other form of exercise: it’s much easier to lose weight by cutting calories in your diet than trying to burn excess calories.

People who know their hard work will be tangibly rewarded tend to perform better than those who don’t. 

Whether it’s a vacation, something you’ve been wanting to buy, or dinner at your favorite restaurant, pick a reward that will keep you going and pretend it’s already yours.

Craft a routine or system for getting the work done. Focus on your daily actions and carry out your plan with discipline and determination.

A routine can help prevent panic and distraction, allowing you to focus on the task at hand.