How your stress management skills affect your earning potential
Have you ever had meetings with clients or colleagues that are just plain rude and aggressive? Have you ever had to endure meetings full of complaining and finger-pointing where any solutions are shot down in flames?
Some people manage stress very easily yet some ways of managing stress may make the individual feel better at the expense of those around them.But recent research is showing that such stress management methods are not only draining for other people but are also draining on their wallet.
A study of the lives of 268 Harvard Sophomores for 70 years found that the way that you coped with stress had a definite impact on your income potential.
They assessed the participants’ ability to manage stress as either mature or immature.
Displays of these skills were regarded as having mature stress management skills:
Suppression (patience and stoicism)
Altruism (doing unto others as you wish to be done for yourself)
Anticipation (allowing painful emotions coming to mind before the actual event)
Immature stress management skills were shown to be:
Externalising blame
Complaining but not accepting help
Acting out emotions (e.g. throwing a tantrum)
These immature ways of coping with stress often make the offending feel better at the time but often generate unhappy working environments and relationships. The research shows that ranting and raving doesn’t pay.
According to this 70 year study, people who were shown to have mature stress management skills earned 233% more the subjects shown to have immature stress management skills.
So if you ever notice yourself bitching about how the Global financial crisis is to blame for your woes, you may want to go and look at the real cause in the mirror. You then may want to tell that person in the mirror that it is time to grow up.
This study puts paid to the old adage, “Nice guys finish last.” That is just short -term thinking.
It shows that being pleasant to work with and associate with is one of the key ingredients to a successful career and business over the long term
