Why stress isn’t the enemy of high performance but a gateway to it

Most of us grow up thinking about stress as something to avoid, manage or eliminate. Especially in high-achieving environments, stress is often treated like a dangerous enemy. Something to suppress. Hide. Ignore. Or power through.

But what if we’ve misunderstood stress? What if stress isn’t the bad guy of the story, but the signal that something important is happening? And what if learning how to use that stress - intelligently - was the key to unlocking your peak performance?

I thought I had it all figured out - until…

For over 15 years, I worked as a corporate scientist in high-stakes roles. Global deadlines. Intense meetings. A packed calendar. I thought pressure was just part of the game - and that powering through was some kind of badge of honour. It worked - until it didn’t.

Burnout knocked at my door. Eventually, the pace caught up with me. I wasn’t sleeping well. I was exhausted but couldn’t slow down. I looked successful on the outside, but I felt like I was running on fumes on the inside. The worst part? I was looking for the smallest confirmation that this was normal. I kept telling myself “It is ok", when it was not. I was keeping myself busy so that I didn’t have time to address what was boiling inside me.

That’s when I started digging deeper. Not into time management tricks or motivational hacks - but into the actual science of stress. What I learned changed everything.

Stress isn’t the problem - our relationship with it is

Stress, by definition, is a physiological and physiological response designed to help us rise to challenges. Short-term stress (what we call “acute stress”) sharpens focus, boosts motivation, and energises performance. It’s the surge that helps you nail a presentation, lead under pressure or respond to a crisis.

The real issue isn’t stress - it’s what happens when we:

• Stay in a constant state of stress with no recovery
• Misinterpret stress as danger instead of readiness
• Ignore what our body and brain are trying to tell us

That’s when stress becomes toxic. Chronic. Draining. Disempowering. But the good news? That cycle can be broken.

Raw stress as opposed to trained stress

Here’s how I explain it to the executives I coach:

• Raw stress is reactive. It runs you. It makes you impulsive, short-tempered, distracted, and fatigued.
• Trained stress is responsive. It sharpens your thinking. It fuels focused action. It becomes a tool, not a threat.

Just like an athlete trains their body to handle physical loads, high performers can train their mind to handle pressure without breaking.

So, how do you train stress?

It doesn’t require a 10-day retreat or becoming a meditation monk. Here are two simple starting points:

1. Know your stress signals

Your body speaks before your brain catches up. Learn your early warning signs. These can include:

• Shallow breath
• Tight shoulders
• Snappy replies

These are signals to pause, not push.

2. Reset in 60 seconds

Try this micro-reset when stress spikes:

• Exhale slowly (longer than your inhale)
• Feel your feet on the floor
• Ask yourself: What matters most right now?

It sounds simple - and it is. But it creates just enough space to respond instead of react.

Stress can be your edge

You don’t need less stress. You need a better way and a healthier relationship to work with it.

When you train your stress response - just like you’d train a muscle - you stop being run by pressure, and start using it to lead with more clarity, energy, and focus.

And that’s not just high performance. That’s sustainable performance.