Let me be under stress

The note below was a colleague’s response on my advice to not take too much stress at work.

[… But stress means you give importance to your work, it means you value your contribution, it means your and your company’s progress matter so much to you. Nobody lost sleep over a job, they did over passion. It might disturb you in the short run, destroy you in the long run but stress catalyzes ambition.

1. Lack of Stress is Lack of Passion – No toll collector, no stenographer, no phone operator ever had (professional) stress. It was a job to them – the way to pay bills and keep food on the table. I-Bankers, Ivy League lawyers, McKinsey consultants, US Marine and the Mossads feel the highest stress and the deepest depression but strike it big. 

2. It’s easy not to take stress – Everyone has an option to get away. Quit, do something else or step down. Tiger Ganguly was dropped after his 1st international on scoring 3 runs in 1992. He could have easily ruled out sports and joined his millionaire family business of publishing. At 24 he had hypertension, but from 1992-96, he persevered in the domestic till he was recalled for England ‘96. Rest is history. 

3. Strain is dimensional change under stress – Rory Mcllroy choked at Augusta’ 11. Couldn’t sleep steady for few months, worked on his game, and came back win the US Open. You stretch under pressure: highest run rate comes in the last 5 overs, the last F1 lap is the speediest and the last month always the highest revenue.

So let me be…]

He spoke for many of us, both at OfBusiness and as a young nation.