How a million little things are dragging you down, and what to do
about it.
There's a force we encounter every day that we aren't aware of--and it
threatens to derail otherwise promising careers and lives:
microstress.
This hidden epidemic of small moments of stress has insidiously
infiltrated both our work and our personal lives with invisible but
devastating effects. Microstress doesn't trigger the normal stress
response in our brains to help us deal with it. Instead, it embeds
itself in our minds and accumulates daily, one microstress on top of the
other. The long-term impact can be debilitating. Unregistered
microstress weighs us down, damages our physical and emotional health,
and contributes to a decline in our well-being. What's more, microstress
is baked into our lives. The source is seldom a classic antagonist, such
as a demanding client or a jerk boss. Instead, it comes from the people
with whom we are closest: our friends, family, and colleagues.
The good news is that once you understand microstress, you can fight
back. Drawing on fresh research, Rob Cross and Karen Dillon explain the
science behind the phenomenon. They also share the secrets of a small
set of people who've endured their share of microstress but have still
managed to cultivate relationships that enable them to thrive both at
work and in life. Compelling interviews with these high achievers bring
to life best practices that show you how to build resilience against
microstress and ultimately how to find purpose--purpose that helps you
break free from this quietly invasive force that's stealing your life.
