I’m not much of a fisherman, but I know a thing or two about little fish. In fact, I have spent whole days catching little fish, while the big ones swim around, taunting me! From my own experience and from observing that of my clients, being distracted by little fish while letting the big fish swim away is just one cause (and sometimes a symptom) of stress in our busy lives. Stress can prevent us from taking action and it occurs when we don’t believe we have the resources to cope with a situation.

We each have unique experiences when it comes to dealing with stress. This month I explore ten practical strategies for stressing less. Dr Veronica Ledek outlines some physiological, emotional and mental triggers that can indicate you have reached the tipping point of stress and also offers some great principles to guide your thinking.

We also share some insights from an inspirational, magnetic businesswoman, Elizabeth Joyce. At 31, Liz is the co-founder and Business Director of The White Agency, an incredible company setting new standards in the interactive marketing landscape.

So whether you spend your day catching fish, teaching others to fish or designing a deep-sea trawler, a good question to ask yourself this month is “What does my life look like when I am mastering stress?" If you like what you see, decide to use some of the strategies available. Go on, it can’t hurt. You may even catch that big fish you've had your eye on.

Best of life,

P.S Please send any feedback and brave ideas to me at: belinda@bravecoaching.com

Each year stress costs the economy billions of dollars through absenteeism. In the United States, about 70% of workers report moderate to great levels of stress. The human cost is scary. Stress is linked to poor physical health and I don’t need to remind you of the correlation between stress and conditions like heart disease, stroke, stomach ulcers and depression.

It is possible to master stress. Imagine operating at the very edge of your performance curve, without experiencing the damaging effects of stress, worry and pressure overload. Here are ten tips you can use to stress less.

1. FOCUS.
   As the saying goes, where attention flows, energy goes. Don’t drain your energy worrying about an unachievable To Do list, choose just four or five things that you want to achieve each day. Don’t make all of them work related! Focus on your home life, your health (mental or physical fitness), and your social life as well. Always do things in order of importance.
2. PUT 100% INTO EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO.
   Focus on the task at hand and become very good at completion. If you have all of the facts and resources you need, deal with it then and there. Aim to create a track record of success with the tasks you complete. Ticking something off the list feels great, not only because you have achieved something, but because it’s one less thing you need to think about!
3. BE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE C-E EQUATION.
   Believing that you are on the cause side of the cause/effect equation means moving from a position of reasons and excuses to one of empowerment. When you are faced with a situation that is causing you stress because you feel you have little control over the outcome, consider how you can move to the cause side, rather than the effect side of the situation. What can you do to make the outcome you want more likely? If there is absolutely nothing more you can do to influence the outcome you want, then don’t spend any more energy in this area – it is better invested somewhere else!
4. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS.
   Shift your focus from what’s not working to what is. When stress is present it is easy to focus on all the things that aren’t working. Give yourself a healthy dose of perspective and write down 10 things that you are grateful for. This is a simple and valuable exercise I learnt from one of my coaches and it is one I often use with my clients. Spend just two minutes writing your list every week and maintain a balanced outlook.
5. FRAME YOUR PROBLEM AS A QUESTION.
   Be your own coach and re-word the problem you are facing as a question. Now your focus is on finding solutions, not reinforcing the problem. For example, “I have too much work on at the moment to look after my health” is more useful when stated as “How do I create more time to look after my health?”.
6. EXERCISE.
   Apart from giving your mind and body a welcome break from a stressed-out state, exercise is a great way to reduce excess cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is an important hormone in the body that is secreted when the body has a ‘fight or flight’ response to stress. Cortisol provides a quick burst of energy, immunity and an increase in memory function - things required to respond quickly to a stressful event. In a high stress environment the body’s stress response can be activated so often that it doesn’t have the chance to return to a normal functioning state, and this can be dangerous. Prolonged high levels of cortisol can lead to conditions including lower immunity, heart disease and stroke.
7. THE ENERGETIC P’s.
   Consider that any event can be classified into 3 areas: Power – where you completely control the outcome, Persuasion – where you can influence the outcome and Perplexity – Where you can worry about the outcome but have no control over the result. Invest your time in the areas of power and persuasion. When you do this, these areas are likely to grow in size. Don’t spend your time in the area of perplexity.
8. MASTER YOUR E-MAIL.
   Close your Inbox when you have an important task to complete – you can do without it for a short while. Deal with an e-mail the first time you open it. When you retrieve your mail from your letterbox at home, do you open it and put it back in the box? No! Treat your e-mails the same way. Either file them in the appropriate folder, whilst marking a time in your diary to respond at a later date, or deal with it immediately and get rid of it.
9. D IS FOR DECISION.
   When you feel overwhelmed with a list of things to do, spend some time reviewing your list and commit to making the following decisions about each task: DO IT: Do it now! DUMP IT: It’s ok to choose not to do some things (consider the consequences of not doing some of the less important tasks and if you can live with them, make a decision not to do the task). DELEGATE IT: Empower someone else. Remember to hand over the task generously – this means checking they are clear on what is required and ensuring they have all the resources they need to complete the task well.  Mark in your diary a time to follow up with them. DELAY IT: Mark some time in your calendar to address this task in the future. DESIGN a new list – Only those you have decided TO DO remain on the list.
10. BREATHE… AND LAUGH.
    Taking several deep breaths, and tuning your awareness to your breathing is one of the quickest ways to release stress. Making relaxation time a priority every day is a simple, but often forgotten tool. Laughter can still be the best medicine. How many times do you laugh each day? A study by the University of Western Ontario found that kindergarten aged children laugh 300 times a day, compared to just 17 times for adults. Think about what makes you laugh and spend some time just enjoying yourself.

Spend the night with the girls and raise money to find a cure for breast and genealogical cancers. The concept is simple – just invite your girlfriends around for a fun night in and ask them to donate the equivalent of what they would have spent on a night out. The Cancer Council has complimentary host kits, filled with invitations, fundraising tips and ideas and themes. Register to be a host.

…and boys, don’t feel left out, you can help too… why not host a boys poker night in and do the same? The cost of a few schooners could help fund life saving research projects.

There’s a whole heap of information at www.girlsnightin.com.au

We’re delighted to welcome Carole Sandberg to the Brave team. Carole joins brave as Senior Associate Coach. Carole has over two thousand hours experience coaching executives, business owners, professionals and other coaches. Carole brings to the brave team thirty five years experience in small business, the corporate environment and experience as a successful entrepreneur, creative artist, trainer, mentor and coach.

Find out more about Carole

Whilst many were licking their wounds from the dotcom boom and bust, Elizabeth Joyce and her business partner Craig Galvin were sowing the seeds for The White Agency, an Interactive Marketing company. Since the launch three and a half years ago, Liz and Craig have built an outstanding business, with blue chip clients and a dedicated team. The White Agency took the crown as the NSW winner of the 2006 Telstra Business Awards. It has also been listed in the Top 20 BRW Upstarts for 2006 and The White Agency also made the top dozen in B&T Weekly and Stop Gap’s 2005 Marketing Employer of the Year.

1. Can you give me a brief rundown on how you formed the White Agency?

   The idea had been brewing for a while. Craig Galvin (co-founder) and I had worked together previously at Yahoo, and as you do with colleagues you respect and think are bright, we often discussed our ideas. We shared the belief that even though at the time the industry was still languishing following the dot com boom/bust – the internet would be fundamental to business moving forward, and there was a real opportunity for strategic thinking in this area. All the ideas culminated at a lunch at the Bower Room in Manly, convincing us it was time to get started. I resigned that afternoon and we opened our doors 3 months later in May 2003.

2. What have been the key leadership challenges you have faced in building White?

   One of the key challenges we’re facing at the moment is growing staff numbers whilst maintaining the strong, team culture. We have really focussed on building a great culture at White, and now that our team is almost 55, we’re facing the development of subcultures. The challenge is to inspire and lead the team to be part of the culture shift. To embrace it and buy into the reality of the business growing and what it means for us all.

   The other challenge is continuing to find great staff. When you’re 10 people it’s easy to pick the cream of the crop. We’re still in a young industry and we’re conscious that we’re building it with our competitors, so we’re conscious of not poaching too often, as this doesn’t benefit the industry overall. We want to attract and retain great, loyal and talented staff to ensure we have happy clients.

3. What would you say are the key things required to be a great leader?

   The number one thing is to be able to listen - It’s my role to create change as a result of what my team tells me. The other key thing is being able to inspire – I’m always conscious of how do I drive the whole team to move forward.

4. What have been the most useful skills you’ve had to draw on most regularly in starting and building White to what it is today?

   My industry experience and my contacts have been critical. Both Craig and I were fortunate to be in the industry at the infant stage. We both had lots of people we could call when we opened our doors – people who we had built relationships with and respected us. I think I am also very good at selecting new staff. We’ve also needed to be imaginative in how we source new people such as looking for people with similar skills in different industries. The right person for the job may not just be the person who has the same job title in another company.

5. White has been recognised recently as a great place to work, being listed in the top dozen in the 2005 B&T Weekly and Stop Gap’s 2005 Marketing Employer of the Year. Tell me about your success here.

   Culture has been a big one for us. It’s all the little things that matter, and we recognise this. Simple things like having fresh fruit available for everyone, all the time. We contribute to gym memberships, we give everyone their birthday off and we’re committed to our off site team days every quarter. Given the type of work we do, we also offer days in lieu. This is at the discretion of the manager and this model works very well for us. We also have our volunteer program. For 1 day every year each staff member spends a paid work day volunteering at the charity of their choice.

6. What have been the most surprising things you’ve learnt in starting a business?

   Office space! I’ve always read that office space is a challenge for a growing business. When we moved to our offices in Balmain, there were 12 of us and it was almost embarrassing bringing clients into what we thought was such a big space. Now we’ve outgrown this space and expanded into the building across the road - and we’re looking for the next space. It’s tough predicting how big we might be in 6, 12, 18 months time.

7. What have been the biggest lessons you’ve learned?

   The value of empowering your senior management. White has never been just about Craig and I and we’re constantly making an effort to raise the profile of our management team. If the business remains about you, your growth will be very limited. The other thing is the importance of having someone senior on top of the finances. We discussed this very early on and agreed that Craig would be in charge of this. This meant learning a whole new accounting system from scratch – so if you are not prepared to do the hard work on the finances, hire someone senior to do it for you.

8. What are you most proud of?

   I’m most proud of the fact that I really LOVE what I do. I am being stretched and I’m learning new things. I am proud of the business we have built, and the clients we have. I am proud of the people that now run and are in the business.

9. At 31, you were the youngest listed in this year’s BRW Top 50 female entrepreneurs. Firstly, CONGRATULATIONS. Have you ever found that your age has been a barrier in business?

   Not a barrier, but working in a predominantly male environment, I have certainly been made aware that my age and sex is sometimes not ‘expected’. I still remember when I visited a very senior marketing director to present on behalf of Yahoo. When I arrived, he assumed I was the assistant who had arrived to set up and introduce the main speaker. He was horrified when I advised him I was the main presenter. I have focused on developing outstanding presentation skills and I find that once I get hold of a room (no matter how petrified I might be inside), I aim to quickly impress on them my knowledge and capability.

10. You’ve recently given birth to your first baby Charlotte. How has becoming a mum changed your perspective on business? What’s the biggest challenge in being a mum and a businesswoman?

    We have something at White called the 6pm challenge. Maintaining a balance has always been important to me, but with Charlotte I’m now more strict on keeping the 6pm out-the-door rule. Being a mum also helps me to be more understanding and focused on encouraging work-life balance for the rest of the team.

    It does sometimes does feel like I am now living parallel lives. I remember one day recently – one minute I was at home reading ‘Where’s Spot’ with much inflection for Charlotte’s entertainment and an hour later presenting to a senior group of directors at a major blue chip on a new interactive strategy – quite a different audience!

11. What role have mentors or coaches played in your professional development?

    I do have a mentor. About 6 months after starting White I contacted Peter Maher, a leader at Macquarie Bank I was fortunate to meet whilst working there. Peter is an amazing manager and leader and someone I respected. My offer to meet for a coffee was answered with an overwhelming ‘yes’, and I often talk to Peter about business issues that I am facing. Whilst we often talk about all kinds of other things, every time I meet with him I come away with at least 1 gem. It’s been great.

12. What advice would you give someone looking to start their own business?

    • Finance – be really clear on who is going to look after it.
    • Don’t try and do it all yourself. We hired an assistant very early on to help with the ‘doing’.
    • Have an office. Everyone is different, but having somewhere distinct from your home is important if you’re not good at working from home.
    • Write a business plan. Even if it is full of holes, get something down and keep it alive.
    • Understand how long you can live without a salary.
    • Have fun. Don’t do it if you don’t love it, because there is a lot of hard work involved.
    • Give it a go!

Liz, Craig and some of the White Agency team celebrate their win at the 2006 NSW Telstra business awards.

By Dr Veronica Ledek

The “Yerkes-Dodson Law” states that a certain level of stimulation or stress improves performance, but performance begins to deteriorate if stress is excessive. So at what point do we know we’ve broken this law and crossed the fine line of good stress versus bad stress?

Good stress is when stress is a positive force that improves our performance, it’s like an electrical current that gives us energy. We all need a certain amount of stress in our lives in order to motivate us to perform certain tasks such as going to work everyday, or getting a job done on time. You may have heard of Type A personalities, behaviour traits typically exhibited by this personality include; competitiveness – an overriding need to achieve; hurry sickness – an intense sense of time urgency; hostility – inappropriate aggression if progress is impeded; joyless striving - always on the go with many projects at once and an inability to relax – difficulty turning off. This cluster of traits often results in high levels of success in career and financial terms, particularly when managed effectively! But there is a fine line as Type A personalities are at greater risk of developing poor physical health such as coronary heart disease, stroke, stomach ulcers, allergies and mental ill-health, such as anxiety and depression. By identifying our optimal level of stress and developing awareness of being pushed past it we can help ensure our everyday performance does not deteriorate.

First, we need to know what stress is. It is the body’s response to changes in the environment, it affects both the mental and physical state of an individual, there is a mind and body connection! Stressors are sources of stress or triggers, which lead to a stress reaction and they can be either external stressors i.e. are beyond our immediate control such as a traffic jam or criticism at work by an irritable boss, or internal stressors, which are created by ourselves. That is, we create this stress through negative attitudes, unhelpful irrational thinking, poor time management and poor problem solving. This may include the inability to say “no” for the fear of disapproval or rejection and as a result accepting too many demands. So how do we know when the stress has become ‘bad stress’ and too overwhelming?

Have you ever noticed experiencing any of the following?

• Frequent forgetfulness, difficulty in concentrating, making decisions and turning off
• Difficulty sleeping, emotional outbursts, loss or gain of appetite
• Headaches, stomach pains, diarrhoea, susceptibility to colds and flus, skin rashes
• Avoidance of particular situations, social withdrawal, the use of artificial relaxation such as drugs and alcohol
• Fatigue, depression, anxiety
• Absenteeism, job dissatisfaction

If you have experienced a combination of these then it’s likely you’ve broken the Yerkes-Dodson Law and crossed that fine line of stress mis-management! So how do we regain that control and be that successful Type A person? Become aware of what your own triggers to stress are and maintain a good state of general health and wellbeing as this can make you more resistant to stressful situations.

Aim at getting good sleep, nutrition, relaxation and exercise. And remember that you can set your mind on a particular approach to life and ensure you make choices that serve to reduce the stressors rather than have them work against you. In order to improve your emotional lifestyle think;

• There is no outside emotional stress; there is only my response to a situation which I can learn to control
• I will do one thing at a time
• I will express my feelings honestly to other people
• I will be aware of my own needs, rather than those inspired by competition
• This is my life, each day I will take the time to enjoy the people I meet, my food, the weather, my relaxation and my exercise
• By keeping in touch with my body and its' needs I will choose to be well and happy
• I will think and live positively, trying to reach the best I can be

I use these principles in my own life and find them valuable for clients when developing psychological strategies of stress management. I hope you will too! If you would like coaching in stress management by a clinical psychologist, please contact drveronica@bravecoaching.com.

More information on Veronica

Brave Coaching and Consulting offers a no-obligation, free trial coaching session either in person or by telephone. During the session you will find out about how coaching can help you achieve your potential and you and your coach will set some inspiring goals together. What goals would you set if you knew you couldn’t fail? Simply e-mail us at:

trialsession@bravecoaching.com and we will contact you to arrange a convenient time to meet.