Stress and burnout are consistently among the top two challenges leaders face.
"Leaders rarely discuss these issues at work because they can't see any obvious solutions, so they just keep slogging on — until they don't," CCL's Nick Petrie notes.

The first point Petrie makes in workshops, coaching sessions and in a new white paper is that stress isn't caused by your job or your boss. 
  
"Pressure comes from external demands: deadlines, projects, family demands. But pressure is not stress," Petrie explains. Stress is what people do with that pressure in their minds.

All stress comes down to something called rumination, according to 30 years of research from Dr. Derek Roger (one of the world's leading researchers on stress and resilience). Rumination is the mental process of thinking over and over about something, which happened either in the past or could happen in the future, and attaching negative emotion to it.

Ruminations about the future are associated with "what if this happens'" or "what if that happens." Ruminations about the past replay, over and over, some awful experience you had and usually end with, "if only I had ..." or "I should have done ..." 

People who ruminate a lot have chronically elevated levels of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, meaning they are constantly over-activated and on edge. Non-ruminators may have plenty of pressure in their lives, but they aren't stressed by it.

In his white paper, "Wake Up! The Surprising Truth About What Drives Stress and How Leaders Build Resilience," Petrie offers four steps to help you stop ruminating and become less stressed:
1.
Wake up (and stay awake). Petrie estimates that people spend as much as 70 percent of their daytime hours in a state of "waking sleep." We are not paying attention, and our mind drifts from where we are in the moment. Why does this matter? Because this is the state in which all of your rumination, and therefore all of your stress, is generated. If all rumination and stress are created in the state of waking sleep, the first step in getting out of it is simple — wake up! Be present; be aware of where you are and what you are doing right now. Stop dreaming so much about the past and the future.

2.
Control your attention. Learn to focus and keep your attention steady by consciously putting your attention where you want it to be and holding it there. Once you notice that ruminating thoughts are moving in, simply acknowledge that your mind has wandered. Then bring your mind back to the present moment. Practice this again and again. Training your mind takes time. First, practice on simple tasks like preparing your breakfast or cleaning your car. Then practice in higher pressure situations, such as giving a speech or having a tense conversation with your boss or a colleague.

3.
Detach. Detachment is the ability to get appropriate distance from the situations you are facing. The ability to detach comes from maintaining perspective and focusing on what you can control. Don't make things bigger or more important than they are or worry about things you cannot influence.

4.
Let go. The leaders who are best at letting go are those who ask themselves a simple question: Will continuing to focus on this help me, my people or my organization? If the answer is no, they let it go. Too often we become fixated on things that don't really help us.


These four steps are simple to understand but take work to enact. They are skills to learn and repetition is key. As you repeat these steps over and over, your brain creates a new neural pathway. With practice, these habits will start to pay off in unexpected ways — and you will find yourself less stressed, more energized and burnout will be a thing of the past.

From："Wake Up! The Surprising Truth About What Drives Stress and How Leaders Build Resilience," Nick Petrie.)