Goals

Stress and Decision Making

By Shay Lynch

December 20, 2024

3 min read

The Problem with Stress, Decision-Making, and Health

Stress is a physiological response and is deeply interconnected with our emotions.

Sometimes emotions cause stress, others stress leads to emotions.

In today’s fast-paced world, where personal and business lives collide, this response has become far too common.

The real problem?

We rarely deal with emotions in real-time.

Instead, we push them aside, thinking we’ll address them later.

But what happens? They grow.

Unaddressed emotions stack up and merge with others, creating a heavy, chaotic mental load.

Before we know it, we’re in a place we don’t recognise, wondering how we got there.

When emotions drive us, our ability to think clearly and rationally plummets.

This is a growing issue across businesses worldwide.

Under stress, our brain’s prefrontal cortex, the hub for critical thinking and decision-making, is suppressed.

Instead, the stress hormones—adrenaline and cortisol—take over.

These hormones were evolutionarily designed to protect us from physical danger, but in a modern context, they’re being triggered far too frequently.

The impact isn’t just mental—it’s deeply physical too.

Chronic stress wreaks havoc on both mind and body.

Left unchecked, it can lead to health issues like hypertension, heart disease, and even burnout.

I know this all too well. In my own experience, stress led to early-onset heart disease, a lesion in my LAD, and grade 3 hypertension. It was a wake-up call I couldn’t ignore.

So, what can we do? 

We must take control of our stress response.

In the video, I share a simple breathwork practice I rely on:

Morning and evening to set and reset.

When I feel hyper or emotionally triggered.

Before making key decisions to regain focus and clarity.

This practice helps me manage stress hormones, clear my mind, and stay present.

Remember, stress will always be a part of life. But by taking intentional steps to manage it, we can make better decisions, protect our health, and lead from a place of strength—not reactivity

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