Workplace Culture Innovation

Making Stress Work for You to Achieve Your Life Goals

Workplace stress is the primary cause of mental health concerns in Canada. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, one in five Canadians experience a mental health problem or illness each year, equating to 500,000 employees unable to work every week.

What if you could respond positively to stressful situations and harness stress to your advantage? Hardiness is a mindset that helps you manage your way through stress, reducing stress-related illness and strengthening your ability to thrive under pressure.

Making Stress Work for You to Achieve Your Life Goals

Dr. Steven J. Stein an Innovative Alliance Member, is a best selling author, psychologist, and speaker at our virtual Innovators Exchange taking place on October 15th. He is an expert in helping people channel their stress correctly in order to make a positive change to their lives.

In his new book “Hardiness: Making Stress Work For You to Achieve Your Life Goals” co-authored by Paul T. Bartone, he urges readers to focus on developing a ‘Hardiness’ mindset in order to effectively manage stress. Hardiness, he believes, consists of 3Cs (commitment, control, and challenge) that must be embraced to overcome stress and increase personal growth. Here’s his advice:

Try the following to build your ‘Commitment’:

  • Take time to think about what is important and interesting to you, your personal values, and goals.
  • Work on increasing your skills and competence in an area that is important to you.
  • Pay attention to what’s going on in the world around you. Read. Observe

Try the following to build your ‘Control’:

  • Focus your energy on things you can control and influence
  • Work on tasks that are within your capabilities, moderately difficult but not overwhelming.
  • Find difficult jobs, break them up into manageable pieces so you can see the progress.

Try the following to build your ‘Challenge’:

  • Be ready to change your plans to meet changing conditions.
  • Remind yourself that no matter what happens change is always an opportunity to learn and get better.
  • Whenever you fail at something, ask: what can I learn from this?

Click here for more information about “Hardiness: Making Stress Work for You to Achieve Your Life Goals”.

If you’d like to register for our virtual Innovators Exchange taking place on October 15, 2020, click here. For more information on the benefits of becoming a member of Innovators Alliance, contact us today.


Innovators Alliance is a peer-to-peer networking group of CEOs committed to driving business growth through innovation. Join us for an upcoming event to see what it’s all about!

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Peggie Pelosi

Peggie Pelosi is the Executive Director of Innovators Alliance. She works with entrepreneurs and CEOs throughout Ontario to ensure they have access to the tools and resources to ensure profitable growth through innovation. Peggie is a seasoned entrepreneur and innovator, having built two companies which have both been game-changers in their industries. Peggie teaches in the space of Social Innovation in graduate business programs at the University of Toronto-St. Michael’s College and Seneca College.

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Peggie Pelosi

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