75TH Issue of Newsletter

Free Your Voice from Speaking Anxiety

Reader,

Ever wondered how your body reacts to stress and anxiety?

Whether it's your upcoming presentation, an important work meeting, or any other stressful situation...

Let's find out.

Your adrenal glands release 2 kinds of hormones, known as stress hormones:

• Cortisol
• Dehydroepiandrosterone (let's call it DHEA)

Both hormones play a crucial role during times of stress:

Cortisol sees stress as a THREAT and prepares you to deal with it...

Think of it as your body's defense mechanism.

It helps convert your body's fat and sugar into energy that your body and brain can use during stressful situations.

It also restricts some other bodily functions that it sees as "unimportant" during times of crises...

For example, reproduction, growth, digestion, etc.

This explains a lot why people with chronic stress suffer from stomach issues, difficulty in making babies, depression, and limited growth, right?

Well, I don't know about you...

But my stomach shuts its operation down and I forget that I need to eat to survive.

It's because cortisol is released into our bodies.

In contrast:

DHEA hormone sees stress as a GROWTH opportunity, and it helps your brain grow from stressful experiences.

It's like testosterone but instead of the body... it makes your brain stronger.

Also, it counters some of the effects of cortisol.

Now..

As you can clearly see both hormones are doing something crucial and beneficial for us, right?

One serves as a defense mechanism (cortisol) and the other helps our brain grow stronger (DHEA).

So, neither one of these is a bad guy, right?

But here's the catch:

The RATIO in which both hormones are released determines whether your response to stressful events will be positive or negative.

Lemme explain..

This ratio of DHEA to cortisol release is called the growth index.

For math geeks out there...

Growth Index = DHEA / Cortisol

So, the higher growth index is better for you as it will make you mentally stronger and more resilient in responding to future stressful events.

Think of it this way:

High Growth Index triggers a Challenge Response and...

Low Growth Index triggers a Threat Response.

Threat response is commonly known as Fight-or-flight response.

Now..

We can make the growth index higher either by increasing DHEA release or by decreasing cortisol release.

Simple math, right!

But research shows that you CAN'T lower the release of cortisol simply via mindset shifts.

...though you can do so by taking medicine (beta-blockers etc.), those would also block the release of DHEA, which we don't want.

Plus, beta-blockers have some side effects.

The good news is that you CAN increase DHEA release by mindset shifts and working on your belief systems about stress and stressful events.

And by increasing DHEA levels, you will increase your growth index.

In simple terms:

Your mindset shifts about stress and eliminating self-limiting beliefs can help you...

• trigger the Challenge Response
• grow mentally with superior problem-solving skills
• become resilient in handling future stressful events
• and feel excited for upcoming public speaking engagements

Now you know why your mindset is a powerful tool to fight against your speaking anxiety and transform your 'nervousness' into 'excitement'.

Reader,

Reply to this email if you have any questions.

-Waqas

​

P.S.--This week's issue is inspired by the book "The Upside of Stress" and TEDx talk by the Author Kelly McGonigal​

P.P.S.--I captured this beautiful sunset right next to my house in Denver, Colorado.

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