﻿- So here's a story from my own life about changing the narrative that I was telling myself about stress, changing the story I was telling myself about stress, like finding a new context in which to hold a stressor, and how when I did that, it changed my relationship to that which was stressing me out. And it changed my relationship so much, that I was able then to do that thing which was stressing me out more effectively and actually become quite good at that thing. And so when I was in high school, I joined the debate team. And here's a picture of myself in high school with a friend. And part of being on the debate team is we had to give speeches. And the first time I ever had to give a speech, I was so nervous that when they called my name, I didn't get up. I just continued to sit in my chair in the audience and then they called my name again, and I still didn't get up and sweat started just to run down my body. I could feel the sweat running down my body. I thought: Wow, I am so freaked out. I'm so nervous. I'm so stressed. And then they called my name a third time, and I was so nervous about getting up and giving a speech, so stressed about it, I still didn't get up. And then they called my name a fourth and final time and they said, this is your last chance. If you don't get up now, you're forfeiting your, you know, your right to give a speech and to be entered in the contest; you won't be able to give a speech. And so I finally got up, and I gave a speech and it was mediocre at best. And then afterwards I talked to my speech coach, and he said: Hey, don't try to get rid of the butterflies, try to get them to fly in formation. Try to get them to fly in formation. And so he gave me a new story, a new narrative, a new context in which I could hold this thing which was stressing me out, getting up and giving a speech in front of people, and having that new story, I was then able to relax around, like, being nervous and, oh yeah, I'm nervous. I'm not trying to get rid of the nervousness. Let me just try to get those butterflies to fly in formation. Let me try to use all that energy that's within me to accomplish this thing that I want to do; be able to talk in front of people, be able to give a speech, be able to be on the debate team, right? Let me learn how to do that effectively. And when I'm nervous, let me just use that energy to deliver a more energetic performance with more enthusiasm, right? So let me use that energy. And so I reframed. I reframed. In psychology, this is called reframing. I reframed my perspective on that stressor. And in so doing, I changed my relationship with that stressor, and I was able to perform at a more effective and optimal level, and I actually became quite good at debate, and then I went on to college and university and, you know, and now I'm a professor, and I give talks to public audiences, to audiences all the time, and I teach and do public speaking as my profession. And so that's just an example to illustrate how when we change our story, our narrative that we're telling ourselves about stress or something that's stressing us out, if we change the context in which we're holding stress, it changes our relationship with stress or with that stressor. It changes our relationship and allows us to perform at a more effective and optimal level. And so this is all just to illustrate the key takeaway from the course that the mind is incredibly powerful and that the stories we tell ourselves about stress, influence how we respond and react to stress. In the next video, we're gonna take a look at a couple of course details. See you in the next video.