“I enjoy falling further behind in exchange for a mental health day.” said no one, ever. Stanford researchers looked into how workplace stress affects health costs and mortality rates in the United States, they found that it led to spending of nearly $190 billion and nearly 120,000 deaths each year. Workplace stress is estimated to cost the U.S. economy more than $500 billion dollars annually. What’s even more alarming, 550 million work days are lost due to stress on the job in a year. Another study claims that burned-out employees are 63% more likely to take a sick day and 23% more likely to visit the emergency room. Any time an employee is mentally or physically absent from work, it means a loss in productivity and the workload is potentially transferred onto someone else especially when there are deadlines to meet.

In addition to physiological stressors, too much stress over time adversely affects our relationships in and outside of the workplace. At the point of overwhelm, we can no longer regulate our emotional response system in a proactive, healthy way. Our brain switches over to survival mode and begins scanning situations to look for the worst possible outcome, putting us into ‘negative’ mode. This results in us complaining more, becoming hyper-focused on the problem, and frankly, spending our energy in the wrong places. We develop a constant sense of defeat, which leaves us feeling hopeless in situations. Consequently, we end up pushing people away which contradicts what we really need, which is connection and support from others. Been there, you say? Me too.

At the time we recognize this is all happening, it’s typically too late for an easy switch to get us back on the right track. That bad habit has been formed. The relationship has been sabotaged. At this point, not only do we have a lot of repair to do, it takes an average of 64 consecutive times of doing something the right way to form a new habit. Now we can see why most people do not succeed in meeting their New Year’s resolutions. Without accountability, chances are, we’ll fall into the 92% of people who fail to reach their goals.

The most successful people in life don’t just see situations as a failure or success. Every situation is an opportunity for improvement and to reach their goal. Like a catcher in a baseball game, they know how to go after the many different balls coming their way. While some balls may be easy to catch on their feet and others may knock them down, they go after them, regardless. When they get knocked down, they get right back into the game. Each catch contributes to a win, whether it be the game or a stat for their own personal record. When they do miss, they don’t quit or time out, they keep trying for another catch.

Learning how to manage stress and maintain lower levels of stress requires conscious discipline and is a daily practice. When we can learn to be with what we’re doing and nothing else, our productivity and resiliency will skyrocket. Simple changes to our daily routine or habits can have a massive impact for the positive in our lives. In the long run, this will lead to a healthier life and improved relationships.