#373. Optimizing Your Stress | Modupe Akinola

Stress – which many of us despise and try to avoid – does not actually have to be a bad thing. Rather, it’s our relationship to stress, our mindset about stress, that determines whether we are helped or harmed by it. Today’s guest has the science to back this up and the practical tools to help you transfer her insights from the lab to your life.

Modupe Akinola is an Associate Professor of Management at the Columbia Business School and host of the TED Business podcast. She is also one of the featured experts in our Stress Better course in the Ten Percent Happier app.

In this conversation, Modupe talks about what she’s learned during these extraordinarily stressful last couple of years, what she calls the “stress mindset” (and how to cultivate it), and the vast resources available to us for handling stress (and how to tap into them). We also dive into another of Modupe’s areas of expertise: how to have productive conversations around the often stressful–but critical–issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://app.tenpercent.com/link/download

Where to find Modupe Akinola online: 

Website: https://www.modupeakinola.com/

Twitter: @ProfAkinola

Other Resources Mentioned:

• The role of stress mindset in shaping cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses to challenging and threatening stress
• TED Business podcast
• TPH Podcast episode: Stress Better | Modupe Akinola
• Professor Frances Frei, Harvard Business School
• Associate Professor Alison Wood Brooks, Harvard Business School
• TPH Podcast episode: The Scientific Case for Self-Compassion | Chris Germer

Additional Resources:

• Ten Percent Happier Live: https://tenpercent.com/live
• Coronavirus Sanity Guide: https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide
• Free App access for Frontline Workers: https://tenpercent.com/care