Having showcased Jae Ellard’s The Five Truths about Work-Life Balance here, I was eager to look at her latest book, Success With Stress, and review it. Jae was kind enough to send me a hard copy of the book.
Book Description:
Believe it or not, stress isn’t all bad; in fact, it’s an important part of the natural world. Stress helps us survive as a species – because of that we want the ability to be stressed. That said, being able to manage stress with greater success is the difference between surviving and THRIVING. Success with Stress explores five simple ideas to spark your personal power to change the level, duration, and frequency of the stress in your life. With workplace stress being linked to quality of life, health, and workplace morale, this is a must-read for any team looking to improve morale and individuals looking to improve their quality of life.
Buy the Book: Amazon
Author’s Bio:
Jae Ellard is an author, speaker, and expert on developing the skill of awareness in the workplace. After years in senior communication roles crafting content for executives, Jae collapsed from stress-related adrenal fatigue. This life-altering experience propelled her to research human behavior, neuroscience, mindfulness, and organizational relationship systems. In 2008, Jae founded Simple Intentions and developed the Mindful Life™ Program to generate intentional conversations to disrupt patterns and create awareness, accountability and action at team and individual levels. Jae has taught the skill of awareness in more than 50 countries to thousands of employees at multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Amazon and Expedia.
Jae is a columnist on workplace awareness for Mindful Magazine, as well as the author of 7 books on the topic. She contributes to the Healthy Living section on Huffington Post as well as the Simple Intentions blog. In 2013, she founded Seattle Wisdom, a community organization working to create and support conscious conversations in professional spaces in the Pacific Northwest. Jae has a master’s degree in Communication Management from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Communication from Metropolitan State College of Denver. She holds certificates in co-active coaching and organizational relationship systems coaching.
Connect with Jae: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ LinkedIn
My review: 4/5
I was pleasantly surprised with the workbook style book, with lots of white space for my thoughts and reflections.
The best part of the book for me was the clarity of thought of the author, expressed with so much simplicity, and how it strikes at the root of stress very early on. Sample this powerful statement:
Most stress can be traced to communication – or lack of it – back to the conversations we are not having or are too scared to have about what we value, and/or a lack of boundaries to protect those values.
It brought to mind a quote of George Bernard Shaw’s I came across for the first time the other day. He said, in his own inimitable style : The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. And I found both this statement and the book resonating so strongly for me. Much of my stress used to come from dysfunctional relationships – the ones in which I assumed that the other would understand me. Now I’ve learned to communicate more clearly and it makes relating with people so much easier and less stressful.
The 5 strategies that Jae suggests we can beat stress with call for reflection on our values, invite us to be authentic and above all to honor ourselves. Since authenticity and honoring myself are areas that I have long being working on, I could see the value of this.
I am completely in agreement with Jae’s philosophy of succeeding with stress and would recommend this book to anyone struggling to reduce stress in their lives.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author. All opinions are my own.
Giveaway Prizes:
Win a print copy of Success With Stress with a companion notebook (open to USA & Canada – 10 winners total)
Success with Stress – not something we think is possible! But that statement about lack of communications being a major source of stress is true. I also find that pending or unmade decisions add to stress. Thanks for the review!
You’re right, Fab. Sometimes we keep postponing the hard stuff and don’t realize how stressful that is.
If stress urges you to get things done quickly and efficiently, perhaps it would help? I often thought about this. When there isn’t stress and we take things lightly, we may not be putting in our full effort into work, thus reducing its efficiency. The book looks thought provoking. Thanks for the review. 🙂
I like your perspective, Dashy and agree that stress does push us a bit. But there’s the other kind of stress too – the kind that eats away at us and makes us unhappy and unhealthy.
I am so blessed to be free of most stress. Driving around town with a bunch of daydreaming bozos is about the worst thing I face! Be well.
Being free from stress is a choice, Darla and I’m so happy for you that you made it.
Most stress can be traced to communication – or lack of it – back to the conversations we are not having or are too scared to have about what we value, and/or a lack of boundaries to protect those values.I am not eligible for the giveaway.I am really sad.Loved the concept behind the book.Definitely, will be getting it.One of the most insightful and stimulating book reviews.
Sorry that your not eligible, Amrita. I do hope you get the chance to read it though.
It is such a pleasure to be welcomed back to Everyday Gyaan! I appreciate you taking the time to write another thoughtful review for one of my books, as well as inspiring a community discussion. I am happy to hear you found value in Success with Stress. Thank you, Corinne!
With gratitude,
Jae
It is a deceptively simple book, Jae, but it certainly got me thinking and making better choices. Thank you.