Good stress, bad stress

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By Dwain Duxson

Good stress, bad stress - Many would say that there is no such thing as good stress, but I'd kinda argue with that. I think good stress means that you do what you say you are going to do and fully commit to it. 

People who are consistent with their actions and conscious about doing the right things by others have a form of good stress. They will do it no matter what. Making a commitment in your job to ring everyone back might be one of those. For me, it's meeting the deadline for this email newsletter (9 pm EDST, 5 days a week) and The Farmers Club (5 am EDST, 6 days a week) as well. I also have a commitment to an email or text reply to everyone who replies to us. I'd describe this as good stress. We are putting a bit of pressure on ourselves to perform.

Bad stress is when you feel you are out of control of the situation, and things become overwhelming. We don't want anyone feeling like this because it's not good and not healthy for both mind and body.

Farming is stressful because it's so damn complex these days. I'm sure many of you are highly stressed about one thing or another. Some have learnt to manage it and some haven't. But I think we put so much pressure on ourselves and take responsibility for way too many things. Stress can come in other forms as well. Under my good stress theory, the commitment is to only a few things, but when it's too many, that's when we hit the wall. What is stressing you out at the moment? Reply to dwaind@farmtender.com.au

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