The Upside of Stress
Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It
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The Upside of Stress
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Narrated by:
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Kelly McGonigal
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Written by:
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Kelly McGonigal
About this listen
The author of The Willpower Instinct delivers a controversial and groundbreaking new book that overturns long-held beliefs about stress.
More than 44 percent of Americans admit to losing sleep over stress. And while most of us do everything we can to reduce it, Stanford psychologist and best-selling author Kelly McGonigal, PhD, delivers a startling message: Stress isn't bad. In The Upside of Stress, McGonigal highlights new research indicating that stress can, in fact, make us stronger, smarter, and happier - if we learn how to embrace it.
The Upside of Stress is the first audiobook to bring together cutting-edge discoveries on the correlation between resilience - the human capacity for stress-related growth - and mind-set, the power of beliefs to shape reality. As she did in The Willpower Instinct, McGonigal combines science, stories, and exercises into an engaging and practical book that is both entertaining and life-changing, showing you:
- How to cultivate a mind-set to embrace stress
- How stress can provide focus and energy
- How stress can help people connect and strengthen close relationships
- Why your brain is built to learn from stress and how to increase its ability to learn from challenging experiences
McGonigal's TED talk on the subject has already received more than seven million views. Her message resonates with people who know they can't eliminate the stress in their lives and want to learn to take advantage of it. The Upside of Stress is not a guide to getting rid of stress but a guide to getting better at stress by understanding it, embracing it, and usng it.
©2015 Kelly McGonigal (P)2015 Penguin AudioYou may also enjoy...
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 19
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4 out of 5 stars 14
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What the critics say
What listeners say about The Upside of Stress
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jade Ronni
- 2018-09-19
loved it
Super interesting and easy to listen to. Downloaded this audiobook after it was mentioned in one of my nutrition classes. Would definitely recommend this book to friends . #Audible1
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 2022-12-17
completely changed my life
this book has completely changed my outlook on life. I recommend to anyone struggling with stress or trauma to listen to this book. I relisten to it whenever I feel stress taking over my life and it helps me be a better me simply by encouraging a new outlook and perspective. 100/10 recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Stefanos A.
- 2019-03-01
Life changing. Empowering in a long term way.
Sometimes true and important insights can be missed in life. This book helps bring the upside of stress to light and truly empower people in many wonderful ways that will last a lifetime (and the ripple effects even longer.)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sally C
- 2020-08-11
So timely!
This is a book that I will order the paperback version of and read again and again! Great insights and interesting science make for an inspiring message of hope that will help readers find meaning in the tough places of life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- R
- 2024-05-19
There's always something to learn
I enjoyed the whole book and absolutely loved the last third. I'll carry many of the rethinking methods into my life. A lot of the criticism of the book come from a place that didn't actually understand what the author was trying to show from the research. She isn't saying you should go be traumatized in order to grow nor is she undermining trauma. The research simply shows that seeing the good and the bad allows people to grow and learn from something they can't control.
Highly recommend this book to someone who has an open mind and is willing to change their previous conception of stress.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Jordan Marshall
- 2018-09-16
Listen to this!
I loved reading the book and I enjoyed listening to it even more! Must buy!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- C. L. Aingworth
- 2019-08-20
Really enjoyable. Eye opening information...
I loved this book. The presentation of the material is easy to understand and makes one think twice about what we 'know' about stress. I learned so much from this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject.
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- Anonymous User
- 2023-04-23
Great book recommended by my consultant
When I was in deep stress in my previous job and not knowing about it, I talked with a consultant who helped me discover the problem and recommended this book to me when I asked. I was such a optimist person and somehow down the road of life , I forgot about how to look forward, don’t have any goals to strive for any more . I was busy and miserable. Turns out in my mind, I switched my thinking about stress. I thought stress was bad for my health so I decided to avoid it. Then I stopped to get my goals, stop setting up visions and work hard to get them, then the purposeful life became boring and without hope. In this book, you’ll see how I found the root cause of my problem- it was just a simple thought of stress changed in me. Thank you Kelly for writing this book and thank Andy for recommending it to me.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Reza
- 2023-11-19
Very informative
I really like this book, the way author narrates, interesting stories, and a bunch of science proofed research about stress.
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