By Chris Shaw

O.K. so we don’t like pressure, do we?    Or shall we look at this question slightly differently…..

Do we enjoy the satisfaction of overcoming obstacles, realising potential and strengths we didn’t realise we had?

That’s pressure, or rather benefiting from pressure.

Pressure dealt with effectively is beneficial,  pressure dealt with ineffectively makes us feel ‘under stress’ and can have serious impact on us.

Let’s think physically for a minute: Carrying a heavy weight

If a weight is loaded onto our backs appropriately and our posture is correct, we can become stronger by carrying the weight. We become psychologically stronger through completing a difficult task and physically stronger by strengthening our body. If our posture is poor or the weight is too much for us we will buckle under the pressure and may be harmed from the experience and less likely to take risk a pressurised situation in future.

The weight we load onto our backs can increase over time, as we become stronger we can handle more weight

Ultimately it is our responsibility how much pressure we take on, how we increase the pressure over time and how we benefit from it.   Refusing to take on a highly pressurised task if you are not up to it is part of dealing with the pressure, if it is to your benefit as a whole then take on the task, if it will weaken you and make you less able in future then ditch it. We should look out for our colleagues in pressurised situations, is their load appropriate for them at this time; is their posture correct and are they fit enough for the situation.

Pressure is inevitable; our bodies are already under about a tonne of atmospheric pressure (NASA). We all have to deal with pressure, how we deal with it is the important stressfactor.