Anxiety At Work? Reduce Stress, Uncertainty & Boost Mental Health
Executive coaches and New York Times bestselling authors of "All In" and "The Carrot Principle,” Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton offer insights and advice to reduce anxiety at work and in your personal life. If you have ever dreaded Sunday night, got a pit in your stomach on the way to work, or had your heartbeat speed up at the sound of your boss’s voice, then you may have had anxiety at work. In this practical podcast, some of the world’s leading authorities on mental health explore the causes of workplace stress and anxiety and the practices that have be proven to reduce tension and cultivate calm.
Anxiety At Work? Reduce Stress, Uncertainty & Boost Mental Health
Author Recap: Letting Go of What Holds Us Back
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Top Takeaways
1. Unhealthy Attachments Are Rooted in Fear
Dr. Rosen explains that we all carry mental baggage—attachments to things like success, control, perfection, and even the future—that stem from deep-rooted fears. Identifying and confronting these fears is the first step to personal and professional freedom.
2. “Just Enough Anxiety” Is a Good Thing
Anxiety isn’t always bad. In fact, a moderate amount can serve as a motivator. Too little can lead to complacency; too much causes chaos. The sweet spot—just enough anxiety—helps us grow, stay alert, and push past comfort zones.
3. Living in the Present Unlocks Fulfillment
Bob’s formula for a well-balanced mindset: 10% in the past, 20% in the future, and 70% in the present. Being overly attached to what’s next—or what was—keeps us from experiencing contentment and clarity right now.
For a weekly dose of gratitude from Chester Elton, text GRATITUDE to 908-460-2820.
Until next week, we hope you find peace & calm in a world that often is a sea of anxiety.
If you love this podcast, please share it and leave a 5-star rating! If you feel inspired, we invite you to come on over to The Culture Works where we share resources and tools for you to build a high-performing culture where you work.
Your hosts, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton have spent over two decades helping clients around the world engage their employees on strategy, vision and values. They provide real solutions for leaders looking to manage change, drive innovation and build high performance cultures and teams.
They are authors of award-winning Wall Street Journal & New York Times bestsellers All In, The Carrot Principle, Leading with Gratitude, & Anxiety at Work. Their books have been translated into 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies.
Visit The Culture Works for a free Chapter 1 download of Anxiety at Work.
Learn more about their Executive Coaching at The Cultur...
Hey, just another really interesting session here, this time with Bob Rosen, you know, professor, clinical psychologist, PhD, all sorts of interesting stuff. But boy, did you, did your kind of, you know, kind of tingly kind of feeling start where you kind of go, I may have some of these attachments, we all may have some of these. And we need to start thinking about them. Anything resonate for you with this? I actually was amazed that I had none. Well, you're perfect in every way. Yeah, you know, a lot of people aspire to be perfect. I don't have that problem because I've arrived. Yeah, no, you know, clearly you could look at all 10 of those and go, yeah, that's me, right? You and I have written a lot about perfectionism, how we get caught up in that, and how we get caught up in success and all that. I thought it was really interesting as he kicked it off, he said, you know, you need to be a student of self-awareness. I thought that was a great admonition. You know, we talk about being a student of leadership and being continually curious. And I thought, you know, that's a good addition to that, be a student of self-awareness. Also that all these attachments are driven by fear. That really stuck with me. They go, yeah, you're afraid that you haven't lived the life you should have, you know, so you have that fear of regret. And then, gosh, am I doing enough in the future? His division of past, future, and present I thought was interesting. 10% in the past. And he said in a positive, remember the good things. That's okay, right? 20% in the future, we should be kind of, at least know what we're doing tomorrow, you know, Which you and I sometimes with our schedules, Wednesday, I think I'm in Toledo. Why am I in Las Vegas? Yeah. Yeah. It's clear I'm in Las Vegas, I just don't know why. And then 70% in the present. We've heard that from a lot of people, to try to stay as much as you can in the moment. So right out of the box, those were things that really stuck with me. How about you? You know, fear, like you said, that really resonated with me as well, because how much of our time coaching executives do we spend saying, okay, you know, Susan, what do you think's the worst thing that's gonna happen if you bring this idea? Or Gavin, you know, why are you afraid of the CEO? And, you know, I mean, what's, are they going to take away your family, your loved ones? You know, there's so much fear. And what I really liked is he's saying, look, dig down, figure out what that is. Did, you know, I mean, honestly, did mom and dad not hug you enough? And do you need something there? And that's not bad. You're just accepting, you're finding out what it is. Do you feel like nobody ever listens to you when you talk? What is it? Holly's saying just be aware of what is driving that fear. That awareness starts a lot of good things happening in your life. Yeah. My last takeaway, I love this, is the super-agers. That was such a great, I studied the super-agers. I study the super-agers. You know, he's gonna turn 70, right? This idea of, you know, engage with your aging self. There are gonna be things that you can't do anymore, and there are gonna be things that you continue to be curious about. And the two paths of retirement was one with fear and regret, and the other one with excitement. Okay, that with fear and regret. And the other one was... Introspection and... Okay, that's what it was. Okay, I wrote that down, but I missed the excitement. Good. Yeah, excitement about the future, like, you know, what's ahead. And it is interesting, you know, as you know, I just attended a dear friend's funeral. And the other thing he talked about was everything's attached to a story. Yeah. And the other thing he talked about was everything's attached to a story. And I thought it's really interesting, you know, as our time comes, right? What will we be remembered for? And what will the stories people tell? And in the case of my friend, it was an overflow of church and wonderful stories about service and giving and being a great friend and being a great dad. You know, no one mentioned, he was a very successful businessman. Nobody mentioned his business. Nobody mentioned, you know, any numbers on his W-2 or that kind of stuff. It was all about, and Bob talked about that. He said, you know, I invest in relationships. I've got lots of friends and so on. And so that kind of excitement about the future, how am I nurturing those meaningful relationships? How am I taking care of my family? I thought it was really resonated with me in particular because I'd just been to my friend's funeral. Well, and yeah, and his push that, you know, we don't live in the future except a little bit, but how many, you know, never satisfied with where we are. And as you said about your dear friend was that, no, he was living in the present and you know yeah of course we all worried about the future now and then but we can't live there. That's what creates an attachment, that's what creates fear. We can't live in stability because always being stable and safe will never get us where we're going. You and I would never have broken off from from a corporation 12 years ago or whatever was and created our own little world here. And we've been able to travel around the world to just about every continent and spread this word. So good things have come when you break out of these attachments. Yeah. By the way, Adrian, it's 15 years. I've been 50, same number of books that equates to success is how many years you and I have been doing it. Yeah, well, you know, Marshall always talks to us about that, right? Our friend Marshall Goldsmith, I'll be happy when. That's the toxicity that comes with living too much in the future. Well, great session. I love the name of his book, Detach. By the way, he says, Detach didn't mean to be removed. You know, it was just letting go of those negative things. Detach, ditch your baggage to live a more fulfilling life. And you know who makes my life more fulfilling? I don't know if it's the same for you. I think I know, I think I know. Yeah, I think about podcasts, I think about dear friends, I think about fulfillment in my life and one name comes to mind. Who is it for you? You know, it could be the Dalai Lama. I mean, it could be Oprah. But for me, it's Brent Kline, our producer. So funny. Me too. Yeah, he's the producer that takes our, as my Jewish friends in New York would say, the mishigash and makes it beautiful. We're so thankful and grateful for him and for Christy Lawrence, our wonderful booker, who does so many good things for us. And I've lost my place, so take it over. Hey, if you like the podcast, that's all good. If you like it, share it, download it. We'd also love you to visit thecultureworks.com for free resources to help you, your team thrive. We've got lots of ideas about leadership and culture. And you know what, Chess? We love speaking to audiences around the world, don't we? Virtually or in person, you give us the topic. By now, we can speak on it. Exactly. And thanks to all of you who have tuned in. We know you have busy lives. You got things going on. Thanks for taking some time and spending it with us. We really are grateful for you and appreciate that. So Adrian, I'll give you the last word. There you go. Until next time, we wish you the best of mental health.