On Stress · The Daily Vedantic · Radar

Stress as Interrupted Desire0:24 – 3:14

James BesharaHost

0:24

Stress is an engineering term, pressure that's placed on a substance.

James BesharaHost

0:31

Like, uh, think of a metal beam and the stress that's placed on it when it's pulled in opposing directions.

James BesharaHost

0:40

That's what stress is, is when there is a strain placed upon a metal beam or our minds when we're pulled in opposing directions.

James BesharaHost

0:51

The term stress has come to mean this agitation within us.

James BesharaHost

0:56

In fact, the definition of stress within Vedanta is mental agitation, is interrupted desire.

James BesharaHost

1:06

It's mental agitation caused by interrupted desire.

James BesharaHost

1:12

You desire for your food to be delivered on time, and it's delayed by an hour.

James BesharaHost

1:19

Your dinner, your ideal evening has been delayed, has been interrupted.

James BesharaHost

1:26

You desire for certain results at work or a certain event to take place in your personal life, and something interrupts it, which causes that mental agitation that we then refer to as stress.

James BesharaHost

1:44

So what can we learn from this, this definition? I know that when I'm building companies, one of the most stressful things I can do is write out projections for the quarter or the year and set these expectations with the people around us, and every projection is wrong.

James BesharaHost

2:08

I've never seen a single projection in business that was correct.

James BesharaHost

2:12

Unless you manipulate it at the end just to hit the projection, the natural state of things is so different than any projection on a spreadsheet.

James BesharaHost

2:23

As it's said, plans are often useless, but planning is indispensable.

James BesharaHost

2:27

Those projections can be phenomenally useful for the business.

James BesharaHost

2:31

They can be quite clarifying of where should resources go because of the impact it'll have, positive or negatively, on the business itself.

James BesharaHost

2:40

But to jump to expectations of what you want to happen sets me up for disappointment every time.

James BesharaHost

2:53

Ultimately, disappointment is a function of miscalculated expectations.

James BesharaHost

3:02

This definition kind of stopped me in my tracks when I first heard it 'cause it was so clarifying.

James BesharaHost

3:07

I'd never heard of a definition of stress.

James BesharaHost

3:11

Mental agitation caused by an interruption in desire.

Stress as Interrupted Desire0:24 – 3:14

James BesharaHost

0:24

Stress is an engineering term, pressure that's placed on a substance.

James BesharaHost

0:31

Like, uh, think of a metal beam and the stress that's placed on it when it's pulled in opposing directions.

James BesharaHost

0:40

That's what stress is, is when there is a strain placed upon a metal beam or our minds when we're pulled in opposing directions.

James BesharaHost

0:51

The term stress has come to mean this agitation within us.

James BesharaHost

0:56

In fact, the definition of stress within Vedanta is mental agitation, is interrupted desire.

James BesharaHost

1:06

It's mental agitation caused by interrupted desire.

James BesharaHost

1:12

You desire for your food to be delivered on time, and it's delayed by an hour.

James BesharaHost

1:19

Your dinner, your ideal evening has been delayed, has been interrupted.

James BesharaHost

1:26

You desire for certain results at work or a certain event to take place in your personal life, and something interrupts it, which causes that mental agitation that we then refer to as stress.

James BesharaHost

1:44

So what can we learn from this, this definition? I know that when I'm building companies, one of the most stressful things I can do is write out projections for the quarter or the year and set these expectations with the people around us, and every projection is wrong.

James BesharaHost

2:08

I've never seen a single projection in business that was correct.

James BesharaHost

2:12

Unless you manipulate it at the end just to hit the projection, the natural state of things is so different than any projection on a spreadsheet.

James BesharaHost

2:23

As it's said, plans are often useless, but planning is indispensable.

James BesharaHost

2:27

Those projections can be phenomenally useful for the business.

James BesharaHost

2:31

They can be quite clarifying of where should resources go because of the impact it'll have, positive or negatively, on the business itself.

James BesharaHost

2:40

But to jump to expectations of what you want to happen sets me up for disappointment every time.

James BesharaHost

2:53

Ultimately, disappointment is a function of miscalculated expectations.

James BesharaHost

3:02

This definition kind of stopped me in my tracks when I first heard it 'cause it was so clarifying.

James BesharaHost

3:07

I'd never heard of a definition of stress.

James BesharaHost

3:11

Mental agitation caused by an interruption in desire.