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Business leaders can sometimes put too much focus on results. Just as a coach can put too much emphasis on winning, a business manager who puts too much emphasis on profit margin can end up causing the opposite effect. This is because the more pressure put on the workers (or athletes) who actually do the jobs, the harder it becomes for them to execute their jobs. The managers (and coaches) who place the greatest emphasis on employees consistently completing their assigned tasks efficiently and to the best of their abilities will achieve the best results. Managing stress and burnout starts with leadership keeping the right perspective.

Similarly, employees can increase their own stress levels when they focus on the wrong things. Co-workers who are challenging to deal with, bosses with the wrong perspective, deadlines to meet, and many other stressors can leave workers feeling burnt out and overworked. Just like leadership, employees should focus on completing their assigned tasks efficiently and to the best of their abilities. Creating a culture in the workplace where leadership and the workforce both keep this as their main focus will lead to successful results.

Many times, people try to cover up their stress with other things. For example, there are several ways that sports have positive effects on psychological well-being. For many people, watching sports provides a release from the stress and anxiety of daily life. There are also many studies showing the positive psychological benefits of a regular exercise routine, and playing recreational sports can help many people create a routine. However, there are also people who take the success or failure of the teams they follow too seriously, and thus, their stress-relieving tool becomes a source of increased stress. Similarly, some will take their exercise routine too seriously, and that can become a source of anxiety. Sports and exercise can have positive or negative psychological effects, depending on each individual's perspective.

1 Timothy 4:8 says, 鈥淔or bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.鈥� -NKJV

Managing stress, anxiety, and burnout is all about perspective. Like 1 Timothy 4:8 says, godliness influences our life now and our eternal life. This perspective is hard to remember at times. When someone in front of us is driving slower than we are on a 2-lane road, we can forget to act in a way that demonstrates godliness. When everything seems to be going wrong for our favorite sports team, we forget that our life will be relatively the same tomorrow, whether they win or lose. When we lose the proper perspective, that is when stress and anxiety can cause us to feel overwhelmed.

Having the right perspective is all about our own mindset towards each situation. Saul and the army of Israel had the wrong perspective about Goliath. They looked at his height and the size of his weapons and were afraid. David showed up, and while he saw how tall Goliath was, and saw how scary his weapons were, he had a different perspective. David knew that God would fight the battle for him. God would have fought the battle for any man in the army of Israel, but no one else had the right perspective.

Business leaders, employees, and individuals everywhere need to keep the proper perspective. Whether it is leading the right way to achieve the right goals, focusing on the right thing to get the best results, or just keeping our everyday stress in check, the key to managing it successfully is in our perspective.