STEVEN J. STEIN, PHD, is a clinical psychologist and the Founder and Executive Chair of Multi-Health Systems (MHS), a leading behavior analytics firm. His work on human performance has been featured in top media outlets worldwide. He teaches at the Directors College of Canada.

PAUL T. BARTONE, PHD, is a Visiting Research Fellow at the National Defense University's Institute for National Security Policy. During his U.S. Army career, Colonel Bartone served as the Army's senior research psychologist and deployed worldwide. He also taught leadership at West Point and at the National Defense University. Bartone has been studying hardiness, health, and performance for nearly forty years.

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Stress: What’s All the Fuss? 1

Stress: It’s Unavoidable 4

Your Body’s Response to Stress 6

Hardiness Can Make a Big Difference in How You Cope with Stress 9

Introducing the Three Cs 10

Chapter 2 Commitment: Why Pursuing Purpose in Life Matters 15

What is the Theory Behind Commitment? 16

What We Can Learn About Commitment from Prisoners of War 17

Surviving Post-traumatic Stress: Hardiness-Commitment Versus Short-Term Pleasures 18

Increasing Commitment in Your Life 20

Victor Frankl: Purpose, Commitment, and Meaning 21

The Role of Commitment in Success: Jim Carrey 23

When Commitment Leads to Calling: The Success Factor for Musicians 25

Chapter 3 Building Commitment 29

Take Time to Think About What is Important and Interesting to You 29

Are You Plagued by the Work/Balance Conundrum? 31

Increase Your Skills and Competence in an Area That is Important to You 32

Take Pride in Your Past Successes and Achievements 34

Remember the Good Things in Your Life, and Count Your Blessings 36

Spend Time with Family, Friends, and People You Care About 38

Pay Attention to What’s Going On in the World Around You 39

Try Out New Things 41

Chapter 4 The Role of Hardiness-Challenge 45

A Tale of Two Accountants 46

How Challenge Prepares You for Change 47

Understanding Your Mindset 48

Expanding the Mindset Concept Beyond Abilities 50

Why Traditional Coping Methods Don’t Always Work 52

Examining the “Work of Worrying” Theory 54

Stress Mindset Versus Hardiness-Challenge 57

How Can We Change Mindsets? 58

Physiological Differences as a Result of Your Mindset 60

Hardiness-Challenge and Madonna 61

Chapter 5 Building a Challenge Mindset 63

Changes are Always an Opportunity to Learn and Get Better 64

Do Not Live Every Day by a Rigid Schedule 69

Be Willing to Change Your Plans to Meet Changing Conditions 70

Whenever You Fail at Something, Ask: What Can I Learn from This? 71

Try Out New Things, Take Reasonable Risks 73

Imagine Future Positive Outcomes 75

Do Not Dwell on Past Disappointments: Learn, Forgive, and Look Ahead 78

Chapter 6 Understanding Hardiness-Control 81

Taking Control When Your Body Can’t: Michael J. Fox 82

Managing Your Internal Drives 83

Planning an Orderly Future 84

Control: Too Much or Too Little 85

Can Mental Health Problems Be Related to Control Issues? 87

Can Higher Control Have Benefits at Work? 89

How Control Can Make You More Effective at Work 90

How Can You Start to Improve Your Control? 91

Chapter 7 Getting Yourself More in Control 93

Focus Your Time and Energy on Things You Can Control or Influence 93

Work on Tasks That are Within Your Capabilities, Moderately Difficult but Not Overwhelming 95

For Difficult Jobs, Break Them Up into Manageable Pieces So You Can See the Progress 97

Plan Ahead and Gather Up the Right Tools and Resources for the Task 99

Ask for Help When You Need It 101

Recognize Your Successes 103

When You Just Cannot Solve a Problem, Turn Your Attention to Other Things You Can Control 105

Chapter 8 How Hardiness Works to Protect Health and Performance 107

The Hardy Stress Response: Appraising the Situation 108

The Hardy Stress Response: Reacting to Stress 111

Positively Adapting to Stress 112

Stress and the Heart: The Role of Hardiness 114

Stress and the Immune System 117

Putting Hardiness to Work for You 118

Chapter 9 Hardiness at Work 121

Driving a Bus is No Walk in the Park 121

Does Hardiness Influence Your Career Choice? 126

Hardiness Scores of Healthcare Professionals 131

What Do We Know About Hardiness and Work Satisfaction? 132

Challenges Versus Hindrances at Work 134

Practicing Hardiness in the Legal Profession 135

Putting Your Hardiness to Work 144

Chapter 10 What We Can Learn from Hardiness in High-Stakes Performance Careers 147

Playing Out Hardiness as a Musical Director 148

Secrets of Long-Term Success as an Entertainer 154

Looking at Hardiness in Young Performing Musicians 159

Hardiness in Sports 160

Winning the US Tennis Open 167

What You Can Learn from Increasing Hardiness Levels in Competitive Swimmers 174

Chapter 11 The Role of Hardiness in First Responders 179

Hardiness and Policing 179

One Way That Firefighters Cope with Stress 182

Hardiness and Homicide Police Investigator Mark Mendelson 184

Can Hardiness Help in the Selection of Police Officers? 189

Some Things We Can Learn from First Responders 191

Chapter 12 The Hardy Leader 193

World’s 50 Greatest Leaders 195

Coaching Hardiness 196

Coaching Techniques to Build Hardiness 197

Chapter 13 Hardiness at the US Military Academy—West Point 201

Welcome to West Point 202

Becoming Leaders 203

Women at West Point 205

Who Drops Out? Hardiness and the Ability to Persist 206

Portrait of a Hardy Cadet 209

Beyond West Point 210

Making Yourself a Hardy Leader 211

Chapter 14 Hardiness and Your Health 213

Hardiness and Heart Disease 214

Hardiness and Diabetes 215

Hardiness and the Immune System 216

Hardiness and Cancer 217

Hardiness and Arthritis 218

Health, Hardiness, and Social Support 219

Hardiness and Sleep 220

Hardiness and Health Habits 222

Using the Three Cs of Hardiness to Stay Healthy 223

Chapter 15 Moving from Life Stress to Life Success 227

From Tragic Loss to Uplifting the Lives of Others 228

Transcending One’s Circumstances 231

From Tragedy to the World Stage 235

New Life in a New Country: Struggles and Achievements 239

Physical Fitness, Hardiness, and the Stress of a Child’s Life-Threatening Illness 242

Conclusion 246

References 247

Acknowledgments 262

About the Authors 263

Index 264

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