You were overlooked for a promotion again. It was no surprise. Mr. X leads a charmed life. Work is finished before deadlines. They always have enough energy to attend seminars and workshops. They work late whenever needed. They always look great, are full of energy, and happy.
It is not fair that some people are gifted – or are they? Next time the flu hits your office, look at the people who stay home and those who end up taking days home from work. There will be some startling revelations.
Statistically, the group who miss work are complainers, they are stressed, they work hard on projects but never make-the-grade. These people rarely smile. Ask what music they listen too. Is it happy, or is it hard and abrasive? Do they make friends, or hide in their cubicle?
Now, compare this to the group who remained at work and picked up the slack. There are trends here, too. These people are more likely to listen to classical music. They probably talk about things such as massage therapy, exercise, stress busters, healthy eating, and they laugh or smile – a lot.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but studies have proven that poor stress management skills, feelings of helplessness, poor eating habits, and poor social skills.
In fact, researchers have proved that stress cut years from your life.
Scientists are proving in clinical studies what traditional healers have known for centuries. The mind and body are linked, and when one is weak, the other suffers.
One field has made great strides since 1970 in understanding the connection between emotions, well-being, and immune-system function, Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI).
Then Robert Ader, Ph.D., and the department of psychiatry at the University of Rochester, New York, discovered that the immune system can be psychologically conditioned to perform a certain way. In short, you can train your immune system to create a super human body, or teach it to self-distruct.
Ader fed rats saccharine and an immunosuppressive drug that caused an upset stomach. After just one incident, the rodents avoided saccharine. The study was repeated with only saccharine, and many rats died.
Even when the drug was absent the rat’s bodies associated saccharine with the suppression of immune function. The saccrin weakened their immune systems.
Ader conditioned an immunosuppressive response. So, the brain turned a perfectly healthy food into poison. The experiment created a radical conclusion: The mind and the immune system are linked.
“There were lots of responses to our study–and some of them you can’t print,” Ader says today. “But our results showed you’ve got to deal with the whole adaptive system of the organism and not just a single element of the system.”
And they changed the immune research community forever.
What does that mean for you? It reaffirms exactly what life coaches have been telling you for years. If you want to succeed then you need to change your mindset. You can train your body to accomplish more, remain healthier, manage stress better, if you change your mindset. Still not convinced?
Candace Pert, Ph.D., a scientist at Johns Hopkins University discovered receptors that allow the body to create natural opiates. That’s right. Next time you meet someone who is always on a ‘high’ – maybe they are.