After completing the Life Stress Inventory, Coping and Stress Management Skills Test, and Type A Personality Survey, I’ve found some meaningful insight into how stress shows up in my life. Let’s start with my life stress questionnaire score. I scored 380, which is in the 75th percentile, which makes a lot of sense with school, losing my sister two weeks ago, and just the daily life of being a full-time employee and a full-time college student. My stress score was 68/100, placing me in the very stressed category. My Type A score was 80/100, confirming what I already know about myself, such as my traits of being ambitious, competitive, and organized, and my high personal standards.
Seeing these results on paper has made me feel like I need to take a second and pause. While I am pursuing my MBA and working full-time in a specialty, I naturally take on leadership roles, set high expectations for myself, and try to keep myself busy. While this helps me perform at a high level, it increases my vulnerability to chronic stress. As a person with a Type A personality, I often experience pressure to achieve, and I put this on myself because I have a fear of failure. I show difficulty relaxing and impatience, which can elevate stress, causing health risks if not managed properly.
Moving forward in my professional career with my goal of becoming a healthcare executive in mind, I must be intentional about stress management. Strategies I plan to implement include time management, delegation, regular exercise, and setting clear boundaries for work-life balance. Prioritizing sleep and downtime to read will be critical. Many organizations now recognize the importance of employee wellness. A lot of healthcare organizations and corporate settings are investing in Employee Assistance Programs, offering flexible scheduling, mental health days, wellness initiatives, and leadership development programs focused on resilience. My company has been implementing programs that incorporate stress management workshops and offer counseling services to address burnout.
Overall, this assignment has helped me realize that success and stress are often. Two-edged sword, especially for someone like me who is an overachiever. However, a sustainable leader requires balance. If I want to lead effectively in healthcare, I must be the spokesperson of healthy stress management practices, this is not only for myself but for the teams I plan on overseeing in the future.