Stress is one of the most overlooked forces shaping how we think, feel, work, and live. Too often, we assume stress is simply a byproduct of a busy life — a sign that we’re driven, ambitious, or working hard toward our goals. However, stress also shows up with problems, setbacks, deadlines, or fear of not keeping up. But the truth is many people don’t realize how deeply their thoughts, beliefs, and inner dialogue fuel or create the stress they experience. Some may not even recognize that they’re living in stress, because over time, it becomes their norm.  

When stress becomes familiar, it becomes invisible. You don’t notice it, you just live in it — until your body feels it, your mind absorbs it, or your energy gets depleted.

The Correlation Between Stress and Success

Rania Kort, business advisor, transformational coach, and author, shares how stress correlates with success and does far more than overwhelm your emotions. It affects your decision-making, your clarity, your creativity and even your physical health.  Drawing from neuroscience, energy psychology, emotional intelligence, and high-performance coaching, she reminds us that, “Becoming aware of stress, is not just a mental or emotional practice — it’s a health practice, an energy practice, and ultimately a success practice”.

Rania explains that everything begins with a thought. Modern neuroscience supports this: repeated thoughts rewire the brain through neuroplasticity, strengthening either stress-based pathways or expansive, possibility-driven ones. Thoughts come from beliefs, beliefs shape emotions, and emotions generate energy — and each of these states sends signals through the nervous system that determine whether your body moves into calm or into fight-or-flight. Stress physiology also confirms that the brain cannot always distinguish between a real threat and a perceived one created by thought. This means a fear-based belief, worry, or negative inner dialogue can activate the stress response as powerfully as an actual threat can.

Good Stress vs. Harmful Stress

Many high achievers accept stress as part of their drive. But Rania challenges her clients to distinguish between good stress and harmful stress. She says that good stress (eustress) is the positive drive that activates motivation, creativity, excitement, and focus. It comes from wanting to grow, expand, and contribute. You know when you’re generating good stress because it is energizing, you see progress, and you feel like you’re in flow. The right people and opportunities show up and putting in a lot of effort feel effortless.

Harmful stress (distress) does the opposite — it blocks creativity, clouds judgment, narrow awareness, and leads to reactive decision-making. You may be working more, but you’re achieving less because your mind is overwhelmed and your energy is depleted.  And when it becomes your operating system, it turns into chronic stress — which triggers fatigue, irritability, disrupted sleep, inflammation, and burnout.  She warns how chronic stress also pulls the body into fight-or-flight, suppressing the brain’s higher thinking centers — the parts responsible for planning, strategy, intuition, and perspective.  Although the mind may convince you to push harder, the energy powering that effort eventually collapses under the strain. As a result, success becomes harder, health declines, and even the things you once loved feel heavy.  That’s because the human body was designed to handle short bursts of pressure, not sustain months or years of emotional overload. 

The Shift That Changes Everything 

Rania’s philosophy begins with awareness. Once you become aware of how you think — and recognize your ability to shift it — you reclaim your power. You realize you don’t need to operate from survival; you have the power to choose and shift how you think.  You can shift from desperate energy to inspired energy, from forcing to aligning, and from chasing success to creating it from vision, purpose, and intention.

At the core of her work — and her own lived experience — is the profound power we have when we shift our perspective. This shift is grounded in science including Cognitive Psychology which shows that stress is shaped by perception more than it is by circumstance. And when the nervous system is calm, your brain regains access to creativity, intuition, and higher reasoning — the very capacities that make success feel easeful instead of exhausting.

This shift is not loud or dramatic — it is subtle, intentional, and deeply transformative. And once it begins, everything in your life begins to change with it.

Ready to Shift Your Stress into a More Empowering Way to Live?

Are you ready to think differently, feel differently, and live with more clarity, energy, and ease? Subscribe to Rania’s Power Up Newsletter — filled with powerful mindset tools, reflections, and reminders to help you keep your thoughts empowering and your stress in check. And as a thank-you, you’ll also receive her newest eBook:
“Why Mindset Is Everything: Master Your Mind, Power Up Your Life” — completely free.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical, psychological, or professional advice. The views and strategies shared reflect the author’s personal expertise and insights, which may not be applicable to everyone. Individuals seeking personalized advice should consult with a qualified professional for guidance tailored to their specific needs.