Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life

by Susan David

And yet, even in the relative peace and prosperity of the United States, where I have resided for more than a decade, so many people still struggle to cope and live their best lives. Just about everyone I know is stressed-out and overloaded with the demands of career, family, health, finances, and a slew of other personal pressures along with large societal forces such as an unsettled economy, rapid cultural change, and a never-ending onslaught of disruptive technologies that distract us at every turn. Meanwhile, multitasking—today’s go-to response to being overworked and overwhelmed—brings us no relief. One recent study found the effect of multitasking on people’s performance was actually comparable to driving drunk. Other studies show that low-grade daily stress (from the lunch box that needs to be filled at the last minute, the cell phone battery that dies right as you need to get on a critical conference call, the train that’s always running late, the looming pile of bills) can prematurely age brain cells by as much as a decade.