Hardiness & Getting Stronger Through Adversity w/ Dr. Steven Stein

People Business w/ O'Brien McMahon

Dr. Steven Stein is a clinical psychologist and the founder and executive chair of Multi-Health Systems (MHS), a leading assessment and behavior analytics company. He is a former chair of the Psychology Foundation of Canada, former President of the Psychology Foundation of Canada, and has helped lead several other prominent organizations. He teaches at the Directors College of Canada. He is also the author of several books, including "Hardiness", which formed the basis for this conversation.

Mentioned on the Show:

• Hardiness: Making Stress Work for You to Achieve Your Life Goals (Steve’s book): https://a.co/d/cLpKwyQ
• Other books by Steve Stein: https://mhs.com/dr-steven-steins-books/
• Steve Stein’s profile on the MHS website: https://mhs.com/about-our-founder/
• Learn more about Steve’s company Multi-Health Systems, Inc.: https://mhs.com/
• Bonus: O’Brien liked this episode of Armchair Expert, speaking with author (and sociopath) Patric Gagne.

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• Connect with O’Brien McMahon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/obrienmcmahon/
• Learn more about O’Brien: https://obrienmcmahon.com/
• O’Brien’s new book—How You Become You—is available now: https://a.co/d/22kZ0sV

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Timestamps:

(1:51) - Welcoming Steve
(2:14) - What is ‘Hardiness’?
(3:42) - What are the differences in some of the words for mental toughness and where does ‘hardiness’ fit in?
(7:08) - Is there such a thing as good stress and bad stress?
(8:58) - Where’s the line where stress becomes trauma?
(10:53) - How much does your mindset help your physiology during stress?
(12:08) - What is the difference between positive energy and negative energy?
(13:32) - Why is avoiding stress counter-productive?
(14:42) - Why is commitment often the first place for stress?
(15:34) - What does helping people with commitment look like?
(17:05) - As an example, what are some of your commitments?
(20:10) - What do you say to people who struggle to find one particular purpose?
(25:04) - Why is hate not a good fuel for hardiness?
(28:30) - Can you talk to us about Challenge?
(31:38) - Are Challenge and Control interrelated?
(32:45) - How do you change people's perspective on Challenge?
(39:15) - Does control mean I have to figure out how to control everything in my life?
(40:59) - How have you gotten more comfortable letting things go?
(43:32) - How do you instill hardiness in other people?
(45:54) - What are signs that someone should take the ADHD assessment?
(47:30) - What was the most interesting thing you learned about psychopaths?
(48:35) - What’s the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath?
(51:14) - What goes into creating an assessment for a reality TV show cast?
(53:38) - How did you come to do the assessment work?
(54:54) - Did you assess former President Trump?
(55:45) - Where can people find you and engage in this work?