In this episode, Marc shares Part 4 of 4 parts of the CareerPivot evaluation process. This is the Stress Report session, where Marc helps Tim understand how to plan for stressful situations, and how to avoid them. Marc gives Tim more homework to help him collaborate with people to reduce stressors. Key Takeaways: [2:20] Tim is a 50-year-old who has been stair-stepping himself out of a career and building a side business. Recently he got laid off, which was his trigger to pivot. In this episode, Marc takes Tim through the Birkman Stress Report, with his top 40 needs and actions he can take to keep himself out of stress. He will learn some questions to ask. [3:16] If you haven’t listened to Episodes 48, 49, and 50, Marc would suggest you stop here and listen to them, first. If you listen on the go, listen first without the reports and then download them from CareerPivot.com/Tim and listen to it again. There is a lot to digest, and Tim is very open about his experiences at work. [4:16] Tim says the homework was much harder this week than last. He noticed that while the tasks had changed, he used the same problem-solving process for all of them. He gathers information first, discusses the problem with people, puts his thoughts in an organized order, takes some time to put together a plan, and charges forward. [5:38] The exercise gave him the opportunity to look back at his business work behaviors and see where he added the most value. [6:21] Marc notes that the more Tim understands how he solves problems, the more he’ll understand how other people solve them differently. Tim discusses how his wife solves problems differently than he does. [7:32] Marc covers the Stress Pages. There are four sections. For each area, there are interpersonal relationships, schedules and details, conflict and decision making. There is one page about being in stress. Marc skips ahead to the page about staying out of stress. Page 3 is Managing Needs for Esteem and Acceptance. [8:16] The page shows things Tim needs, and activities he can do to stay out of stress. Tim relates to personalized benefits, genuine pats on the back, criticism balanced by praise, and time alone. He also notices his need for a few close friends. In the four areas, there will be a total of 40 needs. Tim should mix them down to 10 or 12. [9:44] Tim should come up with a core set of needs, and develop an open-ended question for each. Next, come the things Tim can do to avoid stress. Tim reads through them and considers his compliance to each. One thing he does now to keep busy is home repair and door replacement. He also sets time aside for some quiet time. [15:00] Tim comments on the suggested activity of spending one weekend a month alone with his significant other. He and his wife have not tried that yet. He is too active to just relax with her. They are always on projects. The last activity is to spend quiet time alone before big holidays. Tim will try that. Marc avoids certain holiday parties, himself. [17:29] Page 5 is Managing Needs for Structure and Change. Tim has a low need for rules and a moderate need for variety. He is a borderline structured anarchist. Tim needs freedom from close controls and needs a minimally structured routine. He also needs novelty during the day, or he feels drained. [18:45] Tim has an independent work role now, and that pleases him, and he likes varied and complex work activities. Tim needs direct access to everyone. Tim likes Twitter because there is no gatekeeper, but Tim will have a hard time narrowing down the list. [19:58] Tim’s suggested activities are, set aside time weekly for new activities and interests, take vacations or spend time on hobbies, create opportunities to discuss goals and plans with his family, make schedules that allow for flexibility, build up a stockpile of small projects to work on, and time management that allows several tasks each day. [24:22] Tim needs to avoid home projects that will take months of the same activity