A young and successful executive was travelling down a neighbourhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar.   He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.   As his car passed, no children appeared.   Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.   The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting,  "What was that all about and who are you?  Just what the heck are you doing?  That's a new car and that brick you threw is  going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?"   The young boy was apologetic. "Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,"  He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..."   With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.  "It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."   Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."   Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at them fresh scrapes and cuts.   A quick look told him everything was going to be okay... "Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger.   Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.   It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door.   He kept the dent there to remind him of this message...   Don't go through life so fast that  someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention! How does your body try to get your attention when stress and pressure are getting to you?  Do you stop and listen to your body or do you ignore its messages?   Your body will warn you that you are getting tired, stressed or worn-out with a whisper - perhaps with a mild headache, aching shoulders or feeling less patient with people.     If you ignore the whispers, the message will turn into a shout, which may result in injury, illness or a breakdown.  Learn to listen to your body's whispers before they turn into shouts and stop you in your tracks.   What will it take for you to stop and listen to your body's messages? How does this affect your team's resilience and stress-toughness? If you are always pushing your team to work harder, get more done, take shorter breaks, be available to clients 24/7, start earlier and finish later, give up more of their personal time...realize that you will eventually burn them out.    Burnout may affect them physically (get sick), mentally (lose their drive), emotionally (become apathetic and easily overwhelmed) or even spiritually (look for more meaningful work elsewhere). Your team cannot sustain 'toughness' and endurance without 'letting go' and recharging.  They need the combination of 'Drive plus Revive' for your team to function at their best.  Help your team to get a better work-life balance by encouraging them to listen to their body's warning signs and make yourself available to help them and support them.    Their bodys WILL force themto stop if they don't do it of their own free will. ACTION  STEPS  To become resilient to pressure, follow the three 'R's':   a. REST    If you are stealing sleep to work late then realize that your body is not regenerating and that    will mean that you will simply be unable to function at your best.  Rest ensures that your    mind can think clearly, your body has a good source of energy, and your emotions are in    control. b. RELEASE    When you are under pressure, your body is also gathering physical tension.  If you are not      regularly releasing the tension in your neck, shoulders, back, stomach and even your calves,    then you may find that you are getting tired faster, more irritable and have frequent aches and    pains.  c. REPLACE    Whatever energy you spend you need to replace.  Unlike a bank, you cannot get an energy    overdraft!  Without replacing your energy through good nutrition and exercise, you will find that    being under pressure will make you feel stressed and less focused Michael Licenblat B.Sc.(Psych) is a Resilience Expert who helps people in business bounce back fast from pressure, stress and burnout in their work and life. He is a professional speaker, coach and author of three books.   To download your free special report on the ‘Seven ways to prevent yourself becoming Over-Worked, Stressed-Out, and Run-Down’, visit: http://www.BounceBackFast.com Please Note: You are welcome to use my articles in your ezine, newsletter, journal, publication, etc., on the condition that you do not change the content or the article, and that you include my contact name and website details (as written in the table/box above).