Teachers often say that growth happens when we push ourselves. Athletes are told to push “harder” and “do one more.” Writers are told to keep producing. Musicians should keep practicing. But what happens when it’s taken too far? What happens when the pressure to do more and be better becomes overwhelming?
Challenge stops helping and starts hurting.
In 1908, Harvard University researchers Robert Yerkes and John Dodson published a study on how stress affects performance. The team varied the intensities of electric shock on mice to manipulate stress levels and tested how mild, moderate and strong shocks affected learning speed.
The findings of the study, known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law, show that moderate stress (shocks) can improve productivity, but too much causes performance decline. When we take on too much, we become more vulnerable to burnout, higher anxiety levels and lower self-esteem.
The World Health Organization defines burnout as a syndrome resulting from stress that has not been successfully managed. As high schoolers, we face a culture of constant competition: taking difficult classes, juggling jobs and responsibilities at home, getting into the “right” college and succumbing to the social pressure to stay connected.
This unhealthy competition can lead to prolonged stress. A 2020 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association notes that constant workplace stress (like in a school environment) leads to emotional exhaustion, negative attitudes toward work and a reduced sense of personal achievement.
The impact of overload extends beyond mental and academic pressures – it also shows up physically. Overtraining is an example of this, occurring when the body experiences excessive physical stress without enough time for recovery. According to UCLA Health, overtraining can lead to hormonal imbalances that affect metabolism, muscle growth and the immune system. Rather than achieving the desired outcome, excessive training can cause fatigue and reduce both strength and endurance levels.
The result of either type of overload is the same: exhaustion, dragging down our performance. Yet, in the moment, it can be difficult to recognize when we’ve reached our limit, especially when external pressures keep pushing us to say “yes.” But when we overcommit — stretch ourselves too thin — the quality of our work inevitably suffers.
As we continue to navigate growing demands, the line between healthy challenge and harmful overload can blur before we even realize it. Recognizing where that line falls is essential for sustained growth. While challenges are important for a little bit of healthy stress, too much undermines it.
