CHAPTER<br > 1<br >The working person of yesterday was most likely concerned with di-<br >rect production. He or she worked oil tile fimrh at home， or in a shop<br >or factory. Today the majority of workers are concerned with informa-<br >tion and service， People work with customers， or clients， transt~rring<br >Information， preparing reports， and o~en interacting intensely with<br >each other. This new environment demands vast new sets of skills.<br >Instead of physical stamina and routine tasks， we are today presented<br >with multiple demands， mtmy choices and decisions， and u world in<br >which we need to work together on complex tasks. Instead of physical<br >activity， the primary demands are mental and interpersonah<br > At work and in personal and tamily life many people find them-<br >selves feeling overwhelmed and struggling to get things under con-<br >trol， They t~el pressured by time and continually need to respond and<br >act， often without having a clear idea of the outcome. Life is made up<br >of pressures and uncertainty， to which we need to adapt.<br > People respond to the modern world with a body and a mind that<br >were designed to ftmetion well in a hLr simpler world， Our pri，ltary<br >mental and physical characteristics evolved several u~illion years ，~go，<br >whereas the world we inhabit today was created by ns llot even a<br >generation ago， The things thai we demand of ourselves are utlt the<br >things that we were designed to do. As a result， we I~dl prey to all<br >manner of physical and emotiotlal tbrms of illness and distress， and we<br >experience dilf|eulty and distless with the life we lead. At an extreme<br >many people have begun to use the ierln "tnLrllout" to rel~r to a gvl~-<br >erallzed depletion of energy， lack of involvemcnt， aud inability to<br > funetloa w~ll and achieve satislhetioi，. Many people tbel burned out<br > and helpless to do anything to overcome it.<br > There must he a better way， we think to ourselves. How can w~<br >