PRACTICAL STRESS RELIEF GUIDE
7 Proven Ways to easily crush bad stress and get the pleasure you Deserve without feeling guilty
Understand types of stress, and how to manage the bad stress effectively
Stress is like a catch twenty-two. We deal with it on a day in and day out basis, at work, with our family, and even in our social lives. Some of this is due to the stressors that we deal with and how we interact with them. Other stress is what we feel like we need to have in our lives in order to have an advantage in our life, especially when it comes to work.
What is good stress versus bad stress? To clarify good stress is we need it to motivate us to make a change, grow, achieve and reach our next goals. Our stress turns into bad stress depending on how we interpret or internalize a given situation or event. All of us know stories of someone who faced extreme stress that seemed overwhelming and came out the other side a better person. On the flip side we also know those who faced something that seemed much less stressful and let it get the best of them, and their life was very much negatively impacted.
For years my professional life was full of stress, the problem was that moving towards stress management while it seemed healthy, I felt like I was not as in control as I was when I was managing and balancing multiple stressors. I would find myself doing silly things, forgetful of details, even deadlines, and other tasks that I never forgot before. It felt like I was losing my ‘Edge’. I was successful in sales and any shift in my ability to feel like I was operating at full capacity felt like a threat. I would feel guilty whenever I did something for myself or relaxed for an extended period of time.
I came to understand that this was just a bi-product of how stressed I really was, where I was mentally. I learned that could take time for stress relief and managing the day to day stressors without feeling like I was losing my competitive edge.
It took some work but here are the tools and tips I put in place to manage my day to day stress and still be a high achiever for my boss.
Identify -Acknowledge what your stress habits are identified these call them out. Get real with yourself, this is very important to moving forward, when a stress point is introduced take a moment and think.
A. What and how do you process the stress? At what point does it become overwhelming or an obsession?
B. What does having negative stress prevent you from doing?
C. What habit, if changed would allow you to begin getting ahead?
Decide — Once you acknowledge your patters, and what this is preventing in your life. The next step is to decide to change, the next thing to do cement your decision making it official so that it’s real for you. Deciding to change the bad habits to improve your life is just like your initial decision you made when you determined that you were done with the pain. It’s critical to start. To move from where you are now with this overwhelming bad stress to where you want to get to a place of joy and pleasure in life there Seven steps to help you move through that transformation.
- Write it down — This is critical for moving forward. It helps to solidify your decision to move forward.
- Say it out loud — announce what you are changing and that this will not hold you back anymore.
- Tell Someone Talk a close friend, family member or mentor you trust about your decision and make sure you specifically identify what you’re going to change, and why it’s important to you.
- Imagination — Your mental image is critical to take you to that next step. I bet you’ve done it before. We’ll help you remember how. (recall from childhood something good you knew without a doubt would happen. You never doubted it. Start with just one thing. * Visiting grandparents, a trip. This is your personal starting place.) Practicing, active visualization is critical. Getting a sense of what you really want. Thinking about this for a period of time, repeating what you want and how you see your life looking is a practical form of meditation I could connect with.
- Confidence — This goes hand in hand with visualization to pull you out of feeling stuck. What are you really good at? What has helped others improve? Think all the way back to your early childhood, write down 10 things, more if you want. Remind yourself how you felt, encouragements you received. Now write these down. The practice of remembering, allowing yourself to experience these joyous moments, and writing them down will launch you into a creative headspace. This practice will become something that is so fun and yet very valuable to help you move to forward to your next phase of success.
- Change your environment — Identify things that are around you that might be holding you back. Determine to let it go, change it. Replace it with something that encourages you, and helps you. This is a crutch you don’t need. It’s not easy, but the results are so worth it.
- Spend time with people, friends, and leaders you respect. Find them, here are some ways, and places to start.
Ask yourself important questions: * Who do I look up to in life? * Who do I look up to and respect in my industry?
Working through this process is important to help you get what you really want and deserve in life. We don’t have to live in a place of pain and bad stress that is harmful to our life, our productivity, creativity, and effectiveness. Once I started putting these stress relief tools in place I noticed a shift. I didn’t have to be in a state of mental strain and chaos to be effective, the more creative I was the better I was able to manage every area of my life not just my work life. I didn't’ feel guilty any more for taking time for myself. It was truly life-changing.
