Why measuring your stress levels might help you more than you realize
The world is full of self-help books, online courses and detailed diets to follow. Every single one of them promises to improve your life. The intention is good, but all of these tips and methods are facing one major problem:
None of them work without one’s real motivation and devotion.
If you don’t have the determination to maintain your new routines, you won’t last long enough to enjoy the benefits of your changes. We already have a lot of knowledge of a healthy lifestyle, and we all know how much harm constant stress causes us. Yet so many of us struggle with finding and sustaining a lifestyle that keeps us balanced instead of draining our energy and booming our cortisol levels up.
That’s why the real question is: how to stay motivated?
Motivation must come from within
Everyone who’s ever been addicted to anything (e.g. smoking) knows that the decision to quit has to come from within, no matter how many people around you would convince you to stop. A lack of motivation makes changing any routine, even the smallest one, a huge struggle.
After the decision we’ll face the hardest part — to really change our routines and keep going even after the initial excitement is gone. Whether it’s quitting an unhealthy habit or starting a new one, you’ll need some motivational triggers to keep you focused. For example, setting up some short term goals and checkpoints on the way is known to be a useful trick to keep us on the right track. Fortunately, we live in an era full of beneficial tools to give us a hand when we need one.
Technology steps in to give us a gentle push
As technology, mobile apps and digital health solutions are been developed as we speak, we will have more and more tools to support our endeavors in the near future. INME is developing a stress measurement solution that combines mobile app with biotechnology, with an intention to make an impact towards higher well-being and lower stress levels. Soon we’ll be able to measure our stress level (=the amount of cortisol in our bodies) ourselves from our saliva, and it will be as easy as measuring the weight.
It is truly intriguing how much more detailed information we’ll get about our health in the near future! Moreover, the data that these new solutions provide is not the only benefit of the development. Measuring our bodies at a molecular level has plenty of practical perks by keeping track of our health, and staying motivated on our way towards less stressful lives. The renowned quote applies to our health as well:
What gets measured gets managed.
Create effective and reliable checkpoints
Imagine having a stressful job and realizing the need for change. Maybe you’ve noticed some warning signals, such as your body telling you to slow down, or maybe your friends and family are getting worried about you.
Or perhaps you’re stubborn as many of us are when it comes to our health, and you don’t believe the subtle signals from your body. Instead of relying on your own evaluation (which may be biased) you can get some facts on the table by measuring your cortisol level and seeing the results yourself. That should give you that gentle kick you need to focus on your well-being before it’s too late.
Life goes on, and you’ll add some good habits on your daily life. Maybe you’ll go to sleep 30 minutes earlier, or start your regular mindfulness practices. Whatever your stress relieving tool is, you can check the actual results by measuring your stress level again and following up where you’re going with your actions.
Less cortisol than before? Fantastic, you’re doing a great job!
That’ll tell your mind that you’re on the right track and motivates you to continue. Similar to the feeling at the gym when you’re able to lift more than before — seeing the results of your efforts is highly rewarding.
Then again, if your cortisol level is the same or even higher than before, that’s a warning signal and a great trigger to wake you up: it is certainly time to focus on your health more than before.
Forget the vicious circle and create a virtuous one
Whatever your results are, getting the accurate information on your health helps you to focus on the most important parts of it. Maybe you’ll be able to flip your vicious circle around and create yourself a measuring-correcting-improving circle instead.
The development of technology in the health sector is inevitable. It is a great opportunity for us to put it all to use, and reap the benefits in order to constantly improve our quality of life.
INME is the next level wellbeing tracking service that empowers people to track core hormones, like cortisol (stress) and testosterone (vitality) in simpler and cheaper way than ever before. The salivary based INME stress measurement solution and mobile app are designed to provide health information at a molecular level and help people to be the healthiest and most energetic versions of themselves. Our simple in-home hormone monitoring product is currently in testing stage. We’re looking to launch INME during 2018. INME is a result of over 20 years’ research in the Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Diagnostics at the University of Turku, Finland.
Read more or send us a message to hello@inmehealth.com.
