YOU CAN DEAL WITH STRESS!
By David Major
One of the biggest impediments to progress, the second biggest cause of illness absence from work [after back pain] and, a common reason for procrastination, is excessive stress.
I would be stressed to imagine that I can cover a complex issue like stress in just two hundred words. So there is a first clue to dealing with stress … set yourself high targets but be realistic about the differences between possibilities and probabilities.
What I can do, is remind you of a few basic facts about stress and suggest some tried and proven ways of considering them.
For example, stress is good. It keeps you alive by making you alert to danger, it triggers your ‘fight or flight’ escape mechanism, and it creates beneficial chemical changes in your mind and body. The only people who are totally stress free are probably under five years old [although that is not always the case!] or who are residents of the local cemetery.
Stress is only an issue when it becomes excessive, relentless, oppressive or limiting. Then it can adversely impact on your health, happiness and options. At critical levels it becomes limiting, de-motivating and depressing. Bad stress levels may arise from a sudden trauma or event, or they may grow gradually as a result of unresolved situations. In every case, the solution is to take appropriate action sooner rather than later.
At the risk of drowning you in a sea of clichés, this is easier said than done. A stressed individual is like the pilot of a small aircraft with no instrument rating, adrift in cloud. He or she needs someone in clear weather to calmly talk them through their options. This is the role of a life coach who identifies a stressed client – to talk them through to a safe landing.
Life coaching uses a simple but thorough questioning technique that helps you to identify and then eliminate the prime cause of excessive stress by taking action that will limit any adverse outcomes. Unlike relaxing drugs or one-off therapies, this approach roots out the cause, rather than simply alleviating the symptoms.
For externally caused stress, we can identify some positive attitude changing steps that can convert heavy duty stress into caring concern, which is a healthy place for action. For internally caused stress about matters that are within your control, I can show you effective relaxation techniques; we can explore the amazing benefits of DSD – Do Something Different – and even use the amazingly powerful anchoring method of mood control.
So, if you suspect that stress is an issue in your life, you have just two options. Do nothing and hope that it goes away [It won’t!] or take positive action to deal with it, so that you can get on with creating the future that you desire and deserve.
TOP TEN TIPS FOR STRESS BUSTERS!
How do you know if you are stressed? Believe me, you just know! Clues are irritability, insomnia, lack of concentration, depression, loss of appetite, headaches and muscle pains. Here are some useful antidotes.
1. Identify the single main probable cause of your stress
2. Is it externally caused? [Weather, war, famine, politics etc]
3. Is it internally caused? [Relationships, health, wealth, business, career]
4. For external causes, focus on changing your attitude …it is OK not to have an opinion on everything, especially if it makes no difference to the world
5. For internal causes, define some short term actions that you can use to create change
6. Focus on your desired outcome or results. These are more important than the action itself. Every action produces a result
7. Choose and learn a calming relaxation technique then practise it regularly to perfection – see next month’s issue for more on this
8. Accept that it is OK not to be right all the time
9. Accept that is easier to change yourself than it is to change others
10. Repeat from 1 above for each source of stress …and never allow stress to limit your freedom and choices of action.
This article was posted by David Major
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