The secret to overcoming Stress
No one is immune to stress! There, you heard me say it. The secret lies in effectively overcoming stress.
Stress is, sadly, a part of life. A part that we encounter at home perhaps, at work, in school, at the grocery store, in the bank, and anywhere else we go – even when we’re at something nice and beautiful, like on a vacation.
Do you have a friend who never seems to get tired. There’s usually someone that you know. Someone who has ample energy day and night, someone who takes on extra workloads and completes them early, and still has time for rest and leisure. Do they appear stressed? No!
But don’t think that your friend never gets stressed, they may simply be hiding it or handling it very well.
We often can’t avoid stress, but it doesn’t mean we should allow ourselves to get carried away by it, or let it rule our life. For mentally strong people, overcoming stress is a daily battle that they always win over by simply following the following strategies.
- Prioritise your health. It is hard to counter stress when you are ill or physically weak. Keeping your mental and emotional well-being in good shape is very important. So get enough sleep, rest and exercise, and follow a balanced diet and you will improve at managing those stress levels.
- Figure out where your stress is coming from. Knowing what causes stress allows you to deal with it much more effectively. What stresses your friend so much may not give you such high level of stress, and vice versa.
- You always have a choice. You cannot avoid stress, but you do have a choice to not let it overpower you. Learn to acknowledge that everything you do, from the moment you get up from bed to the time you sleep, is your choice.
- Think positively. You can’t control everything that happens around you, but you can control what you think about it and how you react to each situation. Try to see possibilities than failed attempts. Challenges are just obstacles on the path to success. They are areas for growth and improvement, so don’t get too stressed when you encounter challenges.
- Avoid catastrophizing things. The majority of the things you are stressed about are things that perhaps you could have simply ignored. By letting the small things pass and focusing on the things that you can control, you will feel less stressed than ever!
- Opt for healthy coping skills. We all have coping mechanisms for stress. But are your coping strategies healthy and safe? Some people depend on food, cigarettes, alcohol and unhealthy things to fight stress. Most often such things only provide temporary relief but have greater negative impact on their health in the long run.
- Do what you love. By doing things that you are passionate about, you can effectively juggle with your day to day activities and responsibilities without feeling too much fed up and exhausted. Doing what you love to do improves your mood and lifts your sense of well-being, which in turn, helps in overcoming stress.
- Establish boundaries. You can’t ever please everyone. So doing everything for someone else, just so to please them, is never healthy and will only keep you stressed.
Stress is something you may deal with on a daily basis. But by practising these strategies, you can get better at fighting stress and having a happier and more fulfilling life despite the challenges you encounter.
Here’s a link to my most effective Stress relief MP3
Please feel free to comment or share with others who this may benefit. Your thoughts are always welcome.
Richard Scott
mynd.works
