Stress Management Doesn't Work!
Virtually every person I help with reducing stress eventually discovers that they create a large amount of that feeling themselves. Of course, this comes as a shock to learn that they could be doubling their levels of stress, pain, ill health or tension because of a simple oversight. That is they let their mind runaway with negative thoughts and dialogue.
So my principle advice for achieving turnaround is to learn how to manage these thoughts more wisely.
At school or college, there are no lessons on the right way to use your mind and body to become resilient to pressure. Despite reading books and attending courses on managing stress, many will still end up suffering and feeling powerless.
The school of 'how to manage stress' misses the point in my view. To make the biggest improvement the focal point should be on you and how you can manage your thoughts about what happens around you.
We are all guilty of making internal judgements and venting silently our opinions on events and others. However, letting this habit get the better of us has many downsides. It has the potential to damage your health, limit your horizons and hinder your future.
Perhaps you're feeling stressed most of the time because you have fallen into this trap of habitual negative thinking and judgements. If you generally feel below par and stressed take an honest review now of how you're looking after yourself.
For example as you work, realize that your physical posture, mental attitude, exercise habits (or lack of), body tension, work-life balance, and even what you eat and drink, will either create energy and enthusiasm or leave you drained and tense.
Are you drinking plenty of water? Do you get up from your desk to take a break and refresh your mind and body? Eating too many sugary foods will have you feeling sluggish and wanting more sugar.
All these are common sense strategies to look after yourself. But you have to decide whether you're worth it and if things have got bad enough for you to make this change.
We are all creatures of habit and habits are patterns of behaviour. Once learnt a behaviour is something we execute automatically without thinking about it.
An obvious example is the learnt behaviour of driving. When first learning this skill it may seem hugely complex. Yet now most of us do it whilst daydreaming, listening to music or talking hands-free.
We have many habits and some of them are in the category of responses and feelings. Maybe work a colleague repeating or saying a phrase just sets you off on an internal diatribe of expletive language and puts you in a bad mood for hours
Amusing though it may be that example is typical of the amount of time and energy we waste by not paying attention to our thoughts and believing everything our minds' are spew forth.
Now I don't expect that you'll believe everything you've just read. But I think the only way you're going to know for sure if any of it's true is to try it our for yourself.
About the Author Liz Labrum of Think-Right Now helps clients be more confident, less stressed, and beat burnout. Her popular e-book Beat the Burnout Blues is a practical step by step guide that has benefited many. Visit http//:www.think-rightnow.com to download your free report What You Should Know About Burnout.
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