ar you finally rid your life of needless stress,
anxiety and clutter. Yes, it’s entirely possible when you
accept that virtually every one of the stressful situations you
find yourself in each day is of your own making — a consequence
of the stressful habits and mindsets you’ve developed over the
course of your life. And just as surely as you’ve gotten
yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out of it. Here’s
how.
Below are several stress reduction strategies excerpted from my
new book “400 Ways to Stop Stress Now…and Forever!” Make the
effort to incorporate them into your life daily and you’ll
begin to see immediate and encouraging results. Let’s get
started:
Work changes into your life gradually.
No crash diets. No sudden, intense workout programs. No radical
overhauls of who and what you are. You might maintain it for a
while, but it can’t last. True change takes lots of small,
mindful, subtle decisions over time that add up to bigger, more
enduring transformations. They’re less disruptive to you and
everyone else, and inevitably get the results you want. Be
patient. If you’re really intent on change, you should develop
the staying power to achieve it without having to act rashly.
Do it by degrees. Why make yourself crazy?
Cut down on competitive stress.
Today, we compete for everything: the space around us, to be
first to own a new product, to get our kids signed up for
programs, to get our viewpoints across, to be faster, smarter,
richer, sexier. Our days are filled with stressful
competitions. And most are absolutely unnecessary. Because
they’re driven by insecurity, fear of being left behind, an
ingrained need to always have more or better than the next guy.
Try to get above all that. If you want to compete, vie to be the
one who stays calm and in control, who isn’t easily sucked in by
material things, who avoids being caught up in the daily
grab-bag that robs people of health and peace of mind. Compete
for that and see how pointless all those other competitions
become. And how misguided those who partake in them begin to
appear. Why make yourself crazy?
It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react.
In any given day, you’ll have progress and setbacks, triumphs
and failures. That you can bet on. But as good a day as some
people have, they’ll manage to find something to fret about.
(”It’s just luck, it won’t last, I’m destined for misery.”) And
as bad a day as others have, they’ll see the good in it. (”So
what? I’m still alive, still kicking and nothing’s going to
stop me.”) Which attitude will win over your day? And the next
day? And the next? You have control over that: to enjoy your
accomplishments without diminishing them; to accept your
failures as opportunities to learn. You have the power to make
every day a positive outcome. Because it’s not what happens to
you, it’s how you react to it. Why make yourself crazy?
Eliminate meaningless deadlines.
Our lives have become one long game of beat the clock. Crammed
with arbitrary and unrealistic time constraints imposed by
ourselves and others that serve only to make us more pressured,
anxious and stressed out. For no worthwhile reason. Avoid the
trap of assigning timeframes to everything you do, especially
if you have little idea how long it will take. But, you say, I
need a deadline or I simply won’t get around to doing it. If
that’s the case, it’s not a deadline you need, it’s a goal.
Make your goal one of completing a project in a careful,
professional, satisfying manner. In other words, as long as it
takes to do it right. Or maybe your goal is to make the project
more fun and interesting, or to develop a new and more expedient
way of doing it. In any case, save your nerves and your energy
for the few real deadlines we face…like April 15th. Why make
yourself crazy?
Don’t over-volunteer.
Resist volunteering for more than you can handle, more than
your free time allows. Volunteering is great, but heavy
involvement can steal important time from your family and
relationships. (And it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to avoid
more important obligations.) If the work becomes too demanding,
simply say no. Nobody else is going to look out for you better
than yourself. If we all =ECvolunteered=EE to spend more time with
the kids, visit our parents, make loving homes, and carve out
special time for ourselves, there wouldn’t be a need for so
much volunteering in the first place. Why make yourself crazy?
Steer clear of negative people.
You know them well: the whiners, the ones who find fault with
everything, who always lay a hard luck story on you, who
constantly give you grief over harmless trifles, or make
wholesale denunciations of people, institutions and cultures
that don’t suit their fancy or conform to their way of
thinking. Unless you’re stuck with them, shun them. They’ll
pull you down, darken your outlook, try to make your life as
miserable as theirs. Who needs that? And if you are stuck with
them (relatives, coworkers, housemates) don’t agree with or
encourage them. In fact, say nothing and simply leave the scene
whenever they launch into one of their diatribes. Why make
yourself crazy?
Give things a chance.
Today, everyone expects instant gratification. So there’s a
tendency to give up on things too soon=F3the book you’re reading,
the mutual fund you’ve invested in, the musical instrument
you’re learning, the course you’re taking, the person you’re
dating. Don’t be so quick to abandon something that doesn’t
give you immediate results. This could prevent you from
experiencing the greater benefits you’d enjoy by sticking it
out longer. Be patient. Give it more time. Find out for certain
if something is worthwhile rather than make a hasty departure.
It’s better than someday regretting you never really gave it
the chance it deserved. Why make yourself crazy?
These are just a handful of the many ways you can start taking
back control of your life.
Have a healthy, happy and stress-free new year!
About The Author: G. Gaynor McTigue is a bestselling author,
stress coach and motivational speaker whose sixth book “400
Ways to Stop Stress Now…and Forever!” has just been
published. To learn more call 203-254-7789, email
jerrym321@aol.com or visit: http://www.pickmeupbooks.com
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