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Dealing with stress
Stress can be a good thing in that it gives you motivation to achieve goals. However, too much stress or too little stress can be bad for you. The best way to handle stress is to recognise the different levels of stress you are in and then know how to deal with it.
There are many sources of stress ranging from relationship problems, bereavement, loss, finance, career, holidays, moving house, wedding arrangements, etc and there can be many side effects such as depression, a decrease in physical health, sensitivity to criticism, increased drinking, loss of focus, sleeping problems, etc.
- Relaxed
This kind of stress is good and bad. It often means you're sitting in your comfort zone and the only stress you have is coming from boredom. Boredom can also be dangerous, as it will mean that you're not getting the most out of your life. Its good to be here when you have been in high stress situations and you want to de-stress when you're on holiday for example. - Dynamic
This kind of stress is productive and pushes you towards achieving things like promotion, having new experiences, etc. This kind of stress is exciting, will increase your adrenalin, make you feel a little nervous but will mean you're achieving your goals and feeling challenged. Its good to spend a lot of time with this kind of stress as it will mean you're truly living life. - Distracted
We have to be careful being in this zone. Often when we're in the dynamic zone then we can slip into this zone. This is when you start thinking too much about yourself and think that everything is too difficult and you wont be able to cope. It's important to know when you slip into this zone and make sure you get out of it quickly. You can recognise when you're in here as you'll be using phrases like "I don't think I can cope", "No-one is supporting me", "I'm never going to get all this done". Or you may feel so stressed that you cant even get the simplest things done and so will end up doing nothing. - Distraught
When you get to this level of stress it's really hard to get yourself out of it as you think everything is wrong and not just a particular situation. We cant see any way out and we might use phrases like my" life is ruined", "I cant do anything right". It's important that if you find yourself in this zone you get out quickly. - Positive affirmations and self talk
Don't think negative thoughts about yourself. Say positive affirmations about yourself like "I'm a confident and interesting person". This is a powerful technique as it means you're literally talking to your subconscious where ingrained perceptions of yourself are stored.
Just by knowing what level of stress you are experiencing is a great first step in overcoming stress. Here are some other great tips to get you started:-
- Look after yourself as much as possible
- Remove yourself or limit the amount of time you spend in stressful situations
- Allow others to help you
- Take things slowly and do one thing at a time
- Be realistic about your abilities and don't beat yourself up over things
- Talk to others about your situation
- Use deep breathing exercises
- Surround yourself with positive people
- Find ways which help you relieve stress, e.g. exercise, etc
Get in contact with me if this is something you'd like to explore further by viewing the the contact page or clicking here
perfect body and what mass culture would consider as good looking but they still don't feel good about themselves which leads to a low self image. The key to having a high self-image is to learn to love what you have and not to focus on what you don't have. Most people are actually drawn to someone who is friendly, interesting to talk to and confident about themselves regardless of how they look or whether they fit into the mass view of good looking. Interestingly a lot of people who lack confidence can come across as being stuck up and unfriendly, when in fact they are just uncomfortable in their own skin to be able to talk to people freely.
Some top tips to improving your self-image are: -
- Decide to have a positive motivation, which means that you strive to be fit and healthy rather than the negative motivation of wanting to lose weight and be skinny.
- Write a list of all your best attributes and read them everyday to remind yourself what you love about yourself.
- Decide what negative thoughts you have about yourself and how they have held you back so far. Recognise how limiting they have been to your development and decide to not let them hold you back any longer.
- Your subconscious mind over the years has developed ideas of your self image from what it has been told and what your experiences and thoughts have been. Therefore, anything negative stored in your mind can be removed by changing how you speak to yourself. Positive affirmations like "I am beautiful and strong", etc mean you are literally talking to your subconscious mind where these negative ideas are stored and replacing them with more positive statements about yourself. Be your own best friend.
- Redefine your external dialogue. People will perceive who you are by the way you talk about yourself. Don't belittle, self deprecate, apologise for yourself. Believe in who you are and others will follow.
- Define who you want to be from now on including all the qualities you have already and want to add to your repertoire. Breathe life into this new you.
Get in contact with me if this is something you'd like to explore further by viewing the the contact page or clicking here
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