Friday 20 April 2012

STRESS – THE ELEPHANT IN THE CORNER OF OUR OFFICE

It may seem that there’s nothing you can do about your stress level. Nigeria is a country on the verge of what I believe to be a positive breakthrough and change for the best, but our present situation is volatile, ever changing, and riddled with many issues. On a personal note, money or no money, the bills aren’t going to stop coming, there will never be more hours in the day for all your errands, and your career or family responsibilities will always be demanding. But you have a lot more control than you might think. Think about this, no matter how you fretm worry, or stress, that emotion in itself doesnt change anything!!! Yes you are human and you know what, i encourage everyone to know that there will be times where you need to pick up your boxing gloves or weights and just scream through some situations. However, after releasing all this negative energy, pick yourself up and know this....you’re in control of your life, there is always a solutions to every problem, and everybody on the face of this earth has what they can do to manage stress and remain happy, if they can only first take control of their mind and then implement a stress management plan thats right for them.

Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation, and fun – plus the resilience to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head on.

Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Your true sources of stress aren’t always obvious, and it’s all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Sure, you may know that you’re constantly worried about work deadlines. But maybe it’s your procrastination, rather than the actual job demands, that leads to deadline stress.

To identify your true sources of stress, look closely at your habits, attitude, and excuses:
  • Do you explain away stress as temporary (“I just have a million things going on right now”) even though you can’t remember the last time you took a breather?
  • Do you define stress as an integral part of your work or home life (“Things are always crazy around here”) or as a part of your personality (“I have a lot of nervous energy, that’s all”). Do you say with pride " I'm losing my mind from being so busy!" with a sense of pride while in your heart of hearts you know you are decieving yourself and are deeply unhappy?
  • Do you blame your stress on other people or outside events, or view it as entirely normal and unexceptional?
If this sounds normal, please at this point, I beg you, look around to see who is sharing this stress with you.... oh its just you?!? Ask yourself, are you happy? fulfilled? satisfied? chances are, the answer will be no. I recently sent out a questionnare asking 100 participants what was the major cause of them missing deadlines, getting to work late, and fighting with coworkeds, 70% answered stress!! 70 out of a 100 people in a random selection were losing vast amounts of time they could be spending happy, productive, and working unhappy, simply because they hadnt accepted that stress was working against them and not for them.

It is important we understand that until you accept responsibility for the role you play in creating or maintaining it, your stress level will remain outside your control.

Easiest way of identifying stress?... remember that journal for your goals we talked about a while back? chances are it still has a few empty pages!! why not grab it and start a chapter titled:

MY STRESSORS

A stress journal can help you identify the regular stressors in your life and the way you deal with them. Each time you feel stressed, keep track of it in your journal. As you keep a daily log, you will begin to see patterns and common themes. Write down:
  • What caused your stress (make a guess if you’re unsure).
  • How you felt, both physically and emotionally.
  • How you acted in response.
  • What you did to make yourself feel better.

Look at how you currently cope with stress

Think about the ways you currently manage and cope with stress in your life. Your stress journal can help you identify them. Are your coping strategies healthy or unhealthy, helpful or unproductive? Unfortunately, many people cope with stress in ways that compound the problem.

Ok guys, go practice the exercise and meet me up in my next post about how to practically manage your stress.

 

CIAO!!

 

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