Stress Busters

Summary:

I’d like to talk about stress. It’s not about getting rid of stress. That’s just not going to happen. Stress is a part of real life. It always has been, and it always will be. Just as the sun comes up and goes down each day, stress will also be with us each day.

Why do some people thrive and even grow through periods of stress, while other people crash and never get back up?

One reason is that these people have resilience. A higher degree of resilience is simply required in order to be successful over the long run in life. We all fail, and we all fall. Getting back up is the key. Learning to rise again after the fall is a habit, but it takes courage.

The other part of the formula for success is managing and dealing with stress while it’s happening. Stress is real. It can do crazy things to our brains and our bodies. It can keep us awake all night and make us grouchy and irritable the next day. It can trap us in a state of procrastination, feeling like we have so much to do and so little time to do it in.

Stress can quite simply take over our lives, but it doesn’t have to. You’re stronger and you’re more powerful than your stress. Tackling your stress is a skill. You can become better at managing it.

I want to share with you some of my best stress busting tactics.

Practice self-care. Give yourself a break. Learn to forgive yourself. You’re human. You’re bound to make mistakes. We’ve all made them. We’re imperfect and we goof up. I do, you do, it’s part of life and it’s okay. Cut yourself some slack and simply try to do better next time.

Surround yourself with positive people. Choose to hang out with optimistic people who will encourage you to grow and be the best you can possibly be. If you’re stuck with coworkers, or family members that bring you down, then quietly start to distance yourself from them. Limit the time you spend with negative people.

Celebrate your progress. If you’re facing deadlines at work or a mountain of paper work at home, and you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the work to be done, celebrate the work that you’ve already completed. Maybe you’ve just finished the big project at work or reorganized your garage or your closet. Take pride in your accomplishments. Honoring the good things that you’ve done can provide you with the encouragement to go start another project. Be good to yourself. Remind yourself that you’re doing many, many things right.

Exercise and eat right. These are obvious, but they often go right out the window during times of stress. Exercising especially outdoors and eating a balanced, healthy diet can really help with managing stress and anxiety. Get your heart pumping and get your body moving.

Sleep. We all know that sleep is crucial, but we typically don’t prioritize it. If falling asleep is hard for you, then limit your caffeine, and skip the news and surfing social media right before you go to bed. If you can’t sleep, then pick up a good book and read to relax and unwind.

Meditate. I’ve created a habit of daily meditation this past few months and I’ve noticed that it’s amazingly helpful in luring my sense of stress. There are ton of meditation techniques out there. I really like an app called Calm, I use on my iPhone. I recommend you try that.

I do believe that if you’ll actually do these things, I bet you can get a better handle on all the stress in your life and watch yourself not only start to feel better, but also get a whole lot more done. Here’s to winning your personal war against stress.

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Hey, guys. Coach Brett Blair here. I’d like to talk about stress. It’s not about getting rid of stress. That’s not just going to happen. You know, stress is a part of real life. It always has been, it always will be. Just as the sun comes up and goes down each day, stress will also be with us, each day. I have a question, why do some people thrive and even grow through periods of stress while other people crash and never get back up? One reason is that these people have resilience and a higher degree of resilience is simply required in order to be successful over the long run in life. We all fail. We all fall. Getting back up is the key. Learning to rise again after the fall is a habit, but it takes courage.

The other part of the formula for success is managing and dealing with stress while it’s happening. Stress is real. It can do crazy things to our brains and our bodies. It can keep us up awake all night and make us grouchy and irritable the next day. It can trap us in a state of procrastination, feeling like we have so much to do and so little time to do it in. Stress can quite simply take over our lives, but it doesn’t have to. You’re stronger and you’re more powerful than your stress. Tackling your stress is a skill. You can become better at managing it.

I want to share with you some of my best stress busting tactics. Number one is practice self-care. I’m not talking about getting a massage or taking a long bath. Well, those things are fine. What I mean is giving yourself a break. Learn to forgive yourself. You’re human. You’re bound to make mistakes. We’ve all made them. We’re imperfect and we goof up. I do, you do, it’s part of life and it’s okay. Cut yourself some slack and simply try to do better next time.

Number two is surround yourself with positive people, like choose staying out with positive, optimistic people who will encourage you to grow and be the best you can possibly be. If you’re stuck with coworkers, or family members that bring you down, then quietly start to distance yourself from them. Limit the time you spend with negative people.

Number three, celebrate your progress. If you’re facing deadlines at work or a mountain of paper work at home and you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the work to be done, well, celebrate the work that you’ve already completed. Maybe you’ve just finished the big project at work or reorganize your garage or your closet, take pride in your accomplishments. Honoring the good things that you’ve done can provide you with the encouragement to go start another project. Be good to yourself. Remind yourself that you’re doing many, many things right.

Number four, exercise and eat right. Now, these are obvious, but they often go right out the window during times of stress. Exercising especially outdoors and eating a balanced, healthy diet can really help with managing stress and anxiety. Get your heart pumping and get your body moving.

Number five is sleep. We all know that sleep is crucial, but we typically don’t prioritize it. If falling asleep is hard for you, then limit your caffeine and skip the news and surfing social media right before you go to bed. If you can’t sleep, then pick up a good book and read to relax and unwind.

Lastly, meditate. I’ve created a habit of daily meditation this past few months and I’ve noticed that it’s amazingly helpful in luring my sense of stress. There are ton of meditation techniques out there. I really like an app called Calm, I use on my iPhone. I recommend you try that.

Friends, I do believe that if you’ll actually do these things, practice self-care and surround yourself with positive people, learn to celebrate your progress, exercise and eat right, get good sleep, then learn to meditate daily. If you do all those, I bet you can get a better handle on all the stress in your life and watch yourself not only start to feel better, but also, get a whole lot more done. Here’s to winning your personal war against stress. Thanks.