The first part of our series on the art of Stress Management guided you through Three Expert Tips INTERNAL LINK TO PART 1 to set you on a successful course of action. First, you must become familiar with your actual stressors. What specific things are causing you to feel chronically stressed on a daily basis? You can best observe this through regular journaling. Second, you must identify any negative beliefs and values that may hinder your success in managing your stress. We provide a list of common impediments. You determine these through consistent self-analysis. Third, you must accept the fact that no one can do everything in one day or one week. Stress Management is actually a lifelong endeavor. Stress Management becomes a way of life that helps you progressively improve your mental and physical health. INTERNAL LINK TO ARTICLE 2 As you create better beliefs, behaviors and thought patterns, the artful process of Stress Management reinforces itself. Today’s post centers on additional guidelines to help you The fact is that there is no one “perfect formula” for fighting stress. The experience of stress is unique to you. The solution to your stress is the one that feels right to you. Personally, I find deep tissue massage very effective. Stress buildup dissipates quickly and I feel really relaxed and happy. Somehow, stressful thoughts seem to float away.
But that’s just me; deep tissue massage may not be as effective for you. This is why it’s so important for people to seek out different methods of Stress Management. 004b Don’t limit yourself to only 1 or 2 techniques. If something doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t mean that you lack the capacity to manage your stress. It just means that you haven’t found the right combination of techniques to bring you to your desired level of relaxation and happiness. By the way, every blog post on my website, Stress Solution Secrets, provides techniques, tips or tricks that have repeatedly proven to be effective in relieving and even eliminating stress. Check out our Categories, Posts, and Archives, in the right-hand column, to discover golden nuggets that could change your life for the better. Ace the Art Tip #2: Assemble Your Army, One by One Managing stress is literally a battle against bad habits and a myriad of stressors. What do you need to succeed in any battle? 004c Your personal anti-stress army, of course! This personal army of yours will be composed of different relaxation techniques and behavioral modifications.
You will learn these as you take steps toward your Stress Management success. Your personal arsenal of techniques must fit your lifestyle. If a technique just doesn’t fit your lifestyle, it won’t work. It’s okay to adjust and discard techniques that do not conform to what you feel is the right way to remedy stress in your life. Stress Management is essentially about you, for you and by you. Ace the Art Tip #3: Keep Practicing! As I noted earlier, Stress Management is essentially a collection of skills that enable you to effectively combat stress . . . before it makes you permanently sick. If you want full mastery of a specific skill, you must be willing to practice it until it becomes second nature. This Ace the Art Tip may seem easy but in reality, it’s one of the most challenging to fulfill. Why? Because old habits die hard. For example, say you’re in an argument with someone. Is your natural inclination to try to outdo our opponent, even if it develops into a yelling match? If so, you might find it very difficult to develop a new, less stressful habit of listening more. The truth is this: Staying cool and calm under pressure can give you the edge in any argument. In addition to teaching you new skills to manage your stress, Stress Management will require you to change your attitudes and behaviors toward your stressors. In the previous blog post, I recommended that you start writing in a Cool and Calm Stress Management Journal. Now listen: Your Cool and Calm Stress Management Journal is more than just a laundry list of things to do.
Image Your Cool and Calm Stress Management journal is actually a verbal snapshot of how you think and behave in response to stressful situations. It is your private reference and personal insight into discovering your true self. It is your pathway to reinvent part of yourself, so that stress will plague you no more. Ace the Art Tip #4: Don’t Forget “Me-Time’ In order to carry out your plan to conquer stress, you must create space in your daily schedule for Stress Management. Now, I think I hear the voice of many stressed individuals: ‘The day isn’t long enough! I’m already overwhelmed with everything I need to accomplish in a day!’ Well, I have been through this and have witnessed countless other time-squeezed people who have also been there. We wish there were just two more hours in my day. However, this is more of a state of mind than reality. The reality is that 12-18 hours of waking time is sufficient for most groups of tasks. Furthermore, within this timeframe, there is also some opportunity for relaxation. If you cannot fit everything that you need to do within this amount of time, this simply means you need better time management skills INTERNAL LINK TO TIME MANAGEMENT CATEGORY — an essential component of stress relief.
Evaluate how much time you spend on your different activities and try to create more balance within your day. You can get guidance on an easy and efficient way to accomplish this in our FREE handbook, Stress Relief for Professionals, available for instant download here. This handbook contains a section on proven techniques that I have acquired from experts and have further streamlined over time. They work for me and many other individuals. I sincerely hope you will check them out. The Takeaway: Stress Management is uniquely personal: Try different techniques to select your arsenal of Stress Management techniques. Adjust your schedule of daily responsibilities to allow for regular practice. The results will reinforce your ability to Ace the Art of Stress Management. Approach your Stress Management goals with the Four Ace the Art Tips in this post and the Three Expert Tips in Part 1 (Stay Cool and Calm Under Pressure) of this series, and you will realize how much control you have over the health of your mind and body. Feel free to leave a comment below about your results with your Cool and Calm Stress Management Journal and techniques that work for you. We love to hear from you in the Comments section.
