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New Years Resolution - 6 Tips to Reduce Stress

Choosing stress reduction as a New Year's resolution can be setting yourself up for failure if you do not take the time to think through two aspects of stress management: How will I manage stress to reduce it? And, What is causing my stress in the first place? With authentic data gathering, the goal is to find the root causes of your stress. Work, relationships and finances are the three big external influencing factors for creating a stressful environment. Within each of these obstacles are identifiable components contributing to your stress. And these components can be broken down even more until you identify the real reason for your stress. Once you have deduced the true stressor, you can look to solve it. If you have come to this blog, I am assuming that you know, or at least have some idea, what is causing unwanted stress. So, I challenge you to take that specific factor and walk through this example session below. Here is an example on how this question and answer problem-solving exercise may work for you:

  • Work is so stressful - Why? As you answer yourself, make sure you write down everything you think the stress could be related to. Find one of two to work on. You will know by the end of the exercise if you have chosen correctly.

  • Why do you think? It is because they are talking about laying people off - Ask yourself - Do you like your friends at work? YES. And, you like the job itself? YES. Next ...

  • So is the root cause of your stress coming from the uncertainty? YES, I believe so.

  • Do you feel a sense of relief now that you have thought about the root cause of the stress? Yes. You chose right. No. Rethink. This may not be as easy as you initially thought. It could be more than one reason, but you must find that reason to be successful.

NOTE: You will not eliminate all stress in your life. Your New Years Resolution is to reduce stress. Keep that in mind. So choose the most influential stressors and work on 1-3 as you complete the above exercise.

Now that you believe you have identified the cause, you have one of two roads to go down. In the above example, the first road is to look for a new job. Although job hunting, resume updating and interviewing may also cause uncertainty, you are personally driving that bus, not someone else. The second road is that you decide you will stay at your job given your joyful friendships and satisfaction in the work itself. You have decided to wait it out. Now, wouldn't it be nice if making that decision brought you less stress? Unfortunately, it won't. The reason why is that you have identifed the uncertainty as the root cause and that still remains present. So now what? Now you must turn to within.

This is an empowerment blog for change from within you. You must learn to work within your self to manage stress / stressful situations so that YOU can find peace in the circumstances. If you want to quit your job you can. Don't say you can't. That is not empowerment, that is being a victim to the circumstance. But if you have chosen to stay, you must find methods to manage the stress this circumstance is bringing.

In researching practical solutions for stress, you can find the basics; exercise, meditation, yoga, avoid alcohol, avoid caffeine. All of these do work, but what if we look at this with a different set of eyes. Children manage through stress and find happiness in circumstances that they cannot control. How? Here are 6 tips I think you will enjoy:

1. Dance - Now, I don't mean join a group or a class. I mean, dance like a child dances. Go into your bathroom, turn on your favorite play list and dance around in front of the mirror. Three minutes. Just try it. Try it naked. (Ever notice how babies move around when they are naked - Free.) Dancing will help move your muscles and get the blood flowing. You will probably laugh at yourself and that is a great thing to do during stressful times.

2. Eat - Why do children get snack time built into their schedules and as adults we do not? Big mistake. When your blood sugar drops due to lack of eating, you can get cranky which contributes to your own stress. You don't think straight. But, I do not give you permission to overdulge or binge. Have a planned snack build into your day and into your meal plan. For example, you may end your day (or 2:00 PM if you know that is a tough part of your day) with a cup of hot Chai decaf tea and a piece of dark chocolate. Keep it simple, small and yummy.

3. Nap - Same point. Napping keeps you reguvinated. Kids do it. Other countries do it. But not us grown-ups. Nap no longer than 10-20 minutes. Longer napping can make you groggy and underproductive. A 15 minute naps permits your brain to chill, reset and reboot.

4. Talk to your friends - It is ok to talk it out. Kids and teenagers chat all the time. Check out their social media accounts. Postive support is extremely important. It can give you a different perspective if you to reach out to a good mentor. But, as you are managing through your stress, make sure that you don't become a chronic complainer. People are willing to support and help when you help yourself.

5. Create something - There is such joy in seeing a completed project. Remember making macaroni art as a child and being so proud of what you accomplished? When you are in a stressful situation, you feel out of control. By focusing on a project that you will enjoy (crafting Christmas gifts, reading the Harry Potter book series, learning to play an instrument) you will find your mind focused on other priorities that you want to put your energy in. Find your adult macaroni art.

6. Find a moment for downtime every day - I believe this to be the most important tip for stress management. With today being so connected, so accessible, there seems to never be time to decompress. No downtime makes your brain work on overload, even when you think it isn't. You are always stimulated. Always on. To reduce your stress you must reduce your "on" time. Declutter. This will be different for everyone. Time to take a bath. Time to get off your iPad. You are in Time-Out. Time for reading. Recess. Sound familiar? We get that kids need it. So do we.

Congratulations on wanting to reduce stress in the New Year. Chronic stress increases risk for many diseases, hurts relationships and increases risk of depression. You must determine if you want to change your extenuating circumstance creating stress (quit your job) or manage through the stressful time. Empowerment within you come from actively being involved in finding stress reducing solutions. Unknowingly, children allow us to help them manage stress through techniques mentioned above. Now it is time to use them on yourself. Comments or questions? Send Envos Living a message. We would love to hear from you.

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