Top 5 ways to stay calm and reduce stress
Are you looking for more calm satisfying experience with you daily life?
Do you get frustrated with yourself at the end of the day because you've gotten stressed, unfocused or agitated?
Are you tired of getting over emotional and worn out.
Whether you are experiencing one or all of these feelings here are my 5 best tips on reducing the unwanted feelings so that you will feel calm and satisfied with yourself each day.
1. Catch yourself when you exhibit a feeling of behavior that you don't like and change it.
At first you may not notice the feeling until after you have gone through it, that's fine.
Think about how you would rather have felt.
Think about how you would rather have handled yourself. Decide how you want to do it next time.
As you continue with this process each day you will find that you will notice more easily what you are doing throughout the day.
You will begin to catch yourself earlier and earlier as you do this.
Eventually, you will be seeing yourself while you are doing it, then stop yourself.
At some point you will be able to notice before you even begin to feel and react in the undesirable way.
Here is where you will actually begin to change the way you react to the situations in your life and change your behavior.
2. Stay centered all day by refocusing throughout the day.
Develop the habit of paying attention to your mindset as the day goes on.
Several times a day, step away from what you are doing to get re-centered.
Sit down close your eyes and take several long slow deep breaths while imagining the tension washing slowly out of your body.
Notice your breathing getting slower and calmer.
Just think about your breath.
Try to keep from thinking about anything in particular.
It's ok to not be actively thinking for a while!
3. Watch out for your expectations.
You are setting yourself up for failure, upset and frustration when you set too many standards as to how you think things should be.
Think about what leads you to getting upset?
Why does it upset you?
Notice that you decide how many things should be, based on your own outlook and desire.
The things others do that are not to your liking, even the things you do that don't match your expectations.
Ask yourself, really how important is it that they be exactly that way
Ask, who am I to insist that they are that way?
Does it matter that much?
Is it worth getting myself worked up about?
Choose which expectations are really important for you to hold on to and which ones are not.
Holding on to many expectations just complicates your life, with constant judgment.
Simplify your life and reduce the stress!
4. Delegate.
This applies to your personal life as well as at work.
Most of us think of delegating as a workplace skill, but it can apply personally as well.
We are all very busy these days with our activities and duties.
Trying to fit it all in and get it all accomplished can lead to tension.
For various reasons, many of us have developed the habit of thinking we must do it all ourselves.
Take a look at your situation.
Think about it, really, how important is it that everything must be done perfectly to your standards?
Are you sure there are not other people who can assist you. Are the other people in your life pulling their weight?
Many times we get into habitual ruts that don't need to be as they are.
Look at what has been, with the eye of reducing the pressure on yourself.
5. Accept other people as one.
As you think of yourself as different and separate from the rest of mankind, you unknowingly create thinking and behavior that separates you from others.
This kind of separate thinking leads us to think we are superior to others which leads to judgment then selfish thinking and behavior.
We are then having an internal battle with others, which brings on fear, competition and comparison, ending in frustration and anxiety.
Look to discovering how to see yourself as one with all of mankind, not as separate.
Focus on what we have in common rather that the relatively small uniqueness.
Author Bio
John Halderman is a writer, speaker and trainer, dedicated to helping people with getting real results with their personal development efforts. He supports strategies, methods, tools and information that actually bridge the gap between information and effective results. Go to www.activepersonaldevelopment.com for free information and newsletter.
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Causes of Stress
In order to eliminate or at least control stress, it is vital to know and understand the causes of stress. Of course, there are many causes of stress and they are as varied as the people who suffer from stress, but there are a few places to look first. And by learning about these causes of stress, you can figure out where stress is entering your life.
One of the most common, and most complained about, causes of stress is work. However, it is not only the day-to-day tasks and routine pressures of work that can lead to stress. In fact, the mere concern about keeping a job can be a source of stress. Unfortunately, the combined stress of both work itself and the possibility of losing it creates a sort of double-stress in which people feel they have to work even harder in order to keep their jobs, making the stress that much worse.
As well, for those who have not entered the working world yet, school can be a great source of stress. The constant pressure of schoolwork, friends, teachers, tests, quizzes, papers, and everything else can be enough to make anyone feel like they are in trapped in a vice. In addition, the deadlines are all immoveable, so students are constantly under time pressure. And, to make matters worse, there are often several deadlines overlapping each other, intensifying the demands on time. Then, once final exams arrive, there is a lot to re-learn and students need to spend so much time studying that they can barely sleep. Needless to say, losing sleep does not help people who are under stress. Thus, students need to manage stress just as much as people who work.
Another cause of stress is simple family life. Unfortunately, though we hope that our home lives can be sources of relief from daily stress, they can often be sources of stress all their own. For childen as well as parents and spouses, the home can often be its own source of pressure.
For parents, stress can often come from simply worrying about their children. After all, seeing a child grow up, make mistakes, go through school, go to college, play sports, and often learn things to hard way is enough to make a parent tear their hair out. Thus, despite the joy that children can bring, they can also be causes of stress and worry.
Unfortunately, parents can be causes of stress also. Though they often have their childrens' best interests in mind, they can also put a lot of pressure onto their children, causing them to worry not only about school or life, but also how their parents will react when they hear about some new event, success, or error. It is as though there is no place to turn when things go wrong, creating extra stress. No, it is not easy being a parent, but it isn't always easy being a child or a teenager either, since parents can often be causes of stress as much as sources of comfort from it.
On top of that, spouses can also be causes on stress. Let's face it, husbands and wives often have expectations of their significant others and it is not always easy to live up to those expectations. As well, spouses often spend a lot of time avoiding certain arguments simply because they are trying to avoid stress. However, leaving tension in the air while not resolving it can be a cause of stress.
Money is also a major cause of stress, simply for the fact that there never seems to be enough of it. Thus, as the money keeps going out but it never seems to come in enough, stress just keeps mounting. Unfortunately, spouses, children and sometimes parents can often remind us of our shortfalls and they will often increase the stress. Of course, that is to say nothing of the continual reminders from the mortgage or rent, car payments, credit cards and other bills. And, furthermore, it is rather difficult to be philosophical about money stress since attempting to put things into perspective only recalls thoughts about the money that always seems to be missing. Thus, money stress just keeps piling up higher and higher and there never seems to be a way out.
Though this is only a partial list of all the possible causes of stress, these are some of the most common sources. However, no matter where the problem is arising, stress will not make them better. Rather, stress will only make it harder for people to think about their problems and try to solve them. Thus, in order to solve the problems that lead to stress, the best place to start is by managing the stress, then working to solve the problems with a clear and uncluttered mind.
By: Trevor Dumbleton
Author Bio
LowerYourStress.com: for everything to do with stress. Get a free ebook to help with your stress levels: www.loweryourstress.com/stress-book.html
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content
One of the most common, and most complained about, causes of stress is work. However, it is not only the day-to-day tasks and routine pressures of work that can lead to stress. In fact, the mere concern about keeping a job can be a source of stress. Unfortunately, the combined stress of both work itself and the possibility of losing it creates a sort of double-stress in which people feel they have to work even harder in order to keep their jobs, making the stress that much worse.
As well, for those who have not entered the working world yet, school can be a great source of stress. The constant pressure of schoolwork, friends, teachers, tests, quizzes, papers, and everything else can be enough to make anyone feel like they are in trapped in a vice. In addition, the deadlines are all immoveable, so students are constantly under time pressure. And, to make matters worse, there are often several deadlines overlapping each other, intensifying the demands on time. Then, once final exams arrive, there is a lot to re-learn and students need to spend so much time studying that they can barely sleep. Needless to say, losing sleep does not help people who are under stress. Thus, students need to manage stress just as much as people who work.
Another cause of stress is simple family life. Unfortunately, though we hope that our home lives can be sources of relief from daily stress, they can often be sources of stress all their own. For childen as well as parents and spouses, the home can often be its own source of pressure.
For parents, stress can often come from simply worrying about their children. After all, seeing a child grow up, make mistakes, go through school, go to college, play sports, and often learn things to hard way is enough to make a parent tear their hair out. Thus, despite the joy that children can bring, they can also be causes of stress and worry.
Unfortunately, parents can be causes of stress also. Though they often have their childrens' best interests in mind, they can also put a lot of pressure onto their children, causing them to worry not only about school or life, but also how their parents will react when they hear about some new event, success, or error. It is as though there is no place to turn when things go wrong, creating extra stress. No, it is not easy being a parent, but it isn't always easy being a child or a teenager either, since parents can often be causes of stress as much as sources of comfort from it.
On top of that, spouses can also be causes on stress. Let's face it, husbands and wives often have expectations of their significant others and it is not always easy to live up to those expectations. As well, spouses often spend a lot of time avoiding certain arguments simply because they are trying to avoid stress. However, leaving tension in the air while not resolving it can be a cause of stress.
Money is also a major cause of stress, simply for the fact that there never seems to be enough of it. Thus, as the money keeps going out but it never seems to come in enough, stress just keeps mounting. Unfortunately, spouses, children and sometimes parents can often remind us of our shortfalls and they will often increase the stress. Of course, that is to say nothing of the continual reminders from the mortgage or rent, car payments, credit cards and other bills. And, furthermore, it is rather difficult to be philosophical about money stress since attempting to put things into perspective only recalls thoughts about the money that always seems to be missing. Thus, money stress just keeps piling up higher and higher and there never seems to be a way out.
Though this is only a partial list of all the possible causes of stress, these are some of the most common sources. However, no matter where the problem is arising, stress will not make them better. Rather, stress will only make it harder for people to think about their problems and try to solve them. Thus, in order to solve the problems that lead to stress, the best place to start is by managing the stress, then working to solve the problems with a clear and uncluttered mind.
By: Trevor Dumbleton
Author Bio
LowerYourStress.com: for everything to do with stress. Get a free ebook to help with your stress levels: www.loweryourstress.com/stress-book.html
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content