How to respond to stress before it gets worse
How to respond to stress confidently
The following list will provide you with a number of methods which you can use to respond to stress in a confident manner. When events outside of your control threaten to derail you; you can apply some, or all, of these methods to respond to stress confidently and get yourself back on track quickly.1. Be optimistic
An optimistic attitude is one of the most important tools to help you respond to stress in a confident manner. Stress arises as soon as you feel that you no longer can cope with the challenges which you face. Optimism helps you to regain your sense of control, thus easing, and eliminating, the stress.
Adopting an optimistic attitude will help you to realise that you do not have to have all of the answers. You simply need to know where you can turn to you for help. At some stage in your life, you will have received a response similar to ‘I will have to look into that. I will come back to you with an answer.’ That is an example of someone who has chosen to respond to potential stress with an optimistic attitude. They know that they do not have the answer but they are confident that they can find it.
2. Interrupt the pattern
If there is one situation which I find stressful above all else, it is those moments when technology fails. I am good at using technology but I lack the basic understanding of how it works. In fact, I once scored the minimum score possible in an engineering aptitude test despite the fact that I tried to get the answers right. When technology failed me, I used to fly off the handle and start stomping my feet, screaming and shouting. I eventually realised that this was not good for my blood pressure or my stress levels so I searched for an alternative response.
Now, I respond to stress differently. When I feel the stress arriving, I walk away and perform some mundane task. This takes my mind off of the problem. Suddenly, I get a proper sense of perspective and I come up with a plan to deal with the situation. As soon as I start to devise a plan, I realise that I am back in control of the situation and the stress begins to disappear.
3. Have a support team
No man is an island. You can neither survive nor thrive on your own. If you want to have a happy, healthy and successful life, you are going to need the help of others. It is important that you take the time to build a good support team who can help you to achieve and enjoy the good times. During the difficult times, your support team will always be there to help and support you. A great deal of research has been conducted into stress but they still have not found a better way to respond to stress than talking to someone you can trust. Take your time to build a support team that you can trust and you will be rewarded for your efforts.
4. Eliminate your fake friends
Time is one of your most precious resources and you should take all reasonable action to protect it. There are many people whom you will encounter that will try to take your time up with their problems and their work. Naturally, you will want to support your friends and family when you can. That is understandable but there will be many others who will attempt to dump their problems on your lap. These people are often the biggest sources of problems in your life but they offer little value to you. I refer to them as fake friends.
One of the best ways to respond to prolonged stress is to identify the people that cause you the most problems in your life. Once you have identified them, determine how much joy they bring to your life. If you find that some people are a constant source of problems but offer nothing positive; it is time to cut them loose.
5. Stick to your priorities
As mentioned above, you will have your own priorities for your life. These will be the things you have identified as most important to you. You need to understand that you cannot possibly do everything which you would like to do in life. That is why you have priorities, so that you can focus on the most important things that will bring you the best results.
Not all tasks are created equal and the value of any moment in time is determined by the manner in which you spend that moment. You can respond to stress by making sure that you know your priorities, sticking to them and seeking to eliminate or renegotiate all of those tasks which are not really that important.
6. Take a break
All work and no play is a recipe for disaster. If you are feeling stressed, take some time to get away from it. You may well be burning yourself out. Review your time management and ensure that you are getting enough breaks during the day. If you are focusing on work non-stop, your body and mind are eventually going to give in.
Just like your car engine would overheat from excessive use, your body and mind will do the same. By switching to a completely different task, even if just for a few minutes, you use different parts of your body and mind, allowing those parts working on your tasks to get a break. You can then return to your tasks refreshed.
For great advice on how to manage stress effectively, check out Stress Free Living.
It is inevitable that there will be times in your life when you no longer feel as though you can cope. Stress kicks in. If left unchecked your stress levels will increase, leading to a number of health and performance related issues. In these moments, how you respond to stress is critical. If you fail to respond to stress appropriately, the issues can quickly get out of hand and you will soon be facing major problems. If you respond to stress in an effective manner, the stress will soon disappear and you can swiftly return to peak performance. How you respond to stress is your choice. The 6 strategies, outlined above, will help you to respond to stress in a positive manner. Next time that you feel the onset of stress, try them for yourself. Image credit: Geoffrey Whiteway