10 Steps to Ward Off Stress

Are you on the skids with stress? Do you ever feel like you’re overwhelmed with problems coming at you from every direction? You can defeat these feelings of helplessness and avoid many stressors altogether! Start by building resilience. Building resilience is not a new fad.

Try these 10 Steps to help you build resilience and avoid or prepare yourself to better handle stress:

1) Build effective, supportive relationships with others. Many people find great benefits from the simple act of serving or helping others who might be less able to help themselves. Volunteer your time and share your talents. You might just be surprised by the benefits derived from helping others!

2) Avoid seeing any crisis as insurmountable. Break the challenge into as many small pieces as you can and tackle each one with all you’ve got. If something isn’t working – change the plan and keep moving!

3) View change as an inevitable part of life. And realize that new opportunities are often just around the corner.

4) Be proactive. Set short term goals to improve yourself or tackle the issue at hand. Move toward your goals. Keep moving and don’t let things just happen to you.

5) When faced with issues or problems, act decisively. Evaluate the facts. Get help if you need it. Prepare a list of your options. Then Take Action! Don’t just go with the flow.

6) In the midst of a crisis (or sometime soon after), ask yourself, Can this change my life for the better in some way? Find the benefit and pursue it! This may not always be easy or even immediately visible. Keep looking! ( If every challenge was easy we’d never learn anything. )

7) Maintain a healthy, positive view of yourself. Exercise regularly and build your self esteem. Celebrate your success and you’ll be improving your ability to withstand adversity.

8) Practice looking towards the positive outcome. Avoid the habit of zeroing in on the worst part about a crisis or adverse experience. Find the silver lining. And the nearly inevitable opportunity to emerge from your present challenge with something positive.

9) During a tough time, practice looking forward to the hoped-for conclusion and resolution. See yourself succeeding. Avoid and dismiss your worst fears. Remember you are what you think most often. Think and focus on success!

10) We saved the best tip for last. Take care of yourself by maintaining your physical and mental health, because this makes it easier to bounce back when adversity strikes. Avoid, as often as possible those foods we all know are unhealthy. Instead try to include a varied and healthy diet of natural foods – fruits and vegetables. Nuts and beans. Have some cold water, wild caught salmon once or twice a week. Eat more spinach. And get some exercise every day! The natural high you’re sure to experience after rigorous exercise is well worth the 20 or 30 minutes you invest.