Identify Stressors In Your life

The first step to bring stress under control is to identify it.  Regardless of how much stress you have in your life, being able to identify it will be a tremendous help. Once stress is identified then it’s time to identify effective coping skills.

Keep a Stress Diary

Committing to keeping a stress diary will help you gain clarity into when and how you react to stress.  This insight allows a better channel for your emotional and physical energy.

Record in your stress diary daily.  Even on the days you don’t feel stressed.  It will be good to be able to review those great feeling days and see what made them so great.  The stress diary gives you valuable insight helping you to manage your stress more effectively.

Date and time each entry. 

• What are you feeling right now?  What did you feel earlier in the day.  Pick words the accurately describe your emotions. 
• How did you handle the stressful situation? 
• Was there a better way to handle those stressful events? 

At the end of each week go back through your stress diary and analyze your stress pattern.  Are you experiencing more stress in the morning, or evening?  Does you work create more stress.  Whatever the answer by making a few adjustments you can proactively handle those day to day stressors.

Strategies for Raising Self Confident Teens

The teenage years can be hard on both teens and the parents. Teens are struggling between childhood and adulthood and finding their true selves. Self confidence can prove to be a major issue as they navigate through this time in their lives. 

Just as in other aspects of their life, teens can strengthen their self confidence skills. Some have  pretty tough situations to overcome, but in the end, everyone can benefit.

Here are some self confidence strategies that you can share with your teen:

1. Start small. You don’t want to expect too much too soon when it comes to making changes in your teen’s life. To say that they must become self confident overnight can prove to be a nearly impossible task, and it might just make your teen pull away from you emotionally.

• Instead, focus on just one small issue and build from there. They could work on standing up to one friend or finding the courage to speak up more in class.

2. Work on forgetting the past. Many times a teen will have self confidence issues because of certain past experiences. Work on those issues first and explain that the past doesn’t have to repeat itself. Tell your teen that, in life, you can’t get too hung up on past issues or you’ll be jeopardizing future opportunities.

3. Remind your teen that they’re not alone. Being a teen can be lonely; sometimes they’re tempted to pull away just because they start to feel uncomfortable talking about their issues.

• Keep an open dialogue with your teen and avoid judging them when they do open up.
• Remind them that you’ll always be there, as well as other family members and friends.

4. Give encouragement. Teens need lots of encouragement because, as they find themselves. Sometimes things work out perfectly for them, and other times they begin to struggle.

• Be there to provide that extra encouragement when they need to get over a hurdle.

5. Allow your teen to try something new. You can provide your teen with a great confidence builder by encouraging them to engage in new things. This gives them extra practice when it comes to confidence and it may help them become more grounded and social.

6. Provide rewards. Use rewards to congratulate your teen when they take a stride toward self confidence. If they take a big step forward, buy them a little something that they’ve been wanting or take them out to dinner at their favorite restaurant.

7.      Most importantly provide unconditional love. Unconditional love shows your teen that, even if they make a mistake, you’ll be there for them no matter what.

Remember that being there for your teen is the most important thing. Sometimes they’ll want to be alone and other times they’ll need your help. Either way, they’ll know that you’re always rooting

Calming Your Mind and Lowering Your Stress Levels

More often than not, we tend to focus on too many things every day, leading to confusion, anxiety, and annoyance. This stress can be hard on the mind and body, but the good news is that you can lower your stress levels and calm your mind, helping yourself to feel better each day.

In fact, you can overcome these issues with a few simple techniques!

First, acknowledge that you must take time for yourself. Being all things to all people isn’t realistic, and neither is doing everything and solving all problems or concerns in one day. No one should expect that of you! If they do, you must recognize that it’s not healthy, and you must do what’s right and best for you. Your health and happiness could depend on it.

Ways to Calm Your Mind

Meditation and prayer are two of the biggest ways to calm a restless mind, but they aren’t the only things you can do. There are many other choices to help you feel better and live a stress-free life. You might also consider:

• Focusing on helping others
• Exercising
• Listening to music
• Using your mind for joyous pursuits that interest you
• Playing with children or pets

Everyone has different things they enjoy in life, and you should find yours and practice them when you start to feel stressed or your thoughts try to run away from you. Avoid letting your thoughts talk you out of your dreams. Your dreams are yours; embrace them!

Being busy is not the problem when it comes to your mind. Being busy with things that aggravate you and make you feel down is the problem. Instead of dwelling on things that upset you, deal with them, let them go, and move on to things that you enjoy. You can do this with your thoughts, just like you would with a physical task in the workplace or at home.

Lower Your Stress Levels Each Day

Stress begins in your mind as thoughts, but it can manifest itself physically. You may feel tense, anxious, uneasy, angry, or have aches and pains you can’t really find a cause for. If stress continues all the time and becomes chronic, your health could be compromised.

You can let stress go and feel good every day.

 Try these strategies to lower your stress:

1.  Focus on what matters to you. What’s important in your life? Be proactive about your goals and priorities. When you’re working toward something that you want, it makes you feel good about yourself and your future.

 

2. Find both physical and mental ways to release your stress. Releasing your stress every day keeps it from building up inside you. Make the conscious choice to start each day fresh, without the stress from the day before.What relaxes you? Music? Hobbies? Spending time with your family? Enjoy a healthy dose of relaxation every day.Get as much exercise as possible. Exercise refreshes your body with a surge of oxygen and releases endorphins, the “feel good” hormone. Even if there’s no time for an exercise session, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park far away from the building so you can walk, and play with your kids or pets.
3. Practice these strategies consistently. Work on releasing your stress every day, even on days when you don’t feel as much stress, so it won’t be a struggle when you really need it. When you’re feeling good, it’s natural to forget about letting stress go, but it’s important to avoid getting complacent.Keep practicing and improving, even when you feel great!

 Whichever techniques you choose to calm your mind and lower your levels of stress, ensure it’s the right fit for you and your lifestyle. Only you know what you really need and what makes you feel safe and at peace.

If you practice this peacefulness each day, it won’t be long before you start to feel calmer, even in situations where you would have previously been over the edge. Your thoughts will be clearer, instead of jumbled and racing. Physically, you’ll feel stronger, too, because your body will be free from the affliction of stress and anxiety.

How To Relax 3 Simple Tips

Everyone experiences times throughout the day where you just wish you could relax for even a few minutes.

You already know that relaxation helps your body re-energize, but sometimes you’re so busy and caught up in the moment that you just don’t have the time to unwind.

Well, fortunately there are simple ways to relax, even during your busiest days, that don’t require a lot of time or equipment.

Here are 3 Simple Relaxation Tips:

1 . When you’re in line at the grocery store: Instead of stressing out because there aren’t enough cashiers and every line has 5 people with heaping carts of groceries, use that time to relax your body by taking some deep breaths.

• Deep breathing helps increase the oxygen in your blood. Your blood then circulates that extra oxygen throughout your body helping your inner systems recharge.
• Taking five slow deep breaths will do the trick. The proper technique is to inhale and exhale deeply through your nose and out your mouth.
• Not only will deep breathing help you relax, it’ll help to clear your mind, reduce brain fog, and you’ll feel much more alert and ready to tackle the next project on your plate.
• Deep breathing can be done anywhere when you’re feeling stressed or just want to clear your mind.

2 .  When you’re at work: It’s often hard to find time to relax at work. You might even get in trouble if you’re caught “relaxing.” Oh the horror! However, there are some techniques you can do while you’re at work to help create a sense of calm that aren’t so obvious to others.

• If your job requires you to sit at a computer all day, make sure you get up and move around for a few minutes every hour. This helps circulate the blood throughout your body. Just moving the blood flow will make you feel more alert and focused.
• While sitting at your desk, roll your head around, from side to side and from front to back with your eyes closed. This technique helps to relieve neck tension, increasing blood flow to your brain, which is a natural and easy way to relax.
• If you’re on your feet all day, stretch out your back and sides by standing with your feet firm on the floor, shoulder width apart, and twist your upper body, including your head, slowly from side to side. This will loosen up your back muscles and spine, releasing tension throughout your body.
• During a break or lunchtime, go for a walk. Walking is a great way to clear your mind and your body will benefit from the extra exercise as well.

3.  When you’re rushing through a busy day: Take just a few moments to daydream and escape the busyness of reality.

• Daydreaming lets your imagination flow, causing instant relief from the stress of the real world.
• Think of a place or experience that makes you feel happy or calm. Imagine how it smells, how the air feels, and who’s around.
• After five minutes of a calming daydream you’ll feel relaxed, reenergized and ready to face the real world again.

Mindset Mastery – Building Self Confidence

Whether you’re at work or just facing a bad day at home, there are many things you can do to make sure you’re back in the saddle and feeling more confident about life. One of the best ways to regain your self-confidence is to give yourself a little pep talk.

The idea of positive self-talk, or positive thinking, is something many coaches and counselors suggest to their clients and nearly everyone can benefit from it. Have you ever been in a situation where you think a little bit of positive reinforcement could make things a lot easier? Don’t wait for someone else to lift your spirits; take a moment and realize you can easily do it yourself!

Be Proactive and Gain Confidence

Having negative thoughts, even about a single project at work, can often impact your entire outlook on life. You may begin to believe that you’re in a trap of bad luck or that things will never get better, but in reality, the only way for things to get better is to make positive changes and that takes both action and self-confidence.

• When faced with a difficult situation that leaves negative feelings, step away for a few minutes and take some deep breaths. Think about a resolution to the problem, come up with a smart action plan, then return to propose your plan. Removing yourself from the situation will help minimize those negative feelings while allowing you to gain some perspective.

For more tips on mindset mastery and client attraction tips check out The Client Attraction Mentor

Spending time on YOU is critical!

Do you push yourself to be all that you can be? In your drive for excellence, you may take on so many projects that life often seems chaotic. In the midst of doing it all, do you remember to take time for yourself?

Spending time on YOU is critical! It enables you to feel rested, calm, stress-free, and fulfilled. When you’ve had proper rest, you can accomplish more and maintain the stamina to continue.

On the other hand, if you neglect to make time for yourself, you’re more likely to become depressed, stressed, or unhappy.

Perhaps you feel that there’s just not enough time for you. Somewhere in the mix, you lost any time you ever had for yourself. However, the good news is that, with some creativity and perseverance, you can recapture some of that critical you-time!

Consider using these strategies to reap some rejuvenating time for yourself:

1. Pencil yourself in. Make time for yourself by adding it as a priority in your schedule. As you fill out your planner, include it along with your other important tasks and stick to the appointment!

2. Give yourself 15 minutes when you get home. Insist on at least 15 minutes of recoup and rejuvenation time when you get home from work. If you have to lock yourself away from stressors or even family members, than that’s what you must do! This time allows you to properly transition from your work life to your home life.

• Explain this new technique to your family so that they understand its importance. This way, no one feels like you’re just avoiding them!

• A simple strategy is to soak in the bath for 15 minutes. The water will relax you, and you’ll feel refreshed after a long day.

3. Take advantage of your lunch break. Your lunch break is there for you to do what you please. After you eat, make good use of your time by going for a walk, exercising, listening to inspiring music, or even get in a bit of shopping if that’s what relaxes you.

4. Enjoy a break while the kids nap. Here’s a good tip for stay at home moms. Give yourself some much needed “you” time whenever your children sleep. You might be tempted to get as much work done as you can while they’re asleep, but you’ll find you actually get more done if you give yourself a chance to rest and rejuvenate yourself.

• Explore new ways of accomplishing things like household tasks while your kids are up. For example, turn chores into learning games that you can all participate in.

5. Go to sleep earlier. Going to sleep earlier at night will enable you to get up in time to enjoy some morning “me” time. Just think how pleasant it would be to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning without having to look at your watch.

6. Take a vacation day. Take a vacation day to just relax and do whatever you like. You don’t have to take a trip to take a vacation! Time spent on your favorite hobbies will also rejuvenate you. When you return to work, your renewed energy may surprise you!

At first glance, these strategies may look difficult to implement into your busy routine. A good way to get started with them is to incorporate just one at a time. That way, you only have to adjust to one small change. As you become accustomed to that one strategy, you can add another, and then another, until one day you’ll find that making time for yourself is easy.

Once you learn to make time for you, you’ll have more energy and time to enjoy the good things life has to offer.

How to Let Bygones Be Bygones

Deep down you know that there is simply nothing you can do to change the past. No matter how many times you wish you’d done something differently, the past will always remain the past.

You must find a way to, once and for all, be done with your regretful feelings. When you continue to fret over the past, you allow negative feelings to consume more and more of your life. Once you’ve put a stop to it, you can think positively again and your future will be brighter.

Getting Caught Up In The Past

It’s easy to get caught up in the past. Nobody’s perfect and, no matter how hard you try, you’ll still continue to make mistakes. It’s how you handle the mistakes that will make the true difference in your life.

If you’ve made a mistake or suffered a tragedy in the recent past, don’t allow the tragedy to replay in your head over and over. You’ll continue to relive the negative feels as if you were continually going through the tragedy. No one deserves this! Instead, you have two choices, you can actively work on correcting your mistake, or you can let the feelings go because they’re not helpful to you in that moment.

Learn From Your Mistakes

There are lessons to be learned in every mistake you make no matter how minor it might be. The goal is to work on discovering what these lessons are.

When negative feelings surround you regarding your past, focus on the lesson learned. Maybe you would have never learned that lesson without the mistake. And now that you’ve gained this wisdom you can avoid making that mistake again in the future.

You can take everything one step further and do more with the lessons you’ve learned. Perhaps you can raise awareness by telling others about your experience. If you can help others avoid the same mistakes, you’ll be doing something great for the world. It’ll also help you feel better about the situation.

Avoid Resentmen 

You need to do your best to avoid resentment and all negative emotions. Resentment is a poisonous emotion that can go out of control if you don’t deal with it. You’ve probably heard of people who have had a falling out with a family member and resentment keeps them apart for the better part of their lives. Think about all the good times they’ve missed out on because of this bitterness!

Let It Go

Depending on what you’ve gone through, there may be a mourning period associated with your situation, but you’ll eventually need to let it go. Since you know that nothing can change the past, letting go can prove to be very liberating.

When you let it all go, you learn to forgive yourself and forgive others. Forgiveness is such an important thing to promote in your life. It allows you to grow as a person and blossom forward to enjoy all that life has to offer. You weren’t meant to sit around mourning the past no matter how tragic it’s been for you.

How Negative Thinking Hurts You

When it comes down to it, sometimes you keep telling yourself you’re over it but the negative thinking keeps creeping back into your life. You need to fully realize that the only person you’re hurting is yourself.

Let’s say you’ve hurt someone’s feelings. You may think about this day and night until you can’t take it anymore, and you have to seek this person out to apologize. The person might not even remember what happened, or they may just accept your apology. The point is you suffered with negative thoughts until you sought forgiveness.

There’s no need to cause yourself severe suffering because you made a mistake, instead seek peace and resolution, then move forward with your head held high!

Surviving the Holiday Crunch With Stress Free Living

Don’t be surprised or feel guilty if your holiday is stressful — and don’t entertain the fantasy that everyone else’s season is picture-perfect. Some moments will be memorable, some will not, and some you’ll want to forget, but remember: We’re all in this together!

The holidays are supposed to be a wonderful time for you and your family, though sometimes the stresses leading up the holidays make it seem like quite the opposite. Remember that even in poor economic times there are ways to enjoy yourself and survive the holiday crunch.

Spending Money

Chances are you’ll be spending at least some money during the holiday season. With careful planning, you can make a small budget go quite a long way.

Consider the following holiday money saving tips:

Save Throughout the Year. Most people let the holidays creep up on them. All of a sudden they realize it’s two weeks before Thanksgiving and they need to begin preparing. You can’t pull money out of nowhere and you should resist the urge to put all of your purchases on credit. If you’ve done this in the past, you know first hand that you’ll still be paying off last year’s gifts for years to come!

• Automatically withdraw a small amount of money from each paycheck that goes toward your Christmas savings. Those small amounts add up to something big at the end of the year.

Shop Early. When you shop early you can avoid the stress of the crowds and the urgency of having to make decisions quickly. Start by making a list of gift ideas for everyone. This way, as you see the items throughout the year, you can pick them up. You may even find that they’re cheaper during off-peak times than during the holiday rush.

 Handmade Gifts. If money is extra tight this year, consider giving your loved ones handmade gifts. Handmade gifts are given straight from the heart. They’ll provide memories that last a lifetime and are important reminders that the holiday season is not just about spending money.

Shop for Deals. While it can end up taking a great deal of extra time, make sure you do your homework when it comes to shopping for deals. Prices can vary greatly from vendor to vendor. Luckily, the internet can be your best friend when it comes to shopping for deals. It allows you to comparison shop quickly and easily from the comfort of your own home.

 While you’re shopping online, always remember to stay safe. If you haven’t heard of the website you’re purchasing from, make sure that you’re shopping on a secure server and do additional research into the company to seek out reviews and opinions.

Planning Your Budget

Whether or not you’ve saved throughout the year, it’s always a good idea to put yourself on a strict budget. Give yourself a total dollar amount and then decide how much you’ll spend on each person. If you need money for entertaining, decorating, food, or other things, budget for that as well.

Remember to check in with yourself from time to time to make sure that you remain on budget. While it may be extra work, it’ll save you the stress of dealing with big credit card bills in the new year.

Dealing With Stress

If the stress of the holidays has gotten you down, you’re certainly not alone. It’s not fun to have to deal with the financial aspect, but it’ll help to keep the reward in mind.

If you’ve spent your money well, and your family gets through the holidays in a peaceful manner, then you’ve done your job. You’ll be adding to the memories that will last a lifetime. Remember that you can’t place a price tag on memories. When you keep that positive goal in mind, it’ll be worth the stresses you have to endure.

Stress Free Living by Being a Better Communicator

Communication is the key when it comes to anything that involves collaboration. We humans are a social species, communication is involved in nearly everything we all do.

 Some people are born with the natural ability to communicate well, while others may struggle with it. No matter what category you fall into, it’s likely that you can benefit from paying attention to improving your communication skills.

 Why Better Communication Helps You

 Did you know that most businesses consider your communication skills to be the most important characteristic about you? This means that you could have top-notch knowledge and job skills but still fail to land a job if you’re lacking in the communication department.

Communication is certainly not only important when it comes to your work life, but it’s also vital in having a successful home life as well. Couples and family members that are good communicators lead happier lives overall.

Proper communication will prevent misunderstandings and save you time so you won’t have to go back and explain yourself again and again. You know you’ve gained good communication skills when you can communicate your thoughts effectively with as few words as necessary!

 How To Improve Communication With Others

Communication is a two way street. This means that you could have excellent skills, but if the recipient is lacking, then you may not be understood. This is why it’s important not only to develop our speaking skills, but our listening skills, too.

Since you can’t affect the skill level of others, the only thing you can do is strengthen your own communication skills. Besides, when you’re an excellent communicator, more people will understand you, everything around you will run more efficiently, and you’ll more often get what you want!

 Try these strategies to improve your communication skills:

 1.  Avoid arguing. If you run into a snag in a conversation and it starts to morph into an argument, step back and realize what’s going on. It’s easy to get swept up into the blame game, but ultimately it’s not important who’s at fault. What’s important is the mutual understanding of the issue at hand and a desire for a solution that benefits everyone.

 2.  Don’t be afraid to compromise. You may be tempted to try and “win” but that’s not the best way to reach a mutual agreement. You may be happier with getting your way, but it may come at the expense of the other person, which can cause further issues. Find a good compromise that you both can willingly accept.

 3.  Work on listening. Your listening skills are even more important than your speaking skills. After all, how will you know what you should say – and when – if you haven’t effectively listened? Listen more than you speak and you’ll gain a profound wisdom of others, too!

 4.  Keep your focus. Communication will get overly complicated if you worry about too many issues at once. Avoid bringing up the past or other issues and, instead, focus on the one topic at hand.

5.  Stay calm and take responsibility. Adopt a calm and cool manner of handling situations. When things remain low key, it’s easier to communicate and get your point across. This also means that you need to take responsibility for what you say. Don’t be afraid to admit mistakes when you’re wrong.

Becoming a better communicator doesn’t happen overnight. But if you keep practicing and tweaking your skills, you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish.

How to Make Your To-Do List More Effective

You already know that to-do lists help you get focused and organized throughout the day. When you have your to-do list in hand, you’re freeing your mind from all the disorganized thoughts and, instead, getting them down on paper.

 However, this technique can go awry if your to-do list isn’t organized as well as it should be. You might lose your motivation and drive and, at the end of the day, you may notice that most of the things from your list are not crossed off.

 Follow these tips to create an effective to-do list:

1.  Clarify Priorities. It may help you to develop some sort of ranking system for your to-do list. Certainly every item on the list can’t be equally important. You can even use a number system and rank them from 1 to 5. Items ranked 1 might have a lower priority, while the 5s are tasks you should attend to first.

• You should also clarify your priorities in the sense that you need to leave yourself detailed instructions. Figure out the: who, what, where, when and why of items that may be complicated. This way, when it comes time to tackle the task, you won’t skip over them simply because they seem too complex to complete.

 2.  Pare Down the List. You need to complete tasks or part of tasks one step at a time. If you have 15 minutes to spare, find something on the list that you can complete in that time period. It’s common to tell yourself that 15 minutes is not enough time to do something, but all those 15-minute chunks add up to something huge. At the end of the day you’ll be surprised how much you’ve accomplished in small increments.

3.   Include Flex Time. If your to-do list is too rigid, it simply won’t be effective. You absolutely need to include some flexibility and breathing room in your day. Try not to jam pack your day with unreasonable goals, otherwise, you’ll be at risk of disappointment.

4.  Add in Something Fun. Your to-do list is no doubt full of things you may not be looking forward. That’s why integrating fun activities and tasks should also be a priority! When you add in a fun item it doesn’t feel like work. It may even feel like a break. When you return to the less desirable items, you’ll be more motivated to actually get them done.

5.  Don’t List Too Much. It’s vital not to overwhelm yourself. While some days might be action packed in order to reach certain deadlines, you need to avoid this level of stress on a regular basis. If there’s too much on your plate, or you have to work too fast, you can’t possibly enjoy yourself and you’ll only end up frustrated and overwhelmed.

 6.  Keep It Organized. Your list needs to be organized in a way that makes you feel comfortable. There are many options nowadays, especially with digital devices. However, the old-fashioned pen and paper method may be what works best for you. You can also opt for using the internet or even your cell phone or mobile device to keep your list organized.

« Previous Page — Next Page »