Strategies to Overcome Stress:
10 Tips to Take Control

By Pat Heydlauff

Just because the nightly news and electronic media preaches doom and gloom, it is your choice whether you buy into it.  Millions work, find new jobs, buy homes and start new relationships daily. They do not succumb to the prevailing negativity. They choose to maintain a positive attitude, overcome their stress and live anxiety-free and confident.

You too can do this by taking control first of your thinking, then your actions and surroundings. You can be in-control and create the future you want, not be stuck with the nightly news prescription.

1) Change Your Thinking: Ordinary thinking no longer works. These are extraordinary times; shift your thinking to the unusual, unexpected and uncommon. When job searching, if email isn’t working, call, mail or deliver your resume in person. Use free business networking sites like Linkedin.com where recruiters regularly look to find qualified people. To find new relationships or improve existing ones, perhaps your outlook and expectations need to change first. Change your thinking to change the results.

2) Recession Proof Your Thinking: Develop and maintain a positive attitude. You will overcome stress and be more in-control of your world. Get rid of negative thinking by uncluttering your mind. Write on a tablet all of your negative “can’t do” and “won’t be able to” thoughts. Now-shred them! Replace the negative with new positive thinking energy in by instructing your subconscious mind to allow only positive thoughts to enter. Put up mental no negative-thoughts trespassing signs to recession proof your thinking.

3) Take Action -  Attract What You Want: Create a plan. If you want to build a house you need to buy lumber, supplies and tools. But first, you need a plan or a blueprint. The same is true for your future. It takes a commitment and an action plan that is reasonable and responsible so you can be “in control.”

Nothing changes from the way it is today if you don’t act upon your new plan. Engage all of your feelings and senses as you develop your action plan because that is how you create your future. This puts you in control of tomorrow not the 6:00 predictors of doom and gloom. Your clear picture of the end result helps your subconscious mind create it.

4) Control Your Time: Imagine a world where you control time, not the reverse. Do you want less hectic schedules and less stress – don’t let your calendar control you? Imagine ending each day with time left over, a better tomorrow with less stress and a world where things go right 98% of the time. If you can imagine this, you can create. When you control your time, you will overcome stress and be in control of your life.

5) Balance Time: Control your time to create work/life balance by scheduling time for you. Balancing yourself, especially your time, leads to less stress and more peace and joy. Balancing your time puts you in control of your life, not your hectic schedule controlling you. And, always do the most important thing first on your “will-do” list every day to reduce stress.

6) Balanced-Time Budget: Time is spent five basic ways. Budget it much like you would your income for expenses, needs, wants and savings. Time is of great value, to be carefully budgeted and guarded at all cost. Spend it wisely in all five areas for balance.

• Work – be more efficient, effective and reduce stress by uncluttering and organizing your thinking, your calendar, and surroundings

• Relationships – make time for relationships, unclutter your schedule then budget time for them

• Recreation – plan daily fitness activity for the body and creative right brain activity weekly to nurture the mind

• Sleep – budget time to rest for regenerating your body and eliminate late night television viewing and eating

• Spiritual – budget time daily for spiritual nurturing such as church or synagogue activities, meditation, journaling, going for long walks or prayer

Work/life balance comes from budgeting appropriate time in each of these areas. Unbalanced time leads to high stress and anxiety, balanced time leads to being in control and confident.

7) Eliminate Energy Drainers: Bring into alignment the energy in your surroundings to be supportive of your goals. Unclutter your living environment, especially your bedroom, the kitchen and your office. Whether your clutter is stacks of magazines and papers, boxes of books, hanging on walls, magnetized to the refrigerator or is piles of clothes you never wear; sort it, organize it and put it away or “get rid of it.”

When there is a lot of chaos in these areas the consequences will be a less productive low energy discouraged you. To help you get motivated, think of clutter as energy constipation preventing you from creating the life you want.

8) Create Supportive Surroundings: Nurturing energy in your personal environment is mandatory especially when times are financially stressful. To get in control of your future, to create what you want so you can thrive and not succumb to the doom and gloom try the following.

• Paint the walls in your home pastel warm colors in the earth tones family – get rid of the high energy unfriendly cold whites and brights. If this is not possible, use a few accents in these colors such as throws, pillows and pictures to shift your energy.

• Use candles abundantly in safe containers throughout your home and burn them often. Candles provide soft calmer lighting; add warmth and the feeling of safety or comfort.

• Make an intentions board out of a simple bulletin board with push pins. Place onto it pictures, symbols or words of the three to five most important things you want to create in your future. Hang this board where you will see it daily for encouragement.

9) Energize Your Surroundings: Once you have uncluttered your surroundings, at minimum energize the following three areas of your life:

• Income growth, new business and good health in the east area of your bedroom and office with a green plant, a picture of a lush green field or forest.

• Good luck and good fortune in the south area of your living room and office with something red pointing upward such as a red candle, a picture of mountains framed in red or a red vase filled with tall flaming red flowers.

• In-control energy in the center of your home with a stone or rock that symbolizes your commitment to yourself and your desire to create a better brighter tomorrow. This can be one you’ve selected purposefully like a rock you’ve collected from the garden or the seashore; it can also be a piece of marble, rose quartz, turquoise or onyx.

10) One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Each person needs their own specific plan to overcome their stress. But most do not realize they need to first, create a plan that works for them and second, include a certain amount of time to take care of their creative and spiritual needs.

Control your thinking and your hectic schedule so you can be in control. Budget your time wisely so can you have extra time to do the things you want to do and have less stressful days. Do what works for you, you will overcome your stress and create a better tomorrow.

Read other articles and learn more about Pat Heydlauff.

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