Friday, 15 March 2013

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How To Stop Being A Stress Head

By Lachlan Haynes


Stress Is Everywhere

Everyone experiences stress. Stress can be both good and bad depending on the level of stress experienced and the result it creates. When it creates focus and action it can be a good thing. But when it creates anxiety, tension and a feeling of being "overloaded" it is obviously a bad outcome.

However, the way in which each individual reacts to the stress they feel can be very different. Let's face it, we can all be impatient, get frustrated or cause needless conflict with others based purely on how stressed we are feeling.

High levels of stress can really obscure our judgement and result in us behaving in ways that we would not otherwise behave. Behaviors such as anger, aggression, frustration and edginess all result from high stress levels. This change in behavior almost always impacts on the people around us - whether that is school mates, other friends or family members. However it can also impact total strangers if we are stressed enough.

The major challenge with stress is preventing the behaviors it creates from becoming habits. Habits occur when we consistently engage in certain actions or behaviors over a certain amount of time. Therefore, if the feeling of "being stressed" becomes a regular feeling it may actually become the norm feeling. When that happens the individual spends their entire life feeling miserable but they aren't even aware it's because they have formed a detrimental habit.

Stress-induced habits and behaviors that have a negative impact must be replaced by positive action. High achievement does not result from an inability to cope with high stress levels; it results from calm and calculated responses to stressful stimulus.

The Problem: The Voice Inside Me Puts Me Down

Negative self-dialogue is a consistent reaction to stressful situations. Responses such as "I can't do this", "I am going to fail", or "I don't know what I'm doing" only add further stress to the stress that is being experienced! It is a downward spiral. Unfortunately, this type of dialogue is also our most powerful dialogue and controls our responses to stressful situations.

Among other things, negative self-talkers tend to believe that others are out to get them in one way or another (even though they clearly are not), see positive events in a negative light (which also brings others down and means they don't strive for positive outcomes because they think positive outcomes are actually negative outcomes!) and they also believe that their life is "full of stress" which they can't "handle" (even though the stress is actually just created in their own head).

However, when negative self-talk becomes a powerful force it has the ability to completely overrun the individual and can result in a lonely experience (because everyone has removed themselves from the negative person's presence). In order to address this, positive self-dialogue needs to become the new habit.

The Solution: The Voice Inside Me Builds Me Up!

When controlled and executed properly, positive self-dialogue can truly change your life. A constant state of positivism breeds positive experiences and connections with other positive people. The other major benefit of positive self-dialogue is that your outlook on your life will improve even if nothing about your life is actually different. However, the fact you feel better about yourself and your life means that you are far more open to the actions that are required to get you the results you want.

Keep in mind that a negative attitude breeds more negativity. So the opposite is also true. Improved relationships, improved health and improved grades are all results of simply changing your self-dialogue. Don't believe me? Try it! Use words such as "I can do this", "I will do this", "I can do anything I put my mind too", "Life has a way of working out for me", "Things always happen for a reason", "I am not discouraged". This requires no effort other than constantly being positive about yourself, your situation and everyone around you. Do this for at least one week and your outlook will have changed dramatically. Not only that, but those around you will appear to change as well. Why? Well you be treating them differently which will cause more of the same.

If you don't know why you're stressed out you wont be able to understand how to resolve it. It's easy to blame external forces like school, or your teachers, or your parents - but often it really comes down to how you internalize the stress and allow it to take hold of you. Only be examining what is really stressing you out will you be able take charge of the situation. To read the full article and find out more please follow the links below. Good luck!




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