Take the Stress Out of Stress

How would it be if you awoke every day feeling refreshed and confident about the day ahead, with enough energy and resilience in reserve to tackle whatever might be thrown your way? Yes, unexpected challenges crop up from time to time but how would it be, if in the main, you knew yourself well enough to be able to manage stress, cope well and have some time for yourself, including breaks for those important people and things in your life?

In a busy life we often focus on work, letting home, friends and outside interests take care of themselves. But often personal areas will stay quiet, gently fading into the background, not wanting to force us to choose or add to our stress. At some point the realisation hits us. Friends and family don't include us anymore. They are living their lives without us. It may take a while for us to notice, but it's not an uncommon situation.

Some stress is good for us. It keeps us on our toes, helps us think outside the box, come up with new ideas, deliver more than we thought we could. But continual stress is counter-productive and can cause many issues and ailments over time. There are a documented 360 physical symptoms of stress and you may be working your way through them all!

At first the occasional symptom may go unnoticed or be explained away. The intermittent headaches, sleepless nights, irritability, disappearing sense of humour, poor concentration can be explained away through being busy and overloaded. You may have a stressful period at work, problems at home, health-related concerns, things on your mind.

But if they continue unabated or start to escalate it may be time to address what's going on, what the root cause or trigger is to these changes in your equilibrium. Ignored, things often continue until you can't discount or brush them aside any more. The continual drips can escalate into an overflow which starts to impact and affect every area of your life.

Starting to take responsibility and own how you're feeling, the way you're living your life is an important first step to manage stress. When we acknowledge our responses, recognise that we need to take control and then start to do so we become more able to move to a better place both mentally and physically.

Here are some steps to take the stress out of stress;

Does dealing with stress mean compartmentalising it, leaving it at the door, or is it more effective to find positive ways to manage your life so that every area has balance as often as possible?

- Recognise what's going on with you. What is your inner voice saying; that you must do it all yourself or feel guilty, a failure, less successful? Do you fear being 'caught out', found to be an imposter if others step in to help? Recognise the triggers, the situations or phrases people use that influence your stress levels.

- Revise your perspective. Notice the difference in your outlook from when you're feeling happy and upbeat, or conversely battered and fed up. It's often not what happens to us but how we're feeling and responding that's the determining factor. Take control and focus on what your viable choices are. Appreciate what you have already in your life.

- Be kind to yourself by being healthy, with regular good food, water, exercise. Take time to read a book or even do nothing. Simply parking the car for a 15 minutes break after work can really benefit your mood and stress levels for when you return home.

- Manage the overwhelm by delegating, sharing and regularly communicating what's going on. Ask for help, don't expect others to be psychic. And when you bring others in to help they may thrive with the additional responsibility, seeing it as a chance to grow, improve their skills and perhaps even impress you with new ideas and better ways of doing things.

- 'No' can be most positive word in your vocabulary. Teach others to respect you, to understand what you do every day and value how much you do for them. Encourage their gratitude and appreciation.

- 'Yes' can be negative if it's become your constant default to everything that's asked of you. Do you agree out of fear, apprehension, guilt? Used positively 'yes' can move you out of your comfort zone and scare you a little every day.

- Break big tasks into bite-sized chunks so that you're the decision-maker, moving and feeling proactive.

Why not manage stress by selecting 3 of these items to action in the next 48 hours;

1. Outsource tasks that are not in your area of expertise. Hiring someone to manage your accounts, PR, advertising could be money well spent and free you to focus on your main business. Maybe hire someone to do your domestic chores, your cleaning, ironing, gardening and use that free time to do something for yourself.

2. Share with family. Your partner often wants to be there for you. Discuss what you're going through and let them be supportive. Even children can have tasks that are their responsibility, maybe setting the table or loading the dishwasher. Communicate and ask for help.

3. Ensure you have family time by sitting and eating together, even if it's just once a week. Keep two-way channels of communication open so it's not all about you. Be interested in what's going on in their lives and remember what you've been told so you can follow-up again.

4. Turn off technology at a set time in the evenings, unless there's an occasional emergency that needs your attention. Allow yourself to switch off, preferably for a couple of hours before bed. If you commit to specific time slots each day to go online you'll avoid wasting time by constantly checking. You'll have more free time and be able to invest genuine attention in your real relationships.

5. Treat sleep as important. Stress and sleep-related issues cost UK businesses £40 billion last year, or the equivalent of 200,000 days lost productivity, due to accidents, absenteeism and poor performance. Prepare to sleep well by winding down for an hour or two before bed. Avoid that heavy conversation last thing at night, plan for the next day by making a list of impending tasks, maybe have your clothes ready, the children's lunches packed.

6. Try to maintain a regular routine, a relaxing bath or shower to wash away the day's cares. If you have a busy physical job try to introduce balance with mentally challenging interests like quizzes, puzzles, interesting conversations, or mentally demanding work might be balanced by scheduling physical activity like the gym or a walk.

7. It can be fun to regularly get outside and maybe share that time with family by taking a walk, game of football, playing together.

8. Reward each stage of your journey with treats, me time and self-praise. Trying deserves recognition, even if things don't work out how you'd hoped.

9. Commit to ongoing training, learning, developing, improvement. Keep your brain active so that you're engaged and stimulated.

Stress is a fact of everyday life, but by incorporating a few basic steps you can implement effective ways to take the stress out of stress!

Susan Leigh, counsellor, hypnotherapist, relationship counsellor, writer & media contributor offers help with relationship issues, stress management, assertiveness and confidence. She works with individual clients, couples and provides corporate workshops and support.

She's author of 3 books, 'Dealing with Stress, Managing its Impact', '101 Days of Inspiration #tipoftheday' and 'Dealing with Death, Coping with the Pain', all on Amazon & with easy to read sections, tips and ideas to help you feel more positive about your life.

To order a copy or for more information, help and free articles visit http://www.lifestyletherapy.net

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Leigh/399535

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10103178

Sneaky Ways Sources of Stress and Anxiety Can Hide in Plain Sight

We all know that stress is a major issue that has a significant impact on our overall health and well-being, but we are often at a loss as to how to fix it. In some cases, we may not even understand that some of our biggest health issues are actually symptoms of stress.

For instance, one symptom of stress is overeating. If you keep trying to lose weight, but just can’t seem to keep it off, the real problem might not be your diet, but your stress levels. Here are 5 other sneaky ways stress and anxiety can impact your health.

Migraines
The exact cause of migraine headaches is unknown and can be different for everyone. That being said, there are still a limited number of causes of migraines and stress is definitely high on the list.

Insomnia
While the fear of an approaching lion may not seem the same as the fear of losing our jobs, homes or loved ones, our body responds to them the same way.

What we call “stress” is actually a type of fear, which activates our fear response; sometimes known as the “fight or flight response.” It’s awfully hard to sleep when your body is preparing to flee or fight.

Back Pain
One of the many things that an activated fear response does is cause your muscles to tense up in preparation to flee or fight.

When you are under constant stress, your muscles are also constantly tense. Your spine is held in place by an intricate series of muscles and tendons.

Constant tension can cause stress-related back pain.

 While you should definitely work to minimize the sources of your stress, seeing a chiropractor regularly can help minimize the damage of stress to your spine.

Gastrointestinal Issues

Cortisol is a hormone which shuts down your digestive system and adrenaline gives you a boost of energy when your fear response is activated.

Living with chronic stress means your body is constantly producing and secreting these two hormones.

Over time this can severely interfere with your digestive processes, which can lead to severe gastrointestinal issues.

If left untreated, they can even develop into more serious issues such as ulcers, chronic heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease or even irritable bowel syndrome.

There is almost no end to the list of physical and medical problems that stress can cause. It doesn’t do a whole lot of good to keep treating the issues stress causes, without dealing with the cause of stress.

Without dealing with the underlying causes of stress, your health issues will only continue to deteriorate.

Source: https://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/sneaky-ways-sources-of-stress-and-anxiety-can-hide-in-plain-sight

Worry, Stress… and Pulling Yourself Together!

Increasingly, I find myself talking to people who, until the pull themselves together, live in fear of the future. We might casually call it "worry" - we might even label it stress. But all it is is unchecked useless thought.

"All it is" is slightly misleading - because this fear keeps people awake at night - and recent research has firmly established that just one night's disrupted sleep results in a build-up of the proteins associated with dementia on the neural pathways' synapses - as a client said to me recently "Well, all you've done now is given me something more to worry about at four in the morning!"

I should, of course, mention that a subsequent good night's sleep will clean out the synapses but regular disrupted sleep is very bad indeed for your long-term mental health. 

And worry and stress are conclusively bad for your digestive and immune systems but, most 

importantly, your cardio-vascular system. The point is, that fear will get you one way or another!

That is, of course, unless you pull yourself together and do something about it. This is good news indeed, because you can do all you need to do to simply not just stop fear in its tracks but cut the legs right from under it.

All you need to do is turn your mind away from the useless thoughts that lead us down a blind-alley. You don't fight the fear - there's no point in shadow-boxing something that isn't there! You don't even give it the time of day!

You simply take the time and make the choice to experience the here and now, just as it is here and now… this is the essence of mindfulness.

In the here and now, freed from our own repetitive and ruminate thought, all is well unless, of course, you're being chased by a hungry tiger... which is why we were wired this way in the first place! Fix your wiring.

Source:  https://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/worry-stress-and-pulling-yourself-together

How Stress Causes Weight Gain

By Lana Nelson

Stress is a natural reaction in humans and animals.

The key word is reaction. Each person reacts differently to that which they perceive as stress. Some people are very sensitive to changes in the energy around them. What is a grievous stressor to one person might not bother another person at all.

What is Stress?

Psychologist Richard Lazarus refers to stress as any event in which environmental demands, internal demands, or both tax or exceed an individual’s adaptive resources. If your life seems calm and normal you might think your psychological stress is low, but dieting, over exercising, insomnia, infections, poor dental hygiene, environmental toxins, and even the political situation can be causing you subconscious stress.

Your body can handle acute or short-term stress quite well and recover from it, but you are not built to handle the chronic, unrelenting stress so rampant in our society today.

Dr. Peter Levine said that our stress response is designed to last about forty-five seconds, not twenty-four hours or day after day. Constant stress causes the body to be “turned on” all the time, and not in a good way.

Fight, Flight or Freeze

The sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates bodily functions, goes haywire and the adrenal system gets stuck in the “fight, flight, or freeze” response. These systems stay turned on like a car alarm constantly blaring in the background.

The adrenal glands are small, triangular endocrine glands that sit on top of the kidneys waiting patiently to be called to duty. Their major role is to release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline in response to stress.

Stress activates or depresses several functions in the body. Digestion is halted. The hypothalamus gland signals the adrenal system, and the sympathetic nervous system shoots impulses through the body. The heart beats faster, muscles tense, eyes dilate, and the mouth gets dry. This reaction has been named the fight or flight response.

The body can’t tell the difference between being chased by a tiger or getting stuck in traffic; it just senses stress and kicks into gear.

Beyond fight and flight there is a third reaction to stress: freeze. Your body can stop you right in your tracks like a deer in the headlights. An overwhelming trauma can instantly stun you with a wave of hopelessness when it appears you have no chance for conquest or escape. Your blood pressure quickly drops when you freeze, and you can fall or faint. The parasympathetic branch of the nervous system, which calms you down to rest and digest, clamps down and takes over from the freeze response.

Your Digestive System at a Stand Still

Any way your body deals with stress, whether it be fight, flight, or freeze, halts your digestive system. Stress can make you sick and fat, and the food you eat might be doing no good for you at all.

Stress can be real and tangible or imagined. Imagined stress causes worry. Your body reacts to worry in the same way it does to actual stressful situations.

Good vs Bad Stress

There is good stress and bad stress. Good stress, called eustress, is caused by things like buying a new house, getting married, and going to a party. You process good stress in the same way as the bad stress I discussed above.

What about guilt? Ever beat yourself up for how you look or what you eat? Ever compare yourself to others and feel ugly? Thinking negatively about your appearance, eating patterns, or weight adds an additional load of stress and sends you scurrying for a glass of wine or a jumbo order of nachos.

Conditions in our environment can be stressful on the body, too, such as the changing of the season. Heat and cold can create stress, whether you’re indoors or out.

Now What?

The bottom line is this; you will have stress in your life. How you deal with it is absolutely essential to your health. Often, people reach for unhealthy foods to combat stress. This is likely one of the worst things to do.

Sure, in the short term, it’s not all that bad. But any behavior repeated over and over becomes a habit. Some habits are good, others are not so good.

Avoid the habit of “stuffing” your stress with food.

Rather, look for positive habits to form, such as meditation, exercise and movement to reduce your stress.

Your body will thank you for this.

Source - https://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/how-stress-causes-weight-gain

The Worst Productivity Advice You Will Ever Hear via @ScottDFriesen

There is an endless amount of productivity tips, tricks, and advice. Some are great. But some actually cause you to be much less productive overall. In this video, Scott Friesen shares a very famous quote from Benjamin Franklin. You'll learn why we shouldn't take this saying literally and instead find a better alternative to this common productivity tip.

You don't need more than two years

Two years is nothing, but at the same time a lot can be accomplished in two years. You can try a sport you've always wanted to start, and become great at it. You can start a morning routine and affect your mood and stress at a deep level. You can meditate for a few minutes per day, become more self-aware and change the way you react to problems. You can start a business and make it a big success.

5 Keys To Stress Relief

By: Helen Macmillan


Do you remember the last time you got caught up in a situation that pissed you off or made you so fearful that it completely dismantled your ability to respond in a constructive way? Sometimes it can feel like you didn’t really have a choice in how you responded, it "just happened". If you’d like to have a more conscious choice in how you respond to stressful events in your life, keep reading…

Imagine this common scenario: You’ve had a late start to your already overbooked day and are already feeling somewhat stressed when you get into your car and remember you needed to get gas as your tank is on "E", so now you have to make another stop, which will delay you further! Depending on your typical thought process, you may immediately begin to feel anxious and worried: "Oh no! I’m going to be late for my appointment", causing tension to build as you speed down the street, gripping the steering wheel tightly and swearing at the slow poke driving leisurely in front of you. Or, you may find yourself getting angry, berating yourself with thoughts like: "Why am I late again?… I should be more organized… I should have gotten gas last night… But I was just too tired! … I need a break! …They better not give me any crap about being late! … Do they have any idea what my life is like?… I’m not putting up with any crap today. After all, they kept me waiting last time!". You head into your day feeling belligerent and defensive..

The Mind Body Link

Whether you react in fear or in anger, the thoughts in your mind create stress in your body. Your heart beats faster, your blood pressure rises, your breath becomes shallow, your adrenalin surges, and you produce higher levels of a hormone called cortisol. The primitive "fight-or-flight" response is activated but there are no lions or tigers coming at you – "just" thoughts convincing you that your survival is at stake.

Your thoughts have immense power. When something happens that violates your sense of how things should be, and you perceive danger ― whether real or imagined. Are you aware that numerous studies have shown that chronic stress accelerates aging and makes you more prone to dis-eases like heart disease, stomach ulcers, cancer, insomnia, migraine headaches, panic attacks, and depression?

Fortunately, there are many valuable practices that can help you go beyond the primal fight-or-flight response. You can train yourself to respond from a more evolved part of your brain creating a different response – one that is as natural as the stress response – but infinitely more peaceful, healing and aligned with what I call your ‘Million Dollar Zone’ (that state of being where you are grounded, relaxed, flowing and abundant).

Choices that Relieve Stress#

1. Connect With Your Body. While the mind is constantly flitting to thoughts of the future and memories of the past, the body lives in the only moment that truly exists: the present. One of the best ways to relieve stress is to tune in to your body. Allow yourself to feel all your bodily sensations, including ones that your mind might label as "unpleasant", such as tightness in your jaw, churning in your stomach, or stiffness in your neck. Most people want to avoid feeling these sensations but if you allow yourself to observe them without judging them as "good" or "bad", or needing to understand, interpret or rationalize them, they will often resolve spontaneously. Tuning into your breath is also a great way to connect with your body and create a shift in your state of being.

2. Meditate. Meditation gives you access to the inner silence and calm that lies beneath the mind’s noisy internal dialogue. You can experience profound relaxation that dissolves fatigue and long-standing stresses. Studies have found that a daily meditation practice can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, decrease anxiety and depression, and reverse the biological markers of aging. There are many different ways to meditate, so it’s about finding the ways that work for you. This is one of the tools I teach in my retreats and programs.

3. Understand Your Unique Stress Response. Your conditioning and life experiences play a great role in how you respond to stress. Here are three common patterns of responses to stress:

Type 1- You respond with anxiety and worry. Normally creative and enthusiastic, in the face of stress, you tend to blame yourself for your problems and become extremely nervous and scattered.

Type 2 – You are usually warm and loving, but if you’re out of balance, you typically react to stress by finding fault with other people and becoming angry.

Type 3 – Normally, you are even-tempered, easygoing and gentle, but when faced with overwhelming conflict or stress, you withdraw and refuse to deal with the situation. You tend to avoid confrontation at all cost because it’s just too stressful.

Do any of these describe you? Maybe more than one? No judgement here. Just awareness.

When you become aware of your response, you can interrupt the cycle and choose a different response. Awareness is the first step of my 5 step S.H.I.F.T. process because you cannot change what you cannot see.

4. Learn the Skills of Conscious Communication. When we aren’t able to clearly communicate our needs, we experience a lot of stress and frustration in our lives. Fortunately, conscious communication is a learnable skill. With practice, you can learn to express your needs, ask for what you want, and create more fulfilling relationships. The skill of conscious communication are a vital component of all my programs.

5. Exercise. Doing some form of exercise will help to shift your focus, get your blood and energy flowing, calm the nervous system, increase the production of stress-relieving hormones, and release stored toxins. The key is to do something that will cause you to stop dwelling on stressful thoughts and help you feel more lighthearted and joyful. You don’t have to go to the gym to do this, many people (myself included) find certain housecleaning activities extremely cathartic. So is taking a walk in nature or practicing yoga. Not only is yoga an excellent physical exercise that increases your flexibility and strength, it also balances the mind and body. With a regular practice, you begin to experience a sense of calm and wellbeing that extends beyond the yoga mat into your daily life.

In life there will always be challenges, they are actually here to serve us, to help us grow but sometimes it hard to see that when they come one after another and we are overwhelmed!

The goal isn’t to try to control the flow of life so that we’ll never experience stress or frustration again; the secret lies instead in having compassion and patience as we learn to befriend our mind. No matter how long you have been stuck in habitual thought patterns, you can learn to remain peaceful and joyful even when life is stressful.


http://www.articlebiz.com/article/1051625204-2-5-keys-to-stress-relief/

How To Cure Stress Eating

By Hannah Levi

Do you often turn to the refrigerator for comfort? Do you find yourself eating for emotional reasons rather than because of actual hunger? Then you need to cure stress eating before it starts to really take a toll on your body and your health.

Unfortunately, the fact is that most of us (unless you are particularly health conscious) turn to eating as a response to our negative feelings even when we are not actually hungry.

Boredom, loneliness, stress, low self-esteem are among some of the negative feelings which tend to lead us to overeating and consuming unhealthy produce. The result is almost always a general feeling of unhealthiness and unwanted weight gain.

However, if we search for the real emotional reasons behind our compulsive eating habits then we can heal ourselves and at the same time break this terrible habit. And yes it is a habit and not a disease, so there is definitely no reason at all that you won't be able to break it.

If you are eating because friends are persuading you to do so (like convincing you to eat a calorie-stuffed dessert) then explain to them nicely that you personally feel much better when you take care of yourself. Good friends will always understand and they will also respect you for it in the long run. So no need to feel self-conscious.

To be honest the most important factor involved to cure stress eating (or emotional eating as it is also called) is to identify that you have a problem. Once you've identified it the battle is halfway fought. OK sounds good, but how do we break the habit.

First of all try to identify how you are feeling every time you eat. If you are feeling negative emotions then try doing something else first to relieve them like going for a walk with a loved one, writing a letter, or doing some kind of hobby that you enjoy. Exercise is also good for releasing negative energy and usually after exercise the body automatically wants healthier food.

Try to find a friend who also suffers from stress eating and break the habit together. Believe me most people actually suffer from this to some degree so it won't be hard to find a partner and build up a support system for one another. The hardest part is the first couple of weeks because of the well-formed habit. After that it only gets easier.

There are plenty of self-help websites available where you can find lots of tips on how to break this nasty habit and cure stress eating altogether.

Stick to it and you'll feel younger, energetic, loose weight and generally have a feeling of well being and a good mood. Who wouldn't want that then?

Article Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/mental-health/how-to-cure-stress-eating

Running From the Rat Race

by Roseanna Leaton

Is it just an age thing or does it seem to you that there are more people recognizing the pit-falls of modern day materialism? I was chatting with someone earlier today whose husband had retired early because it was either that or die from stress related symptoms. She too had chosen to retire early and stated unequivocally that she does not miss her high pressured job one tiny little bit. 

Within thirty minutes of that conversation I heard another friend comment upon the difficulty of working with particular partners who only sought to benefit their own end, and did not fully comprehend the value to working together in a more giving fashion. We hear many comments about "the rat race" or it business being "cut-throat", and so on. That's not very inspiring is it? 

What does this say about how we as a community approach business? It would seem that business can all too often become a money grabbing tread-mill upon which you have to focus so hard in order to succeed that you miss out on many of the more important things in life. You can easily forget the reasons why you set out on that course in the beginning and lose sight of both enjoyment and fulfillment in the process.

It becomes easy to lose sight of the fact that in the long run we gain more from giving than receiving, besides the fact that running at break neck speed on a treadmill isn't always good for one's health and well-being. It is easily understandable that stress is an ever increasing modern day health hazard. We stress our minds and bodies by constantly doing things at a pace which does not allow us to "smell the roses along the way". We become so absorbed in seeking results that we forget about the process.

And yet in most things in life, if you focus upon the process the results will look after themselves. Reverting to the issue of age and having a more mature mentality, perhaps one of the main learning curves of life is that of learning to decide between personal gratification and global "goodness", if you see what I mean. 

I think we all have the awareness that money doesn't automatically bring happiness, and also that the best things in life don't actually cost a dime; and yet we are tempted by these things like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Life would appear to be all about biting into those apples and discovering through first-hand experience the effects of our own actions.

Some of us take longer to learn life's lessons than others. We learn and develop at our own pace. For many of us it is our state of health which finally gets the message through to us. High blood pressure, heart disease and most other illnesses are the messengers which tell us that it's time to step off the tread-mill, slow down and reassess our lives. We begin to question what is in fact most important to us and what really makes us feel good.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis downloads for health and well-being.

http://www.articlebiz.com/article/1051344531-1-running-from-the-rat-race/

The Gift of Stress

By Norma T. Hollis
The official guide to Authentic Communication Skills and Training

The Gift of Stress
Norma T. Hollis

Have you ever considered that the stress you may be feeling is actually a gift that is priceless? When I speak to people about stress as a gift I receive the strangest looks. Most people seem to see stress as problem on top of problem. What I have found is that many things that we call stressful can be viewed as a gift with just a slight change in perspective.

Generally when you feel stress it is because there is a mismatch in some aspect of your life. Perhaps you are expecting something that didn’t materialize. Or maybe you received information that all of a sudden required you to change your day-to-day life patterns. Maybe it was something you learned about your health or the health of someone dear to you. Many of us have financial stress – this doesn’t require any explanation, especially in today’s topsy-turvy financial market. Or maybe you are having relationship issues or feeling something intangible that continues to nag at you.

Whatever the situation that is generating the stress in your life, it can be refocused with just a slight adjustment in your perspective. The perspective that I offer you is the perspective of “Authenticity”. As America’s Leading Authentic Voice Doctor® I have studied human nature for over 30 years. What I have learned has been summarized in what I call the nine dimensions of authenticity. Once you have an understanding of the nine dimensions you can assess how your life is progressing in these dimensions and this reveals to you the areas in your life that are probably causing you stress. And once you uncover this information you will then know how to modify your life to create positive change that leads to reduced stress.

The nine dimensions of authenticity are divided into three pillars which I call domains. It is based on the foundation that each of us have an authentic voice within that reminds us of the gifts and talents that are a natural part of ourselves. We have the ability to tweak our lives to live more aligned to what is authentic for us. These three important voices are Inner Voice, Outer Voice and Expressive Voice.

Inner Voice focuses on the voice that speaks within your head. The three dimensions are Intuition, Integrity and Inspiration. Not responding to the intuitive voice that speaks within can produce stress. We each have an internal GPS system that guides us from day to day. It’s the intuitive voice that answers us when we ask ourselves what to wear or what to eat. The gift is realizing that you have an intuitive voice that you are not listening to. When you decide to listen, trust and respond to that voice you remove areas of stress in your life. The Integrity portion of Inner Voice causes stress when you are associating with people who do not share your values. Friendship is a celebration of shared values. If you are in relationships with people who do not share your values you are potentially dealing with stress. What a gift to know that it’s time to change your friendships. And the dimension of Inspiration lets you know whether you are driven by internal or external forces. If you are making decisions based on the motivation of others rather than internal drive then perhaps this is the foundation of stress you may be feeling.

Outer Voice focuses on how others perceive you. The three dimensions are Net Wellness, Net Work and Net Wealth. Net Wellness relates to your overall health. There’s no need for explanation about how health issues can cause stress. When health is an issue it is probably dominating your thoughts and this is certainly stressful. Recognizing that you have wellness issues that you might not be addressing is a gift that will reduce stress once dealt with. And when you deal with health from a preventive angle you reduce stress significantly by creating more security regarding the potential for health issues. NetWork refers to the quality and quantity of your relationships. When you do not have close friends or cannot find the people that you need to move forward in life this may be a source of stress. Perhaps it’s time to expand your network. And when I mention Net Wealth people generally think first of money. When you do this you set yourself up for stress because most of us never have enough money. However when you tweak your thoughts to see Net Wealth as the things that provide abundance and joy in your life you have the opportunity to assess the degree to which you have focused on financial issues rather than issues of abundance and joy.

Expressive Voice refers to how you share yourself with the world. The three dimensions are Legacy, Likeability and Lifestyle. Legacy refers not only to what you leave to your heirs but also the gifts and talents that you were born with. If you have certain gifts and talents that you are not using then certainly you are feeling stress. What a gift to realize that you can find work or hobbies that honor your natural gifts and talents. Likeability is your personality. When you are not feeling your best self you may be a little stressed. This becomes a problem when you begin to forget your best personality and too frequently show your personality that is less desirable. You give yourself a gift when you share your best self. And finally Lifestyle refers to your day-to-day habits. If you are not using your time wisely, rushing through life or otherwise engaged in stress producing habits you have the opportunity to change what you do and create a lifestyle that celebrates you and your achievements.

By considering that stress is a gift you can gain tremendous awareness of how you might want to tweak your life to increase your overall satisfaction and joy. A stress-reduced life of joy and abundance awaits you.

Link to original article 

Midlife Crisis is a scam

By: Yong Mu Ming

Good for you, because what you are about to discover is a proven system to get you out of it easily. Have you caught yourself using phrases like ‘Monday-blues, Work life balance and Thank God its friday’? Chances are, this is not your fault. Our culture is so used to tapping into entertainment as a solution to our stress. What would it be like if you are living with fulfilment in every aspects of your life anytime and anywhere, starting from today? What would it be like if you’re paid for who you are and what you love? What would it be like if your family members are inspired by the contribution they know they’re making every single day? When your 4P of life is in alignment, miracles happens. They are your Personality, Passion, Purpose and Practices.

Personality

Personality is what enables you. Have you fully utilise your true strengths and preferences? I’ve facilitated in a class and met a lady manager whom suppressed her true energetic self just to portray herself as the ‘right’ relational image as a human resource manager. She could be an HR manager who gives bright ideas to move the department to the next level. She could also use bright ideas and her energy to build relationship as people wants to experience the joy around cheerful people like her!

1. I often visit _____ because…

2. I am more of a doer/ thinker/ relationship builder/ communicator, that’s why I tend to…

3. In a team of 5-10 people, the 3 contributions I think only I can make are…

Passion

Passion is what excites you. We’re going to work for more than 50% of our life anyway. Why not choose to be paid for passion and live an exciting life? It is very sad at how our culture has over glorified professions like lawyers, doctors, accountants and dentist. I’ve a doctor friend who feels that he is born a craftsmen yet it is a struggle for him to switch out of it. Imagine yourself actually doing the things you love and get paid by it, that must be one of the best experience you can have in life! Fortunately, with the help of technology, we can learn anything, anytime and anywhere. What do you want to improve on to achieve better results for your passion? Ask google, period :)

4. Before I die, I want to…

5. The 3 things that I’m always amazed about are…

6. If I have 3 arts/works that can support me for a lifetime, they will be…

Purpose

Purpose is what empowers us. While dreams and passion are said to give life to our works everyday, I believe that it only kickstarts what we really want to do in life. I believe, on the other hand, purpose is the inner core of what keeps us going. On top of having a dream, great leaders like Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs and Nelson Mandela have a strong vision and purpose to do what they do in life. They want to fight for mankind, peace and something worthy.

7. I strongly believe that…

8. The 3 things that frustrates me most in life are…

9. The 3 reasons why people should give a ‘crap’ about my ‘crap’ are…

Practice

Practice is what expresses you. It all makes sense only when we put our strengths, desire and beliefs into practice. Fortunately, the world has changed, and now is time for us to change the world. Take a video, upload to YouTube and you’ve setup a TV channel. Record an audio, upload to iTunes, you’ve just setup your Radio Station. Find a blog, choose a theme and you’ve just setup a business and movement.

10. When my personality, passion and purpose are in alignment, my life practices will be something like….

For example

I tend to think and share ideas with people about life. I love to create blueprints to keep myself aligned towards my goals and think of new ideas to improve quality of life. I feel for people who’re unfulfilled in their life because my early education experience does not affirm me for what I can do, while guiding me into a places where I don’t wish to go. That’s why I startup Brakefreee community with simple roadmap for like-minders who wants to live fulfilling life to come together, share issues and ideas to overcome and grow as a community.

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