How to Deal with Stress: Instead of attempting to manage it, allow it to keep you on track. Is stress always detrimental to one’s health? In this essay, we provide an answer to that issue by outlining the differences between distress and eustress. We feel empowered and motivated by one type of stress; we feel frightened, worried, and helpless by another type of stress.
Top 5 simple steps to help you manage stress:
- Breathe Deeply: Take slow, deliberate breaths in for a count of five seconds, hold for two seconds, and release for a count of five seconds. This technique activates your parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and reducing overall stress and anxiety.
- Identify Triggers: Keep a stress diary for 2-4 weeks to track stressful episodes. Reviewing your notes can help you identify common triggers and patterns. This awareness can aid in developing strategies to mitigate stressors.
- Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Focus on a balanced diet, regular exercise, and mindful meditation. These habits can help reduce stress by promoting overall well-being.
- Seek Professional Help: Consider talk therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, to address negative thought patterns and develop coping mechanisms. A healthcare professional can also help diagnose and address underlying mental health issues contributing to stress.
- Practice Simple Stress-Relief Techniques: Regularly engage in stress-reducing activities, such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises. These practices can help you manage stress and anxiety in the moment, keeping you on track and focused.
These simple steps into your daily routine, you can better manage stress and maintain a sense of balance and well-being.
Let’s get started right away! Good Reasons to Enjoy Stress? What? Huh? This individual must be insane! Allow me to explain… Stress is a term used to describe the sensations of discomfort, worry, uncertainty, procrastination, and uneasiness that we experience from time to time. Right? Also, we tend to think of stress as something that is entirely and solely unpleasant. Contrary to popular belief, however, this couldn’t be further from reality.
Shall we take a closer look?
We now know from scientific evidence that there are two types of stress. Distress is the negative sort of stress, whereas eustress is the positive kind of stress. Stress is the emotion we experience when we have procrastinated, lack self-confidence, have been screamed at by a supervisor or loved one, or have gone through a terrible experience of some kind. Distress prevents us from feeling fantastic, happy, and joyous about our lives or forthcoming events because it takes our attention away from them. This type of negative stress makes us feel weaker on all levels: cognitively, physically, and emotionally. Distress confines us to a small space.
On the other hand, stress is one of our most trusted companions. It is excitement, the type of stress that will keep us awake all night because we are so thrilled about our upcoming job interview, upcoming event, or new enterprise. Eustress is the driving force behind us practicing our phrases or body language in front of the mirror. This great sort of stress serves as the gasoline that propels us beyond our comfort zones and our existing limits and capabilities. What a difference it makes!
And now, returning to the original question, why should I like stress? I’m talking about EUstress!
Growth necessitates the presence of stress.
We don’t grow until we are pushed beyond our comfort zones and encouraged to strive for greater things. If we do not continue to develop, we will never know what we are capable of. We can overcome our difficulties while we are under stress, which plays a significant part in our drive.
Stress helps people concentrate and focus more effectively.
For example, have you ever gone on a job interview and it appeared that you were able to ace every question that was thrown at you? It seemed like you were destined to be successful. Did it appear that you were unwavering and deft on your feet while you spoke? Did you take yourself by surprise with how fast and efficiently you were able to connect seemingly disparate thoughts and ideas? That was Eustress in all of her radiance! Thank stress the next time you find yourself “in the zone” for providing you with a competitive advantage!
What to Do When You’re Under Stress?
The difficult aspect of the process is finding out what sort of stress you are experiencing. The idea is to never try to get rid of stress because it is just not feasible to do so! Ultimately, the aim is to transform your distress into eustress.
How to deal with stress in a way that makes you feel empowered and inspired:
1. Acquaint yourself with your fears.
Don’t try to get away from them. As soon as they take hold of you, grab them back and start dancing. Allow your inner voice to sound something like this: “Fear, I see you, I hear you, and I feel you!” You may have tried to stop me in the past, but today is all mine, and nothing will ruin my day! ”
2. Create and maintain a positive frame of reference.
Several days or weeks before the event, visualize yourself accomplishing an excellent job and earning positive praise. Make time in your day to practice this visualization technique and make it a habit. The more difficult the work, the greater the amount of practice and visualization you will need to achieve your optimal goals.
3. Don’t forget to take deep breaths!
Take a few deep diaphragmatic breaths if you feel yourself becoming anxious or having facial strain. With each exhale, diaphragmatic breathing directs the blood flow from your brain and heart to the stomach, alleviating redness in your face and relaxing light-headedness!
4. Recreate the worst-case situation in your mind.
Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a failure; there are only outcomes. Even if your “stressful” event does not go exactly as planned, remember that perfection was never the aim. Failure is defined by a lack of perfection and errors, not a lack of humanity!
For the most part, your attitude will decide whether you are experiencing distress or eustress. Which side of the fence do you most like to be on? How can you use your stress to propel you to a greater level of performance?
It’s not stress that kills us; it’s our attitude to stress that kills us. Hans Selye is credited with inventing the term “Hans Selye.”
As always, I hope this information is useful to you as you continue your path of learning how to deal with stress. Please feel free to distribute this information to your family, friends, and coworkers.