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Understanding and Managing Your Stress

Written by: Roger Ingbretsen

Article Overview: Stress management is, in its simplest terms, your ability to deal effectively with all the combination's of pressure that come at you on a daily basis. It is your ability to operate under optimal levels of stress without letting the pressure build to the point where you cannot cope. This is normally accomplished by developing a process of both prevention and intervention.

Understanding and Managing Your Stress

Humans have always been under the physical stress of survival, but what has complicated the process is the addition of more mental stress. People today are faced with many more options, choices and decisions.

Stress management is, in its simplest terms, your ability to deal effectively with all the combinations of pressure that come at you on a daily basis. It is your ability to operate under optimal levels of stress without letting the pressure build to the point where you cannot cope. This is normally accomplished by developing a process of both prevention and intervention.

Stress management is putting in place habits, which you can use to stay balanced and healthy, as well as quickly intervening and taking decisive corrective action when the pressures of life become too much. The more skilled you become at preventing stress before it becomes a source of dysfunction, the better your chances are of staying healthy, balanced, happy and living a productive life. Additionally, developing the ability to reduce or relieve stress already accumulated, which will happen during your lifetime, is also key to your mental and physical well being.

Some of the often-cited causes of stress fall into the following areas: money problems, workplace pressure, daily travel, holiday events, weddings/funerals, health problems and trouble in relationships. Your impatience, worry, guilt, blame, etc. about one or even several of these stress areas normally lead to finger pointing or wanting “it” to change. You can easily slip into a case of the “if only I.” If only I had more money. If only I did not have such a long commute. If only I did not have to plan or buy presents for the holidays. If only I could be in better health. If only he/she would be nicer to me.

The reality is, most all of the things or people that you are specifically or vaguely blaming for your stress are not going to change! Money or things do not know they are causing stress. The workplace can at the same time be both stressful and enjoyable depending on who you ask on any given day. Every commute day brings more traffic and people, not less. You will always have holidays, weddings and funerals to deal with. You, or someone close to you, will never be completely healthy. Finally, there is no such thing as a perfect relationship. It is one important area of your life that will require constant attention and nurturing.

What can you do to handle stress? Fortunately there are practical steps you can take to cope more effectively with stress. The first step is to be aware of exactly what stresses you are under. This requires making a list of everything you feel is creating stress in your life. Is the stress emotional, physical or both? Is it “good stress” the kind that gives an athlete the competitive edge, or “bad stress” the kind that can lead to serious health problems? Are you feeling stressed by a real tangible problem or by the perception of a problem? Do you think the main cause of your stress is due to a single event or multiple situations? Is it a long-term or short-term issue? Do you believe you have any control over the thing or things you feel are causing you stress? Are others close to you feeling the same stress?

By accepting the fact you are under stress and identifying what you think are the causes, you can then start to put in place a game plan to change how you will approach life in a more proactive manner. The easy part in a stress management program is identifying possible causes. The difficult part (this is not meant to stress you out) is making the decision to “take specific action” to relieve the stress. In essence, you are listening to your alarm system and shutting off the cause so the frustrating stress level noise goes away. And…Do not count on anybody coming along to relieve your stress. You will have to do it yourself!

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