The Path to Stress Control

I presented my “Team Leadership” course to a wonderful practice in the northern part of the country last week.

We closed with a section on Stress Control—at the request of the doctor and the team. The principles of stress control have been the subject for my Wednesday Wellness blogs throughout the past months. The basis for the course—and for the material I have written on the subject –came from both my master’s and doctoral work in organizational psychology.

I studied how effective communication can reduce (not eliminate) but reduce stress. And, in studying that particular element of stress control, I was exposed to years of research of the subject of stress by experts in the field.

One of the major benefits of stress control is working toward and “achieving” a balance in life. I am asked almost every day by someone, what I have done—and do—to balance my life.

Well, of course, I am not always in balance—but I always work toward that. I find that when I am overly tired or overly stressed I simply don’t have the patience I need to handle personal, family, work, and industry demands or requests.

The first thing to do to control stress and seek balance is to become aware of your own body and mind. Determine when you get overly stressed—perhaps even to the brink of a blowup or blow out. Listen to your own body and listen to your own mind. Your energy level will tell you whether you are rested or overly fatigued. Your clarity of mind—your ability to think, to solve problems, to listen to other people (including your loved ones) will reflect your own tiredness or state of stress or your restedness.

No one knows your body or mind as well as you do. Listen to your own words; pay attention to your own energy level; and determine whether you have plenty of stamina to handle the demands of your days or if you are having to dig down deeply into your gut to pull out the required energy to even play with your own kids.

Consider your diet—are you feeding yourself properly? Consider food to be your fuel. Are you putting high octane fuel into your body or sludge? Are you building stamina by exercising on a regular basis—even if is taking your dog for a walk 2-3 times per week? Are you faithfully taking high level supplements that are produced purely? Spend the extra money and get high quality vitamins. Read up on this. (see the sidebar on Wellness International on this blog). Many of the cheap vitamins that you can buy over the counter pass right through your body and you get no benefit from them. Sleep 7 hours per night. Turn off the TV. Take a shower—and go to bed. You’ll be ok not seeing that episode of “whatever”. You have to decide if it’s worth it to you to regain balance and energy.

Study time management and apply the principles into your life.

Read positive material—inspirational material. Close your eyes and your mind before you go to sleep on something positive and awaken to something positive in the morning (even if it is one paragraph—or one sentence—or your own meditation or prayer).

I’ll continue to share thoughts with you on these two issues: stress control and gaining balance in your life. There is so much need for this. I have been listening to you. You can count on me to address your issues. Post a comment on this blog and I will address your specific questions and concern.

Here’s to your path toward balance.