Having a Purpose...
I wrote a piece last week about stress. It felt right, after all it is stress awareness month. I wrote this huge piece in text and had it scheduled in for posting before an hour before it posted and I instantly felt stressed out myself. It was weird in truth but reading it, it just wasn't me. Not sure who I was trying to be or who I was trying to convince but it just wasn't me. There was nothing wrong in the words but the message was completely lost.
So I had to ask myself what is it I am trying to put across to people in the post and the answer was I was trying to give people top tips to help them combat their own stress levels. It didn't need to be wordy or pages long, just simple and clear.
So my top tips in my short video (yep scrapped the words altogether and did what I am most comfortable with) was ;
Introduce physical exercise into your life - It's amazing how much people underestimate the power of just being more active when it comes to managing your stress levels. Be it the gym, running or simply hitting a daily steps target the power of doing this is incredible as it creates a whole different chemical in the brain which in turn makes you feel good.
Having a higher purpose in your life - Having something that has a higher purpose in your life other than the thing that is stressing you out is super important. It can be a welcomed distraction to the 'thing' and can ground you as it reminds you that there is bigger things going on in life that you often lose sight of. Some people get involved in charity work or community groups. For me, that comes in the form of my Fit Ayrshire DADS and Masses groups that helps thousands of people with physical and mental health. After a long and at times difficult week at work last week it was good to forget it and get involved in our race on sunday raising money for the migrant crisis in Ukraine. This is exactly what point 2 is all about, it puts your own moan and groan into perspective and you soon forget all about it. I even got to run around the course with my Daughter Tilly which made me smile ear to ear.
Modelling on someone - This is one many overlook. Modelling on someone who has been through what you are going through is like the secret path that not everyone thinks about. Ultimately this is about finding someone who has cracked the same problem and learning from them what their strategy was, what worked and what didn't, taking advice and basically using them to help you deal with it quicker so you don't become stuck.
So there you have it my 3 top tips for helping manage your stress. All tips I use myself and will use again and again. Stress is something we practice in our head but just as quickly as we practice putting it in, we can practice taking it out. Give some of this a go and good luck.