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Rest Stress

How to Reduce Your Stress by Over 30%

RESTJust last night I was coaching a client who experiences pretty high levels of stress, some pretty severe back pain and with a bunch of anxiety thrown in every now and again. Have you ever been down this road yourself? I know I have. And I still do occasionally, until I remind myself of what I am about to share with you now.

It’s OK

In fact, as I recently posted on Facebook, it is ok to be ok with ok. And once again… It is ok to be ok with ok.

I just wanted to leave that sit with you awhile. In the crazy world we live in, there are sometimes some really unrealistic expectations that we perform at 110% every minute of the day. We see that motivational expert or highly successful person who is on stage or on TV and ramping things up to 120% and we think, ‘If only I could be like that’. What they don’t show you is the down time that these people need either side of the ‘big performance’ so they can actually sustain the 120% when the ‘show’ is on. Or the bit where they collapse in a heap because they have not allowed their body to rest.

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Happiness Tips

Happiness Tip: 7-Step Strategy for Managing Stress or Overload

overwhelmedI am not going to ask if you have ever been stressed before because I know the answer is a big yes. You are pretty much guaranteed of stress in your life when you start playing the game.

The ‘game of life’ I mean. I was sure as hell feeling it over the last month and that is why I skipped out on a February Happiness Tips Newsletter. I was too busy ducking and weaving and fretting and worrying and trying to get out of the washing machine that I had inadvertently decided to take up residence in. This is what I found out along the way.

There are many types and definitions of stress, but I am going to look at the one that is on the other side of ‘overload’. I will share with you the 7-Step Strategy that I use and have found effective, plus look at some of the preventative measures as well. Because let’s face it – there are definitely some parts of the stress game I would be happy to do without.

Categories
Happiness Tips

The lesson we all need to learn

lightbulbI am going to tell you a story, which as we know is one of the best ways to learn. In fact all the greatest orators have been great story tellers.

Now I am not implying that I am a great orator. I like to think more of myself as someone who is good at making mistakes and then not being too embarrassed to tell others about what a complete and utter dill I was at the time. Here is one of those stories where I was a bit of a dill, or what psychologists like to call the power of ‘group-think’ (not quite the same result as a ‘think tank’ or ‘mastermind group’). It all started when…

It all started at 11:30pm on 16th of August, 1969 on a pleasantly cool north Queensland night…

Sorry. I will spare you the 27 years of antics that lead us to the current story. It was 1996. I had managed to convince the Australian Army that I needed a year off (to travel the world) and that I would be diligently returning when my travels were done (and to think I tell myself that I am no good at sales pitches). So here I was in March 1996, over in Lake Louise, Canada; getting ready for a kick-arse ski adventure. I had friends whom I could stay with, free lift tickets, half-priced ski gear and I was ready to rock and roll on the slopes.