Nowadays, everyone seems to be under more stress than ever.  Recent research showed in 2020, that on a weekly basis, a staggering 79% of British adults, in employment, commonly experience work-related stress. This is 20% higher than 2018’s findings.  And perhaps even more concerning, it’s 25 to 34 year-olds who are feeling the most work-related pressure.

Stress comes from the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure. Most people feel stressed at some time and to varying degrees. Stress can affect each person very differently.  When you become stressed, your body releases certain hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, to help your body respond to the stressful situation. This is how stress can cause damaging physical changes in the body. Stress really impacts us both emotionally and physically, and so much so, that periods of stress can deplete your immunity, sleep, concentration and focus.

A small amount of stress can be useful as it can create some positive motivation to focus and get things completed. However, too much or chronic stress can cause a lot of harmful, negative effects.

Stress often arises when we are in difficult times, times of adversity.  But here is the thing, adversity is part of life and provides us with opportunity which we can use to our advantage.  It is not the situation that determines how we feel, it is how we handle it.  Stress comes from when you let the adversity be bottled up, like a storm brewing inside you, with no means of addressing or reducing that stress or it’s cause. Adversity itself is not the enemy, it’s the way we deal with it that is.  Just think: if you want the situation to be stressful, it will be, if you really want the situation to be an opportunity, it will be; it’s what you, yourself make of it.

In today’s society, when it comes to the word stress there is a certain buzz around it.  If you are stressed, there is an accepted connotation that you are very busy and presumably successful.  But that is not the case; being constantly busy and stressed are not precursors to being successful.  In Richard Templar’s book (Rules of Thinking) he’s says,  “Whatever you think, you will be correct”.  If you think yourself stressed, you become more stressed and so lock yourself into that perpetual, self-destructive cycle.

6 Easy Things You Can Do To Help Reduce Stress

• Eat a variety of nutritious food and hydrate well

• Exercise regularly

• Reduce your alcohol intake

• Use breathing and relaxation techniques

• Reduce the stimuli that are triggering your stress

• Practise daily gratitude

So, take a moment in your day to relax and reflect.  Try not to let the situation control you.  Plan your day and take control of it.  Plan your week one day at a time and write down the one thing you’re going to achieve today.

A way to help reduce stress and get you to focus on something positive, is to chip away, bit by bit, for small (but not insignificant) gains, in order to reach the bigger, longer term goals. Minimise any stress by not letting yourself think that you are stressed all the time but do think, and remind yourself, that you are just in a phase of change and growth.  What you think soon becomes your reality.  

Heal > Adapt > Evolve