Last week the article was on The Happiness Formula and this week we will be learning simple steps to stop stress.

With the rapid pace of life and the constant demands of career, family and finances it is easy to see why so many people are feeling sad, sick stressed and tired.

That is one of the main reasons for sharing some simple steps to stop stress and help people start feeling happy, healthy, harmony and energized.

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The holidays are especially stressful for many reasons such as:

  1. There is a major shift in food availability and over consumption of excess unhealthy foods.
  2. Gifts, sales, shopping and holiday preparation on top of our routines requires more energy and time which for many people are in short supply so we create more stress and strain.
  3. Colder weather, longer nights and shorter days all impact our days, nights and circadian rhythm in the northern hemisphere. (the opposite occurs in the southern hemisphere and even long daylight hours and short night can cause lots of stress).
  4. Due to a shift in daylight time and weather many people exercise less.
  5. People also spend more time indoors with less fresh air and sunshine.
  6. Many family issues intensify with travel and holiday visits Often people feel alone and isolated watching so many others trying to be so cheerful.
  7. More colds, ear aches, flu and sinus issues seem to pop in the fall and winter.
  8. There is also quite a bit of pressure to perform more before year end at work and at home.
  9. Accumulated spending all year long combined with the urge to spend for the holidays to attempt to buy happiness is a major contributor to massive stress now and in the future.
  10. Many people also begin telling even more lies than usual and also hold back on sharing their true feelings which results in massive additional stress.

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We all know these contributing factors and can probably add many additional examples to the long list of major stressors. Stress is primarily caused by events, experiences and expectations that result from limiting beliefs and prior mental programming. Now is a great time to learn how to reprogram your mind and update those limiting beliefs. When we allow the events of life to control our emotions and happiness we are going to challenged on a daily basis. Many people have the illusion of control and this desire for control and the inflated ego will cause many of our stress issues to haunt us.

Your List of Simple Stress Reducers

Invest the time to list out your top twenty stress issues at year end or any time for that matter. Once you have identified the areas of your life that are causing the most stress you can begin simple steps to stop stress by reducing and even eliminating the main contributing factors.

The following offers simple steps to stop stress that anyone really committed to reducing stress in their life can implement.

Relaxing with a cup of Chamomile Tea

Relaxing with a cup of Chamomile Tea

The previous sentenced was worded the way it was because many people are addicted to creating stress to meet some of their needs such as getting attention or making excuses to rationalize that it is not their fault and try to feel better about themselves because of poor self esteem.

  1. One of the first simple steps to reducing and even solving your stress is to recognize and understand the link between emotions and behavior being the root cause of most stress.
  2. As we near the New Year this is a great time to begin focusing on creating healthy eating habits.
  3. It is also essential to have written goals and outcomes for the entire year to help you stay focused on what is really most important in your life.
  4. Maybe this year would be a great time to develop agreements to reduce stress and create more loving gift ideas for yourself and those you love. Remember my previous article on “All You Need is Love”
  5. It is also a great time to find better alternatives to gifts which cost too much and create shopping stress. Even people receiving gifts often feel more stress and hard feelings.
  6. Come up with strategies to deal with the seasonal changes in a healthier way.
  7. Be sure to maintain a balanced exercise program all year long. Adjust to accommodate the seasons and keep the programs interesting and varied.
  8. Yoga is a great exercise to reduce stress and can be done by all ages.
  9. Find ways to spend time outdoors and be sure to improve the air quality indoors. Eliminate all the toxic chemicals and smells in the house that you can.
  10. Identify and communicate family issues well before the holiday season and implement programs to reduce and eliminate them. Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is one of my favorites and works easy, fast and terrific.
  11. Having a regular meditation practice has been found to be a major step to reducing stress and improving the quality and quantity of your life.
  12. Find creative ways to connect and network with like minded people all year long and then you will have a more supportive environment of family, friends and role models.
  13. Learn ways to naturally improve your health and immune system so that you are less susceptible to the factors which can overwhelm people when they are eating poorly, exhausted and stressed
  14. Avoid watching the negative news and television and read some good books on self growth and personal improvement.
  15. Try an eco-vacation or educational seminar during the summer time or while on vacation to improve your life and reduce your stress. This can pay massive dividends all year long in all areas of your life.
  16. Come up with creative gifts or better yet share quality time which is one of the most precious gifts we have.
  17. One of the best gifts and simple step to stop stress is to remember the power of truth and always be open, honest and direct. Always find ways to maintain your integrity.
  18. Happiness during the holidays comes from developing a calm and peaceful inner state of being and mindset to focus on the quality of life in balance and not a result of external things, trinkets and toys.

Light a Candle and Relax

Life’s Lessons

Remember right now you can still reduce a lot of your stress before it increases by applying these simple steps to stop stress before it escalates out of control.

As you begin going through a recap of this year and learning the life lessons you were meant to learn based on the habits and routines you follow without consciously thinking about them you will come to realize most of your stress is self created by the behaviors, choices and decisions you are making.

Once we are willing to look within and see how we are contributing to our own stress we can accept responsibility and start implementing simple steps to stop stress.

Mastery Action Plan

  • Create a list of the top twenty situations that create the most stress during the year.
  • Now, begin to create a list of simple steps to stop stress and start creating happiness and peace of mind.
  • As we come to the end of the year begin realizing the part you played in creating the stress this year and start writing down ideas to implement for the New Year.
  • Start focusing our your goals and journaling your vision for creating a vision board and improving next year even more than this one.

Our next blog post will share: Creative Gift Giving