Managing Stress: How Intention, Flexibility, and Space Help to Keep You Stable During Life’s Ups and Downs
In the book “Think Like an Athlete” by David Nicholson, #46 (of 57 ways to think) is to
“Manage Stress,” which briefly covers the physical and mental correlation to
performance and encourages building stress relief into your daily routine.
I think it is safe to say that we all have experienced life’s ups and downs by varying degrees, especially in the last 4-6 weeks or several months—depending on where you live. Before this COVID-19 experience, I wrote down a goal to build stress into my routine and really make it a large focus of my day. Little did I know I would need it more than I thought I would!
One major way I have been focussing on stress management is to live intentionally. Granted, I sometimes slip into old routines and let the day pass by as it may—which isn’t always a bad thing either, as long as it’s not habitual. By living intentionally, I can choose how I want my day to go and keep my reactions in my control. Flexibility is always important too because the day may not always go as planned (*ahem* COVID) but we can certainly adhere to our values and maintain our best life within our environment.
So how do you manage stress? Here are a couple of quick tips:
1. Write down your goals for the month, week, and/or day. Ensure they are realistic and attainable! This builds some intention into your day and gives yourself direction.
2. Maintain flexibility because despite our best laid plans, sometimes we need to shift to a different mindset and plan a little differently for similar desired results.
3. Create space in your day for the things you love to do…
4. AND create space for the things that are good for you—meditation, drinking water, exercise, reading, casual conversation, watching a TV series, or whatever else that might look like for you.
5. As Nicholson says, “make the connection between your state of mind and the proportion of stress and relaxation in your life, to ensure that they remain in balance.”
Sometimes doing nothing is the most productive thing we can do! And maybe the proportion of stress and relaxation in your life requires you to completely slow down or do absolutely nothing (ie. something society might consider “unproductive”). Especially during this time, let go of self-judgment, know that you are doing the best that you can, and implement stress-releasing activities wherever possible.
I wish you all peace!
Be kind. Dream big. Empower yourself.
How do you manage stress? Share your tips in the comments!
