Stress is everywhere and affects all of us. However, there are people who seem to take stressful situations in stride. They seem to handle all situations with ease, peace, and tranquility. You probably know at least one person like that. Maybe you would like to become a person like that yourself!!
While we all have a different threshold for dealing with stress, you can greatly enhance your ability to stay relaxed in all situations.
Manage your reactions to stress with these strategies:
1. Maintain a positive perspective.
In most cases, nothing bad is going to happen that you can’t handle. There is always another potential, another person to date, and another opportunity on its way.
2. Create an alter ego.
Imagine the ideal version of yourself. This person would likely be brave, resilient, and unflappable, among many other possible traits.
- When faced with a stressful situation, imagine how your ideal self would handle that situation and just do it.
- In time, you will become more and more like that ideal version of yourself.
3. Respond slowly.
Cool and collected people respond slowly. They move slowly. Take a breath or three and respond to the person or situation confidently. Taking the time to respond is calming.
- You will feel more confident when you behave in the way a confident person would behave.
4. Build your self-confidence.
The more confidence you have in yourself, the less stressed you will feel.
- Self-confidence is very circumstantial. You might be highly self-confident while hitting a golf ball, but much less confident while giving a speech.
- When working on building your self-confidence, focus on those situations that will provide the most benefit.
5. Smile.
Smiling makes you feel better and more confident. It can also put others at ease. If you can smile genuinely in the face of a challenging situation, you can do just about anything.
6. Visualize.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to enhance your ability to stay calm in stressful situations is to visualize yourself being calm in a variety of stressful situations.
- It really does work if you do it regularly. At least once a day is preferable.
7. Practice having a present-moment mindset.
This helps to prevent your mind from imagining negative potential outcomes. All it takes is to keep your attention on your environment.
- This is more difficult than it sounds. Imagine trying to put your house key into your front door while a giant rottweiler barrels toward you. It is not easy to keep your eyes on the keyhole. Your mind and attention like to wander.
8. Relax your body and breathe deeply.
Relaxing your muscles and breathing deeply helps to short-circuit any stress response in your body.
- This is a skill that requires practice. First, you must remember to do it. Second, it takes a moment to focus your mind on your breathing and muscles. So, you will need to leave the current situation behind for a moment while you do these exercises.
Many of these techniques and ideas seem simple, and you are probably aware of several of them. However, knowing something is very different from doing it. For example, you know how to swim, but that is not the same as swimming laps every day. Knowing how to visualize is not the same as visualizing every single day.
The real power comes from using these techniques and ideas regularly and becoming an expert in their application.
Apply these ideas to your life and you will see steady progress in your ability to handle stress. Before you know it, you will be the calmest person in the room.
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