If I ask you “How stressed are you?”, how do you respond to the question?
Do you laugh? Or feel like crying? Do you feel angry or stressed?
It is important to check from time to time just how stressed you feel. Do the assessment and you will know when to take stress more seriously and when the time has come to look for new ways of dealing with stress. Start by thinking about these two questions: Am I Great or Am I a Walking Disaster?
Am I Great?
When you take on a task at home or at work, does it have to be done well? Does it have to be done better than anyone you know could do it? If you feel the need to do whatever you do to a very high standard, there is a good chance you are increasing your stress levels, too. What’s more, you are likely to be increasing your stress levels unnecessarily.
Of course, you need to get the job done. The cake needs baking or the report needs writing. However, do you really need to keep on striving and revising and improving and reworking what you are doing? Do you really need to spend that extra time and effort on making very small, additional improvements?
You are not in competition with yourself or with anyone else. Your aim is to get the job done to a satisfactory standard. The cake must be edible. The report must cover what is needed. Good is good enough in the case of most of the things we do.
If you are pushing yourself to achieve, even more, you will be making your life harder and more stressful than it needs to be.
Stop! Give yourself permission to do a good job and then to move on. You will feel better if you do.
Am I A Walking Disaster?
Now that you are rethinking your desire to do everything to perfection, let’s look at the other side of the coin.
Are you useless at some things? When it comes to ……. you decide what it is ………are you a walking disaster?
Do you feel bad about it? Do you feel stressed every time you think about that task? You know the one I mean!
There is no need to feel like this. You are not superhuman, but a human being. Just like everyone else, you are good at some things and less good at others. You cannot shine at absolutely everything you do.
If you believe you are useless or a walking disaster in some instances, try to be a bit more objective. If you think yourself incapable of doing something, ask yourself if anyone has shown you how to do that task? Ask yourself, too, if you want to be able to do the task, or if it is important that you are able to do certain things.
Be kind to yourself. Give yourself permission to be as you are. Today you are not very good at something. If you decide you need to learn, you will find a way. If you decide it does not matter whether or not you can complete that task, you can stop feeling stressed.
You And Stress
Most of the stress we experience is caused by our own beliefs and by the way we think about ourselves. Think differently and you will change your stress levels. Talk to me, Monica Varo, when you decide you would like to learn more about dealing with your stress.
Monica Varo is an integrative therapist. She helps her clients to become the people they always hoped they could be. Call her on 07772 467444 when you are ready to learn how to cope better with stress.
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