Whenever we experience something unexpected, or have to deal with something that frustrates us, “stress” is involved.
If the threat is small, our response is minimal.
Stress relief is not needed, and we often do not notice it among the many other distractions in our daily lives.
So, what is stress?
The most commonly accepted definition of stress is that it is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that “demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize.”
We can easily become excitable, anxious, jumpy and irritable.
These symptoms of stress reduce our ability to work effectively with other people.
We find ourselves more accident-prone and less able to make good decisions.
Management of stress becomes too difficult.
Before long a vicious circle can kick in and stress can quickly become unmanageable.
However, there are many proven methods that can be used to manage stress.
These methods and skills will help a person to remain calm and effective in high pressure situations, and help them to avoid the problems associated with longer-term stress.
Managing Stress
As stated, there are many proven methods of dealing effectively with stressful situations.
Remaining calm and composed, particularly in difficult circumstances is a key requirement.
Quite often, our experience of stress comes from our perception of a situation.
The perception can be right or wrong.
We can be unreasonably harsh with ourselves or instinctively jump to wrong conclusions about the motives of other people.
This can send us into a downward spiral of negative thinking that is tough to break.
Even serious illnesses such as depression can result from experiencing significant stress over a long period of time.
Sadness and depression can be helped with cognitive tools.
NLP and our complementary tools, including emotional intelligence and hypnosis, can help you to change this negative way of thinking.
When people feel stressed, they have made two main judgments:
First, they feel threatened by the situation, and second, they believe that their capabilities and resources are not enough to meet the threat.
How stressed someone feels depends on how much damage they think the situation can do to them, and how closely their resources meet the demands of the situation.
Perception is one of the keys to this as it is our interpretation of the situation that drives the level of stress we generate.
Very often, however, we are overly harsh with ourselves. This, along with other negative thinking, can cause intense stress and unhappiness and can severely undermine self-confidence.
We offer phone coaching as an alternative, practical solution if you prefer this approach for stress relief.
However, one-on-one in person coaching for all areas of coaching and personal assistance is better and always available.