Kids?



Spouse?

Bosses?

Bills needing to be paid?

Family?

Friends?

Hobbies?

The reality is most of us have so many demands on our time that even if we stopped sleeping and eating we still wouldn't have enough time to do everything we wanted to do.

The result of all these demands is an increase of stress. The result of this increase in stress is a decrease in your immune system, irritability, mood swings, high blood pressure, more sickness and a general feeling that life sucks.

However, without some stress in your life you may start to feel a bit bored and as if you are not living life to the full. Obtaining and maintaining your optimal stress level is a tricky thing to do.

So how can you manage your stress levels and find this balance?

Stress is a very insidious thing and can creep up on you before you know it. The best way of coping with stressful situations is to change your reaction to them. You can attempt to avoid them, or you can change your mindset and then the stressful situations are not so stressful.

One good method of doing this is to avoid continually reliving the stressful event in your mind. As you relive the experience, so you continue to relive the feelings associated with it. Either concentrate on the event and change it in your mind so it is no longer stressful or push it out of your mind and focus on more pleasant things.

If you find the same stressful situation keeps on occurring in your life then you need to face up to it and deal with it. This can take a lot of courage and for some people may be a very difficult step to take. However, once you have dealt with the situation and resolved it so it is no longer stressful, it is over and done with.

Napoleon Hill is renowned for saying that out of all your worries only about 8% are something you can actually do something about and are real. Often worries remain nebulous and hidden, lurking in the corner of your mind. If you write them all done, you may find as many as 92% of your worries melt away.

If you know that you are going to encounter a stressful situation then you can plan in advance for it. For example, if you have a job interview coming up you can focus on a positive outcome rather than on the stress of it. Also plan to make sure the run up to the event is as stress free as possible, i.e. make sure you leave in plenty of time, get everything ready before hand. This will help you to reduce your stress levels and keep you calm.

Remember that whatever happens in your mind is as real to you as what happens in the world around you. Control your mind and you can control your reality. Manage your stress through planning and forethought and you will find that you can dramatically reduce your stress levels and improve your quality of life.