As I watched a recent episode of the program it struck me that more of us should give our lives the Room 101 treatment. Another word for the phrase "pet peeves" is tolerations. Tolerations are things we put up with in our lives. They drain us of our energy and they increase our stress load.

They can be minor things like a squeaky door but each time you hear that door squeak you say to yourself "I must oil those hinges". And that thought will keep revolving inside your head until you oil those hinges.

Tolerations can also be relatively more serious like a toxic relationship. We can continue a relationship even when we know it is not nurturing us. That person is like an energy vampire.

We don't feel good when we are around that particular person. In fact, we may find that we are not expressing ourselves as authentically as we would in other more fulfilling relationships.

The thing is you could have a more fulfilling and nurturing relationship, if only you would create room for it.

Tolerations can be dealt with. You've just got to be ruthless in dealing with them. First of all, identify your tolerations. One of my coaches once asked me to write down 101 of my tolerations. It was challenging and I didn't quite get to 101 but I got very close. Once the floodgates open, all those things that have been niggling at your mind rush to the surface.

So my challenge to you is first to write down 101 tolerations. You may get stuck a few times but persevere because this exercise alone is well worth the effort.

You see, even if you simply put this list aside and forget all about it, if you review it after a few months you will be amazed at just how many of those items you are able to cross off. Once you've identified your tolerations in this manner your sub-conscious mind gets to work in helping you to eliminate these tolerations.

Your aim is to become a toleration-free zone.

The next step is to deal with your tolerations in a systematic and objective fashion. Another of my mentors gives his tolerations the D treatment. So once you've identified your tolerations go over each item and decide whether you are going to:

a) Drop it,

b) Delegate it, or

c) Do it NOW

a) Drop it

For example are you in the habit of saving magazine articles and emails saying I'll read that later and you never get around to reading them? Then this is an example of an item you should drop.

Let's face it. Life is short. We'll never have the time to do all the things we want to do. Therefore, ensure that you have the time to do the things that really matter.

b) Delegate it

Are you one the type of person who thinks that if I don't do it won't get done right? Are you the type of person who tries to do everything themselves? If so, get over it. Find ways to automate some of the things you are doing manually, i.e. delegate certain tasks to machines.

Identify what you are really good at doing and what specifically needs to be done by you. Then be diligent in finding individuals and or companies that can handle the rest. You might have to train someone to do certain tasks but, once the training is done, you can comfortably hand over that task.

c) Do it NOW!

There are some tasks that, if you don't take care of immediately, will have serious and perhaps irreversible consequences. You know what those tasks are and yet you procrastinate in handling those tasks. Why? Fear is often a factor and often they are things you don't like dealing with.

I don't need you to think about what will happen if you don't handle this particular task - you are already there. What I want you to do is to do it anyway. You are going to feel much better as a result because,

1. You have overcome your fear and taken action, and

2. You have regained control over that particular situation.

You will most likely find that dealing with these tasks is not as daunting as you first imagined.

Tolerations clutter our lives and when and where there is clutter energy cannot flow freely. When energy cannot flow freely blockages occur in our system and this results in symptoms of stress, such as headaches, nervous tics, tremors, skin rashes, indigestion, chest pain, fatigue, muscular tension and pain. Does any of this sound familiar?

Then take a no-nonsense approach to tolerations and start the process of eroding them from your life. The more tolerations you are able to remove from your life and the better you become at swiftly dealing with tolerations the more your energy levels and your ability to deal with stress will improve.