Stressed? Here are 4 ways to help keep you calm and productive!

The older we get, the more responsibilities. Mortgages, kids, work, health, nutrition, deadlines; the list could go on forever. All these things pile up and cause that little gremlin, stress, to appear. Now, most people have heard how stress can effect their health. It can lead to muscle tightness, headaches, and poor sleep at night. All of these side effects end up leading to more problems, and the cycle continues! Some people can get caught up in this stress mess for years at a time, never finding a way out. The purpose of today's post is about how to deal with stress. Some of these might sound simple and obvious, but hopefully they will give you a reminder to do them, and keep that gremlin away.

1. Walk

Just go walk. Don't think about anything in particular, whatever pops in your head, pops in your head. If you notice you start thinking about your stresses, then try and concentrate on the sounds all around you. Take a moment to listen to the birds, the planes, the cars, anything besides what bothers you. Don't think of this as exercise, think of it as moving meditation.  Now I know you're thinking you don't have time to waste on something silly like walking. Well look, if you keep sitting in your office freaking about everything you need to get done, you are going to be less productive. Take that 10-20 minutes and walk around. Clear your head. When you come back to your work, you will feel better than before and probably figure out a way to solve whatever you're trying to solve. Give yourself a chance to breath.

      2. Lift

Go pick something up. It doesn't matter if you don't have a whole  home gym or gym membership; just lift something. Exercise releases endorphins, which trigger positive feelings in the body. Exercise and lifting does a lot more than that though, it helps show you what you're capable of.  It creates personal goals for yourself, so that when you achieve them, you feel accomplished and successful. It will show you that you can overcome things, and get through whatever it is that life throws at you. I can't even imagine who or where I would be if I had never begun lifting. Through lifting, I have grown way more than just physically. I have learned so much about myself, and what I can do. It has honestly helped me in almost every aspect of my life; including stress management. When you realize your fullest potential, the things that stressed you out, just become easier to manage. You'll wonder why they bothered you  in the first place.

     3.  Set Goals

I've mentioned goal setting in one of my videos before, but I think it is extremely important. Without goals, you have no direction. You don't have to be crazy like me and set goals for every part of the day, but at least set daily goals. Figure out what the most important thing is that you need to get done that day, and set all your efforts on that. Accomplish your goal, and move on. The feeling of achieving a goal is incredible and will give you the energy to move on to the next one and then the next one. I would also advise setting weekly, monthly, and maybe even 6 month goals. Setting goals helps break big tasks down to little ones, and makes everything seem more manageable.

    4. Meditate

I have just recently started to meditate daily, and I absolutely love it. Allowing yourself to just sit, and concentrate on absolutely nothing, but your breathing, for 20-30 minutes is incredible. It helps to clear your head of stresses, anger, and hate. There are many ways to meditate, so find the one you like the best. Personally, I perform Vipassana meditation. Everything you need to know is in a book called, Mindfulness: In Plain English. The book is free online, and only 100 pages. If you are not sure if you would enjoy meditation, I would advise trying a short guided session. There are a lot of free ones on YouTube! So far, meditation has helped me to relax and focus on the important things in my life. It has also helped me realize when I'm stressing over things that are not as important as they seem or just not that big of a deal in the big picture!

This list could go on for a very long time, the trick is to find what works for you and stick with it. I use a combination of all four of these to keep my head on straight. Stress can destroy you, but it is just a part of modern society. We have so many things going on at once, but by employing one or two of these methods, you could stay calmer, happier, and become a more productive and stronger person!

Do not let the stresses in your life define who you are.

In true strength,

Nick