De-Stress Your Life!!! – Part II

 

  Last Tuesday, we started off on this interesting subject of Stress. I have received feedback how the knowledge of Stress Myths has been quite helpful to de-mystify how we perceive Stress and its attendant hold on us. This is very good to know. I welcome you to a new day to disempower Stress inducing tendencies in your Life.

Today, we will promptly define 3 Major Dynamics in De-Stressing. STRESS TRIGGERS, STRESS FLAGS and STRESS EXITS.

 Like we shared last week, what causes Stress to one individual may not cause stress in another individual hence Stress is relative. Nonetheless, Stress is CAUSED by some Factor(s) in your lifestyle and pattern of doing things; whether at home, work or any other place.

A Stress Trigger is defined as the CAUSE of Stress in your Mind and Body. WHAT CAUSES STRESS FOR YOU? WHAT MAKES YOU STRESSED UP?

 

A Person once placed a late call across to me and was really concerned she was going to lose her job the following day. When I asked a few questions, she opened up to the fact that she had been under pressure to meet her Boss’s difficult demands but on this particular day, she had given in to pressure and exploded in anger. After drilling down a bit, we identified the following Triggers that caused her to be Stressed up:

1. Failed Expectations: She had expectations of herself towards her Boss which, in her estimation, fell short of her Boss’s expectations. This placed her under immense pressure that led to Stress. 
2.  Fear of Losing her Job: She had conditioned her mind that whatever it was going to take, she would meet the expectations of her Boss because it was unthinkable for her to lose her Job. ‘Coach, there are no jobs anywhere. I must make this one work’ was what she opined.
3. Fear of Negotiating Alternatives to the Expectations: She could not fathom a possibility of negotiating the standards her Boss expected. Upon sharing her experience, she suddenly realised she could have demanded some trainings, some more time to learn, some exposure, some mentoring/coaching which on the overall would help stem the Stress metre. Her fear of the ‘towering position’ of ‘the Boss’ killed the chance to negotiate.

Now, you will see that Stress can be Triggered by several factors like my Friend’s experience shows. Other Triggers that I have identified include: Anxiety/Worry, Fear, Hunger, Being Broke, Uncertainty of Events/Plans, Natural Disasters, Bad Past Experiences (Apprehension that they may re-occur), and a host of others.

As we sign out today, please be careful to answer this question: WHAT ARE 5 CONDITIONS IN YOUR LIFE THAT MAKE YOU STRESSED UP? Kindly identify these 5 and next week, we will explore what STRESS FLAGS these TRIGGERS come with.

Are you as excited as I am? See you next Tuesday. Cheers.

By Sam Obafemi