Life is only 10% of what happens to you and the rest of the 90% is how you react to it.

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Stress is most commonly attached to situations when our equilibrium is altered. It can occur in instances such as losing your job, struggling to make ends meet, death of a loved one, major health catastrophe, marital problems, interactions with others, and overload from work, home or school.

Now these are only examples of negative stress, yet there are occasions in life that bring about positive stress like the birth of a newborn, graduations, weddings, an accomplishment of a difficult task and even purchasing a new car.

Stress can be either negative or positive, but the way that we react to stress is more important than the stress itself.​
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For the 90% of life that we react to on a daily basis, here are five ways to help you tackle the battle of stress:

1. Be Prepared.
   • Be prepared for when you’re under stress. Become aware of what triggers stress in your life, which is anything that alters your normal equilibrium, and do what is necessary to prevent those occurrences or lessen the intensity. When your body is under stress, your brain releases cortisol which causes cloudy thinking. So the best way to be prepared for any kind of stress is to recognize that you’re not going to be at your best and you should put systems in place so that you can know how to act in the situations which cause you stress or harm.
2. Change Your Mindset.
   • How you think and act can transform your experience of stress. Harvard University conducted a social stress test that taught participants to think stress response as helpful instead of viewing it as anxiety, nervousness, and fear. Participants were encouraged to view a pounding heart as preparing them for action and faster breathing as getting more oxygen to their brains for the stressful situation. Those who viewed their stress response this way, as being helpful instead of a burden, were less stressed, less anxious and more confident. The most amazing thing is that their physical response to stress changed. Their hearts could still be pounding from the stressful situation, but the results revealed that it was more similar to how one responds during moments of joy and courage!
3. Label Your Emotions Accurately.
   • There is a huge difference between the stress of deadlines to meet, versus, I’m in the wrong career. When we label our emotions accurately we are able to recognize the exact cause of our feelings, which leads us to cognitively being aware of what is happening and where we want to go. Scientists and neurologists call this the readiness potential, or the conscious awareness of our decisions. When this readiness potential is activated in our brains, it allows us to take concrete steps. Not just any steps, but the right steps towards how you react to your stress.
4. Make Time for Yourself.

• There is a huge difference between the stress of deadlines to meet, versus, I’m in the wrong career. When we label our emotions accurately we are able to recognize the exact cause of our feelings, which leads us to cognitively being aware of what is happening and where we want to go. Scientists and neurologists call this the readiness potential, or the conscious awareness of our decisions. When this readiness potential is activated in our brains, it allows us to take concrete steps. Not just any steps, but the right steps towards how you react to your stress.

5. Find an Outlet.

• Here are three ways for your stress to be relieved instead of storing it inside for it to eventually boil over.
  • Personal Faith. Those who have a personal faith are the happiest people because they have a place to take their stress to. It’s like having a best friend always there no matter the time or circumstance.
  • Exercise. Exercise plays a role in building resilience to stress. Exercise gives you an internal feel good not only for your thoughts, but also for your outlook.
  • Helping Others. Even for a short period of time, helping others has been shown to mitigate the negative emotional effects of daily stress. Find a local charity, volunteer, offer your skills, or even write a letter of encouragement to those sacrificing their lives to help others or individuals that are in need.

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“Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them.” - Albert Einstein

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Till next time 💛

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