3 Tips For Overcoming Stress

August 28, 2018
Aleksey Weyman

Stressful situations in life are pretty much guaranteed, but there are things we can do to relieve the pressure..

Life gets complicated and stressful, there's no doubt about that. But as we go through these times, we grow stronger and better equipped to handle them in the future. Growing and figuring out what works and what doesn't is one of the main principles of the formula for scalable success, and we are tested nearly every single day of our lives. Here are three tips for managing and overcoming stress.

1. Boil it Down to the Basics

Stressful situations can be complicated. They can have many moving parts and variables that clutter our minds and put us in a state of confusion. Start by breaking down the problem/situation to its fundamentals. Ask questions like:

What must our outcome be no matter what?
Is there a deadline that must first be met?
What is the single biggest obstacle preventing our solution?

Once the fundamental issues and goals are identified, we can make a more level-headed, prioritized decision and move towards success. Sometimes it turns out that the correct decision is the one speculated from the very beginning.

2. Focus on the Learning Opportunities

Every stressful situation in life is an opportunity to learn and grow. Like the muscles in our bodies, our minds too grow from stressful situations. With every failed attempt, Thomas Edison came one step closer to creating the lightbulb. Instead of focusing on how bad his attempts were, he focused on what could be improved in the next attempt- he was competing with nobody but himself. Eventually, he found the solution that worked, and that one solution was all he needed.

If you’re facing a stressful time, focus not on the possible negative outcomes, but rather on the lessons you will learn in the process. Humans have a fear of wasting time. It’s a very western mode of thinking that the less productive you are, the less valuable you are to society. So when we miss the mark on something and get stressed, we feel like our efforts are in vain. However, if we choose to focus on the lessons we’ve learned instead of dwelling on our failures, we feel empowered and in control of our situations.

3. Get Physical

Tony Robbins said it best; motion creates emotion. If you’re feeling stressed about which decision to make, try taking a walk or run to get your blood flowing. Also monitor the condition of your body- feeling fatigued? Could be low levels of Vitamin D, it's amazing what natural care can do for us!

Contemplating the same problem for a long period of time can pigeon-hole your thinking and increase your stress levels. When your brain feels stress, the rest of the body is impacted as well. The inverse relationship is also true- if your body feels better, so does your mind.

At the end of the day, we all experience stressful situations in life. Instead of taking to negative habits like smoking or eating, we can train our minds to overcome the stress in positive ways, and become more successful in the process.

What sorts of things help you overcome stress? Let me know on Twitter, and please consider sharing this mod using the social media buttons below.