Imagine you're dealing with stress.
Unworked goals.
New job.
Struggling to do the bare minimum.
Can you afford to ignore stress?
Ofcourse, it hasn’t made you crash out yet. But small or big as it is, that stress won't go away. As you sit down to power it through your work, the stress is visible. Some might say you even have a resting worried face. But since you haven’t had a panic attack yet, you decide to ignore it.
The conversation with your brain goes something like this.
I seem stressed, do I take a rest?
No, I'll rest later.
I can think because I’m stressed, do i take a nap?
No, I'll sleep early tonight.
The stress, it’s getting worse you know..
But i can’t ditch my friends, i already said yes.
The biggest victim of stress is ignorance
We ignore how we feel, we distract ourselves from the way we feel through social media, biting nails, binge eating, overworking and so on.
We need to first address and acknowledge that stress is a part of our daily life. It helps and demands us to perform better and grow out of our comfort zone. But acknowledging it means setting yourself in proper environments, taking care of yourself & taking proper breaks.
Orchids & Dandelions
Some people naturally thrive in any environment. They are called Orchids. And some people thrive in specific environments, like Dandelions. It’s important to filter out and find what type you’re. Because if you set yourself around the wrong group of people, you might struggle to get along with people in some environments and that could cause you a lot of stress.
How is it for a Dandelion?
If you're a Dandelion, you might not be able to handle a harsh environment like going to the military. Taking on constant criticism, extremely strenuous exercises, routines and schedules. But you might fit really well to a team that is flexible, open minded and that works on creativity. 2 different environments but one would just simply fit better than the other.
Unlike Dandelions, an Orchid might be able to take on more of the stress and not be as triggered. They can adapt to even the most hostile environments like the military.
But being a dandelion, doesn’t it mean im just more of a pussy?
It seems that way doesn’t it? But it isn’t. Pushing yourself through in an environment like the military is actually suppressing the amount of creative energy you have. Because the environment is not designed to bring the best out of you. It's designed for you to be in constant survival mode. You can push through, but what you’re sacrificing is much bigger.
Self compassion
The best remedy to stress never comes from something external, it always comes from your inner work. Let go of rigid demanding thinking like;
I must pass these exams.
I must get married by x time.
I must get this job.
And instead become more flexible
I’d love to have this job.
I’d love to pass these exams.
And if I can't, I still can cope.
What if it’s a really important exam?
It doesn't mean you stop putting effort into preparing, exams are still important. But, it won't be the end of the world, you still get to live and learn from that experience. 1 loss of opportunity doesn’t mean all the doors to opportunity are closed. Most of the time, we’re blind to see them because we’re focusing so much on this one door.
All while the stress keeps on piling and piling up.
Taking proper breaks
The reason why you’re easily distracted roots hugely to not getting enough rest. How was your sleep last night? Your brain is an amazing machine. But it needs rest. It needs down time. Even if it’s meditating for 10 minutes, or taking a 20 minute power nap. It needs time to reboot itself. The break needs to be a real break.
For example, if you want to take a break, watching Netflix isn’t a break, reading a book isn’t a break. It has to be as less stimulating as possible. You need to cultivate time doing absolutely nothing. So power nap works. Just sitting doing nothing works.
But what if im on vacation and traveling?
Find time through your vacation or plan your vacation in a way that you’re able to take proper rest. You’d think that is such a boring thing to do, but it pays you dividends.
Stress isn’t the problem, it never was.
How you work around it is the real bottleneck. Learn to set yourself in proper environments, Practice self compassion & take real breaks.
Now, where’d that stress go?
Do you struggle with constant self doubt? Do you feel anxious all the time? It’s a sign that you could be having an unregulated self. Our 27 page guide shows you why this happens and you’d be surprised by the dramatic change it makes in such a short time. Click here