Avoiding Unnecessary Stress
Posted on July 22, 2013 by Markus Wilcox, One of Thousands of Christian Coaches on Noomii.
The secret to avoiding unnecessary stress lies mostly in your ability to create boundaries for yourself alongside a keen knowledge of self.
As I have stated before, there are many different kinds of stress that individuals have to learn to cope with in their every day lives. Many of these stressors are unavoidable – the perennial examples are family and money. It’s likely that these subjects will be the source of stress at least a few times over the course of your life, but the fact of the matter is that there’s not too much you can do to avoid stress caused by these things.
The truth of the matter is there are plenty of situations that we put ourselves in which cause stress that are entirely avoidable at the end of the day. The secret to avoiding unnecessary stress lies mostly in your ability to create boundaries for yourself alongside a keen knowledge of self. You need to understand what causes you stress before you can start pinpointing the situations that make you feel the worst. Once you’ve done this, you can start parsing out the situations that trigger stress that are entirely not necessary.
Of course, the process is personal and different for every person. But in an overarching sense, I have compiled a list of directives that may help you figure out what causes you stress and how you can remove yourself from stressful situations. The best way to stop stress, after all, is to stop it before it starts!
Avoid people who stress you out. This sounds like it would be simple, but consider your normal group of friends and how they make you feel when you’re around them. Good friends make you feel better and create a relaxing or a fun environment in which to unwind. Most people, however, have a couple of “friends” who generally end up causing more stress than they relieve. This doesn’t mean that anybody who’s having an off day is a bad friend and you need to cut all ties – but consider how much stress certain relationships cause you. If the relationship is an important one, take steps toward turning the energy around to make it a positive attribute of your life. If the relationship is less important, consider distancing yourself.
Control your living environment. There are many things that you can do to make your living space less stressful. If, for example, the news makes you stressed out, don’t watch it. Consider getting your news through print media or another less confrontational source. If your drive home from work causes you stress due to traffic, take an alternate route – even if it takes longer, the lack of a headache is worth the detour.
Learn how to say no. Many people just never know when to say when. There is only so much work or so much socializing that a person can take before it starts to wear on them and cause undue amounts of stress. It’s okay to say no every once in a while, even to people that you love. If they love you – or in a professional sense, if they appreciate your work – they’ll understand and give you the space that you need.
