Have you ever had a snowball fight, inside? Last week, I had the honor of speaking for nearly 100
Black Hills Forest
employees at Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer, SD. Like many of the organizations I've worked with over the past 14 years, they are challenged with new technology, restructuring, new leadership, increased workload, and decreased resources.
Everyone wrote down one of the changes that they were experiencing on a blank piece of paper, crumbled it into a ball, and threw it across the room. They were figuratively throwing away that they have no control over changes. As John Wooden famously said, "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
Whether we initiate change ourselves or it is thrust upon us, your ability to increase your resilience and decrease your stress is under your control. One way that you can help yourself is to change the way you think.
Change the way you think
1. Think about what you did instead of what you didn't do
2. Stay focused on the present instead of the past or future
3. Compartmentalize challenges
4. Replace negative self-talk with positive thoughts
5. Don't make assumptions
6. Give others the benefit of doubt
7. Do your best: "humanness doesn't require perfection" - Ellen Sue Stern
These seven tips were among many strategies that I shared during the "Growing Through Change and Stress" workshop for the Forest Service.
I hope these tips will enable you to handle change and stress more effectively.
Got more tips
? I'd love to hear them.
Happy Spring!
