It's That Time of Year
Hi, everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. I am sure we all needed a welcome break from "the grind"! It IS that time of year. Year-end crunch at work, holidays with planning, travel, shopping, etc., etc., etc. The list goes on. Seems like an obvious time to remind you all, as well as myself, to try and really do our best to manage all that.
Coaching Yourself & Others Through Stressful Times
These can be challenging times for all of us. All people, all job types, etc. And certainly as the years pass, the world continues to become a more complex place. With these challenges comes STRESS!
How we deal with that stress as individuals, team members, leaders, parents, friends, whatever has a ripple effect on the world around us. Clearly, it can seem as if we are being bombarded by a constant barrage of messages, both real and overstated. We are! And a sometimes seemingly endless list of things to do, places to be, deadlines. It can often feel like a 24/7 tidal wave that becomes hard to resist. So, how do we make it around and through all this "stuff" and come out the other side intact?
Negative weight certainly seems to carry much more weight and always holds us back from our true potential. Whenever possible, avoid negative people and negative messages. Resisting these "pearls of wisdom" wastes so much of our time and energy. Try saving it for the truly important things.
Be aware of developments in our world and those we care about. But don't let it totally consume you. Do not allow yourself to be sucked into the Armageddon-like gloom and doom we can sometimes be overwhelmed with today. There ARE success stories out there as well. Seek them out. Pay attention to them.
Avoid "catastrophizing". I'm sure all of us have had challenges in our lives that we have survived, overcome and grown stronger from because of the experience. Those are the times and experiences we need to draw on and gain confidence from when things are ramping up. We'll survive, adjust, adapt and move forward. Our past experiences prove that! Whatever "it" is, it won't last forever despite how bad it may seem at times. Intuitively we know this, but often our emotions take over as our resistance wears down.
Here are a few ideas I consistently touch on with my Coaching clients. They might help you manage your stress more effectively and allow you to focus on the positive. All good things!
- Turn off the negatives as much as possible! Tune them out!
- Create space for "me time". Start with something as small as one hour a week. It might be as simple as trying to carve out 15 minutes at the end of each day to stop, breathe and recharge.
- Try journaling! It doesn't have to be a full narrative of your day. It could be something very short, very easy and in turn very helpful and engaging. At the end of the day write down in your journal a) 3 things that went well; 3 good things that happened today to me b) one thing for which I am truly grateful and c) one goal for the next day.
- Laugh! As often as you can. Find your source of humor and tap into it. Now more than ever, the healing powers of laughter, whether it be a book, movie, TV show, friends, etc. can really pay dividends.
- Take care of yourself. Our health and the care of it is more vital now than ever. Be aware that what we put into our bodiesand how we treat those samebodies has enormous impact on how we think, feel and live day to day.
As the father of stress research, Hans Selye, once wrote, "It's not stress that kills us; it is our reaction to it."
Manage your stress. Take more control of your life where you can, whenever you can.
All the best to you in this holiday season.
Coach Dave
