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How Healthy Is Your Lifestyle
Copyright 2004 by http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring Windblad. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as...
Secrets to Longevity
Secrets to Longevity What’s the secret to living a long life? Millions of people are constantly searching for an answer to this question. Many have lived well past the average age expectancy. These people are looked upon with great admiration and...
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Like enough of the noise awready! Geesh, people… No, I’m not talking about the sometimes nearly overwhelming noise pollution that goes hand in hand with living in a big city. Traffic sounds, horns, sirens, airplanes, construction...
Stress - The Devil Within
Stress takes many forms in our business lives. Exactly what it is very hard to define, but two statements seem to me to sum up the main cause and effect: o The fear that more is expected of you than you can reasonably achieve. o A feeling - real...
Top 5 Ways for an ADD Adult to Have a Happy Holiday
Holidays have the potential to send an adult with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) into overload. Too many details to plan, kids to manage, and family to cope with can turn a good day into a stressful one. The following suggestion can help...
 
Stress & Personal Development: When Navel-Gazing turns Nasty!

Generally speaking, the more we develop ourselves personally, the lower our long-term stress levels. After all, discovering our life purpose helps avoid the stress of pointlessness. Developing better communication skills avoids many relationship problems. Improving time management helps avoid feeling overcommitted in day-to-day work. On the surface, stress management and personal development seem to fit together perfectly.

There are times, however, when personal development itself can get a little out of control - when it starts adding to your stress, rather than helping manage it. When that happens, you can start to find yourself showing more of the signs of stress (for more information on these, ask for a copy of our free stress audit questionnaire), instead of less.

So should we totally avoid personal development altogether if we want to keep a handle on stress? Not necessarily, but we may need to look at what development we're doing and how it's affecting our stress levels.

SO HOW CAN PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT INCREASE STRESS?

All personal development involves change on some level, and change is a major source of stress for many people. This means that, even if you're trying to improve something that will eventually lower your stress level (e.g. time management or communication skills), it can sometimes act as a short-term.

There are four main reasons for personal development work causing, rather than curing stress:

- Too Many Areas - Lack of Balance - Unrealistic Expectations - Going it Alone

TOO MANY AREAS

Personal development can be addictive - who wouldn't want to be the best person they can in every area of their lives? With so many areas we could work on, we often try to improve in multiple areas at once. For some people, this isn't an issue. For others, however, the old adage "chase two rabbits, catch neither" applies.

If you're working on improving two or more areas of your life and your stress levels rise, consider asking yourself, "Which area is most important right now?", or, "Which area would improving make the most difference for me right now?" and then focussing on that area. Everything else will still be there waiting for you when you're finished with the first one!

LACK OF OVERALL BALANCE

Personal development takes commitment and willingness to act. Sometimes, however, we exaggerate the importance of a particular improvement to the point that nothing else matters, and other areas get neglected. For example, if you want to develop spiritually, you need to take time out to do this. If you start ignoring friends or work demands so you can


meditate to for hours each day, it may start causing stress.

Note that you're the only one who can say what the right balance of "personal development time". Some people might want to take weeks, months, or years out from the world for self-improvement. Most of us, however, want to integrate our development with our current lifestyles. If that's the case for you, examine how much time you spend on personal development, and consider cutting back if appropriate.

UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

It can be hard to create a mental image of how we want to be, then acknowledge how far we are from it now without blaming or getting angry with ourselves. In the same vein, once we have that clear image, it's easy to believe that we'll suddenly be able to act in accordance with it. If only it were that easy!

In reality, that habits take time to change, new skills take practice to implement, and little that happens overnight will last. If you're frustrated because you're not seeing progress (or not seeing it fast enough), remember self-improvement is a little like building a house. The first part of the work always happens beneath ground level - digging and then laying foundations. On the surface, it would seem absolutely nothing was happening. Yet if those foundations aren't laid properly, the house itself will collapse. Personal development can be a lot like that.

If you're frustrated by an apparent lack of progress, take a step back and ask yourself how realistic your expectations are. Talk to others who've made the same change - how long did it take them? What stages did they go through? While everyone's journey is unique, you may find that hearing from others helps put things into perspective for you.

DOING IT ALL ON YOUR OWN

Of course, personal development is personal - no-one can do it for you. But you don't need to deal with it alone. There's enough support out there - in the form of communities, mailing lists, forums, and trained experts - that no-one should feel alone. Type "personal development" or "self improvement" into your search engine of choice and see what comes up. Alternatively, consider consulting a stress management coach.

About the author:

© Tanja Gardner, Optimum Life Ltd.

Tanja is a team leader with the Internet's #1 personal development website, http://optimumlife.successuniversity.com.

For a free 30-min consultation on how we could help you live your optimum life, please visit http://optimumlife.co.nz. Or, for a copy of our free Stress Audit Questionnaire, please e-mail mailto:tanja@optimumlife.co.nz with 'Stress Audit Questionnaire' in the subject line

 

Stress Management Tips and Techniques from Mind Tools
More than 100 stress management tips and techniques, helping you manage the job-related stress in your life.
www.mindtools.com
 
Stress Management Techniques, Stress Relief & Stress Reduction ...
Mind Tools helps you manage the causes of stress and teaches useful stress management techniques.
www.mindtools.com
 
Stress Management
Stress Management. What is Stress? Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical ...
www.ivf.com
 
Stress Management: Information and Resources on Stress From About.com
Find a wide variety of stress management strategies you can use in your daily life. Learn about the causes and effects of stress, healthy and effective ...
stress.about.com
 
Stress Management
Links to stress management information on the web.
www.pp.okstate.edu
 
Links to Stress Related Resources
Return to the Stress Management and Emotional Wellness Page ... Cognitive Restructuring Approaches to Stress Management ...
www.imt.net
 
International Stress Management Association(UK)
The leading professional body for stress management. The ISMA website has articles from their journal Stress News, links and general advice on lifestyle and ...
www.isma.org.uk
 
Stress Management for Patient and Physician
Stress management for patient and physician. Stress is the most common cause of ill health, probably underlying as many as 70% of all visits to family ...
www.mentalhealth.com
 
Stress Management: Counseling Services, University at Buffalo
The description on stress management. ... Stress Management. Introduction Stress is a part of day to day living. As college students you may experience ...
ub-counseling.buffalo.edu
 
Stress Management and Anxiety Relief
Welcome to stressmanagement.co.uk - We specialise in managing your stress.
www.stressmanagement.co.uk
 
Stress Management for effective ways to manage stress
Our stress management services allows you to find the solutions to all types of stress. We also have professional stress management counsellors available 7 ...
www.stressmanagement.com.au
 
Stress Management--UIUC Counseling Center
Self-help Brochures. What is Stress? Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; ...
www.couns.uiuc.edu
 
The Stress Management Society
Congratulations to taking the first step to freedom from the stress trap. This is the place to learn more about stress and its management.
www.stress.org.uk
 
Stress management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stress management encompasses techniques intended to equip a person with effective ... Definition of stress: Stress management defines stress precisely as a ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
Stress
Stress Management. Everyone experiences stress from time to time, so it is perfectly normal ... Fortunately, stress management is largely a learnable skill. ...
www.cyberpsych.com
 
SBC Academic Resource Center | Stress Management
With stress management training, you can learn to avoid procrastination and other stress-producing situations. Stress Quiz: How Stressed Are You? ...
www.arc.sbc.edu
 
Mind Tools - How to Master Stress
3. Stress Management Techniques. Raising Stress Levels - Psyching Up · Stress Reduction Techniques · Reducing Short-Term Stress - Mental Techniques ...
www.psywww.com
 
Stress, stress management, occupational stress, stress prevention ...
A recent survey showed that 70-90% of us feel stressed at work and outside. Unless we learn to manage stress, we will get sick.
www.holisticonline.com
 
HSE - Stress Management Standards Homepage
The International Stress Management Association has produced a leaflet showing how employees can work with their employers to tackle work-related stress ...
www.hse.gov.uk
 
Stress Management Tips for Stressed and Overworked People.
Free weekly stress management tips and relaxation CD plus practical resources for stressed people.
www.stresstips.com
 
 

 
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