Stress Reduction
Today's hectic pace of living is taking its toll on society. At work, many people are put under relentless pressure, our transportation systems are frustratingly clogged and the cost of living is driving us all crazy.
Never has it been more important to step out of the rat race for a while, take stock of your life and consider whether you are still on your chosen path. It's easy to be led astray by life's distractions. So often people discover they are no longer on course, yet they have no idea how or when they drifted.
Use your stress level as an indicator to help you get back on track. Here's a simple exercise:
Take a sheet of paper and at one end write, draw or symbolise your main goal in life. If you are not clear about what this might be, you will find it helpful to come on one of our Life Changing Breaks
Now, at the opposite end of your paper, write, draw or symbolise your current situation. It does not matter how you interpret this; the purpose of this exercise is to show the distinction between your experience of NOW and your anticipated experience of THEN.
The next step is to consider which aspects of life NOW are helping you on your journey - and which are working against your progress. Let's illustrate this with a simplified example. Suppose your sheet looks like this...
You aspire to a comfortable retirement, which is why you tolerate a stressful job you no longer find fulfilling, because it pays well enough to contribute to your pension fund. Unfortunately, the stress is taking its toll on your health.
So on the plus side you are saving for your future, but on the minus side you are risking your future health and happiness while you continue to work under such stress. Your choice appears to be between hell now, with the risk of premature demise, or an impoverished retirement. Not much fun either way. No wonder you're stressed!
But the key to this is that other factor we've yet to consider: fulfilment. If you project yourself forward to your goal - retirement in this example - will your comfort come from a healthy pension alone? (And how secure is your investment in any case?) Surely you will still want to feel fulfilled when you retire?
Looking at your present situation, how much happier would you be in a fulfilling role tomorrow? (And who's to say this will pay significantly less?)
So one possible scenario to consider is finding a truly fulfilling position that allows you to work more meaningfully, with less stress. The benefits will be immediate as your health is restored and you feel better about life all round. Your renewed enthusiasm is likely to take you further up your new ladder - and because you enjoy what you are doing, you may choose to continue to work later in life - meaning that you are less reliant on your pension.
Your own situation will be somewhat different of course, but you get the idea.
If you would like help in connection with stress reduction, please e-mail VISION unlimited at:
lessstress@vision-unlimited.co.uk.
All communication is confidential.
You will not commit yourself to anything.
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