The Top Ten Ways to Develop a Stress-Free Personality

It follows that the universal law of "cause and effect" when applied to stress, means that there are specific causes for specific stresses in our lives. Our stress levels automatically lower and performance levels increase, when we learn to identify the specific causes of stress and then to neutralize those causes, using methods that have been used by many successful people. Here are ten useful ideas that will help you reduce stress in your busy daily life and provide you with a greater sense of control.

1. Stress and tension come from within, not from without.
   It's nature's way of telling you that something is wrong in your life. Left unattended it will cause you to become physically sick. To avoid this situation it's therefore critical for you to identify what it is in your life that is causing you to feel the way you do. Ask yourself "What am I avoiding?" Then go to work to fix it.
    
2. Reinterpret events to yourself.
   Next time you feel under pressure, listen to yourself. People with a hardy personality seem to have tremendous resilience to stress related illness. They have learnt the value of being able to:
   • Identify and listen to their self-talk.
   • Look rationally at events.
   • Find reasons not to express negative emotions.
   • Look for the valuable lesson, always asking "what am I learning here?"
      
3. Become your own psychotherapist.
   Analyze yourself so that you can resolve most of your own psychological problems. Begin with self-knowledge. As Brian Tracy says "The more you understand yourself, the more you accept yourself. The more you accept yourself the more you like yourself."
    
4. Reduce causes of fatigue.
   Fatigue is the most common cause of negative high stress emotions. It lowers your physical and emotional resistance, consequently opening you up to worry, stress and tension. The answer is simple - lots of regular rest, including sleep periods of 7-8 hours per night.
    
5. Take care of your physical health.
   Eat the right foods including lots of fruits, vegetables, lean source protein, whole grain foods and drink lots of water.
    
6. Have clear meaningful values and goals.
   We all need a motive to maintain high levels of personal pride. Our deepest subconscious need, is the need for meaning and purpose, the need for our lives to count for something. Seek out your purpose in life and then get busy setting clear goals and plans that you work on every day in order to achieve that purpose. Unsure of your purpose? Then as Brian Tracy says "Make it your major purpose to find your major purpose."
    
7. Complete unresolved things and situations.
   Incomplete actions cause stress or tension. Therefore resolve today to immediately complete the task. If it's more than one task, prioritize them and start work on the most important one. Then stay with it until it's done. If the task is to finish a relationship, then the sooner it's done, the sooner your life will become less stressful.
    
8. Recognize and eliminate "Fear of Failure."
   Stop putting off tasks because of inner feelings of inferiority. Confront your fears and simultaneously develop courage by doing the thing/s you fear. Look rationally at the situation, write it down together with the worst possible outcome. Chances are it's not that terrible and you will survive once action has taken place.
    
9. Eliminate anger in your life.
   All negative emotions ultimately express themselves in anger. Anger is caused by fear, hurt or pain, a perception of being attacked or being aggressed upon. Make it a goal to immediately eliminate anger out of your system or anger will kill your system. Use your mind to achieve this. Control your reactions the next time a situation arises by:
   • Deciding in advance not to get angry,
   • Reinterpreting the person or situation in a positive way.
   • Remember, you can't control the person or situation that has arisen in your life, but you are always free to choose if your responses will be controlled or uncontrolled.
     
     
10. Get busy.
    If you do start to feel upset or angry about somebody or something, then focus on your goals and get busy working on the things that are important to you. You therefore won't have time to worry or to become angry. Ultimately it's your level of responsibility that determines the quality of your stress-free life.

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