How much unnecessary stress are you creating in various areas of your life? Whether mental, physical or emotional, decreasing stress can have a profound effect on your overall health, and performance in the gym.
For example, let’s say you’re driving to a meeting and encounter some unexpected traffic. You slow down as you approach the substantial line of cars up ahead. Immediately, you’re convinced that you’re going to be late to the meeting.
Just as you pull up your maps app to find a way around the detour, the line starts moving. The “jam” you anticipated disappears and you arrive at your meeting… early.
Yes, it was an overreaction. No, you’re not a drama queen. But this is a random example of how our brains can create unnecessary stress in our lives.
There’s a famous interview asking people in the later stages of life about the things they regretted most, in which one of the gentlemen replies, “Worrying about all the things that never happened.”
As you look at your own life, where are the biggest opportunities for decreasing stress? What are you worrying about unnecessarily or seeing as a giant traffic jam?
Three Ways Stress Shows Up.
There are three different forms of stress that might show up in your life: Mental, physical and emotional.
First, take a look at some examples of each below. Next, take note over the next week of any patterns or areas where you’re creating extra stress for yourself. This is how we’ll start working on options for decreasing stress along the way.
1. Mental Stress.
Mental stress is the kind that tests the durability of your worry-wart pants. In other words, if worrying was an Olympic sport, you would be a gold-medalist.
Mental stress is a tough one because we spend our entire lives in our own heads. The things we say to ourselves — and about ourselves — are impactful in both positive and negative ways. Therefore, it’s imperative to be aware that we’re worrying unnecessarily (and about what) so we can get a handle on it. Further, as obvious as it may seem, worrying never actually solves the problem. In other words, you can worry about something for hours, days, even years. But unless you take action to solve the problem, the act of worrying will not get you any closer to solving your problem.
2. Physical Stress.
Physical stress can come in several forms. First, there’s the obvious stress that comes from movement, or lack thereof. This is one of those “choose your hard” things. It’s hard to challenge your body in various ways like strength training, endurance, etc. It’s also hard to challenge your body in carrying too much weight, being too sedentary, etc. Both will make you uncomfortable. Only one is detrimental.
Second, there’s sneakier physical stress that stems from things like a non-stop career or a severe lack of sleep. Ironically, people will often inadvertently increase physical stress in an effort to decrease physical stress. In strength training, we call that “doing junk reps.” Outside of the gym, it might look like depriving yourself of sleep in order to earn a promotion or win an account. Which will ultimately lead to more work and less sleep. So, decreasing stress in one area while increasing in another.
3. Emotional Stress.
Emotional stress includes things like allowing your emotions to drive your decisions, instead of focusing on what is truly right for you. And while negative self-talk itself is categorized better as mental stress, the actions you take because of it are likely emotional.
Have you ever felt so worthless that you’ve eaten 14 Reeces Peanut Butter Cups? That’s the voice in your head telling you you’re not good enough, and then your body making an emotional, knee-jerk reaction to actually believe that nonsense.
Five Steps to Decreasing Stress in Your Life.
Here are a few helpful ways to start taking control and decreasing stress:
- Start by pinpointing which category most of your stress is coming from: mental, physical or emotional.
- Notice any specific phrases you use on a regular basis. These are things like, “I’m worried about…” (mental), “If I don’t get this done…” (physical) or “I just can’t do…” (emotional). Sometimes, simply speaking things like this to yourself can actually bring them to fruition. And most of the time, it’s probably unnecessary.
- When you feel like you’re overwhelmed or unequipped for a certain situation, make a list of the things that you can control. Keep in mind that there is only one person in this world that you can control. (Spoiler alert: That’s you.)
- Create a list of evidence to support your ability to handle this obstacle. Write down all the times you can remember being proud of yourself, or achievements you’ve earned, or any time you can recall thinking, ‘Hell yes. I did that.’
- Lastly, remember to give yourself grace. There’s no such thing as perfect. And you can waste a lot of time aiming for “perfect.” This will only detract from the awesome thing called life right in front of you. Ultimately, there’s no manual for this wild ride and all you can do is the best you can do.
If you screw up, admit it. When you do something great, celebrate it. If you fall down twice, get up three times.
Decreasing stress in various areas of your life can significantly affect your overall health and wellbeing. Take the time to notice it and make adjustments. Chances are, you’ll notice the difference in how you feel and how your body performs.
Remember, you can’t avoid life’s traffic jams. But you can control how you react to them.
