Deal with it - Proactively! Reduce your Stress with this Proven Tip, part 2

Would you prefer an easier life? Me, too! Yet how many of us are willing to put in the effort for life to become easier? You already appreciate the value of investing so you have money for later, but is that the only thing that will give you an easier life? Let's agree what's plain to see: any area giving you unsatisfactory results will also cause you some stress, right? Then the way to ensure you don't stress in the future is to ensure you don't end up with unsatisfactory results. So you need to look at those areas today. This seems obvious, and it is. But do you know anyone who buries their heads in the sand and ignores the obvious? Perhaps even intimately? Avoid the Major Increase in Stress To avoid the peak in the stress curve, invest some time and energy in your future. Do this before it gets too late. Pick up a pen and write down a list of areas that have potential for becoming stressful. Don't think about doing this, just do it! Then explore how to improve each one. Ask yourself what could cause problems, and how can you reduce the stress that it'll bring. Well before this starts giving you lots of stress, what can you do towards resolving that issue today? You need to come up with some possible strategies. Estimate which ones could increase - as well as decrease - your stress. You want enough different choices to have this area work for you, rather than against you. Find the Silver Lining Every cloud has a silver lining is a time-tested proverb. You need to invest time to find the beneficial silver lining in this particular stressful cloud. Any frustration over this area's continuing lack of cooperation simply says you aren't looking powerfully enough. So 'it' is causing you to be frustrated. Then you might be tempted to say: it's not my fault! Yes indeed, it may not be, but such a stance is still pure self-sabotage, because you are involved. If you have decline responsibility, then you have no power to change things. Taking responsibility gives you the opportunity to reduce the peak of the Stress Curve. Remember that irresponsible is one opposite of responsible! Be Pro-Active So regain the power in your life by choosing to be responsible! Put energy into the areas that aren't working so well. Explore the various options that exist, as well as those that don't - yet. When you do this in advance, before getting stressed, you are creating your life the way you want to have it. To use Stephen Covey's phrase in his seminal book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - you're being pro-active! © Copyright worldwide Cris Baker, www.LifeStrategies.net All rights reserved. Republishing welcomed under Creative Commons noncommercial no derivatives license preserving all links intact, so please +1 and share this widely! Food for Thought "I am a very old man and have suffered a great many misfortunes, most of which never happened." - Mark Twain (1835-1910), gifted American Author, brilliant humor!