Peak Performance Strategy - Tackling Small Business Stress

Stress prevents you to be from performing at your peak. Tackling stress is essential to ensuring the success and well-being of both you and your business. Learning to say no and to form a mental sanctuary are just 2 ways to get your stress under control. So let's get down to the business of de-stressology and improve peak performance.

Create a Plan -- Plan one positive action for the day, before you start your morning routine. This will get you off to a great start each morning. Some ideas are to exercise, or eat a healthy breakfast. Other ideas are to say three nice things to yourself and others each morning. It's up to you how you will carry out the positivity and totally dependent upon your personal goals. But if you have a plan you'll be more likely to be successful.

Take Time in the Morning -- Spend at least 10 minutes relaxing before heading out to face the day. Don't roll out of bed and rush to the office, even if the office is simply in the other room. It is very important to take time out, at least ten minutes to relax with the paper, a cup of tea, or a soak in the tub. Getting up a bit earlier so that you don't have to rush will create a positive vibe throughout your day and immediately reduce stress by not starting your day off with the production of stress.

Take Time in the Evening -- Reflect on the day's events and spend 10 minutes planning for tomorrow. It's very important that you carve out the time for yourself to plan for the next day as well as think about how your day went. Think about the good and the bad, but only give yourself a specific amount of time to focus on it so that you can move on to the next thing and make plans for tomorrow.

Don't be a People Pleaser -- Quit playing the "I must please everyone" role. This is a role that many people take on themselves, especially mothers and wives. We are naturally prone to wanting to please those we love and sometimes even people we don't even like! Good thing is that you can stop it right now. There is absolutely no reason to be a people pleaser. You don't have to be mean to people, but ensure that you know why you are saying YES to anything you say Yes to and the reason best not be just to please the other person.

Stay Calm -- When you feel stress, stop and take 10 breaths before proceeding. Just taking the time to breath can reduce a lot of stress. It might be hard to believe but most people don't breath correctly. To breath correctly you must breath into your diaphragm filling your lungs with air, your abdomen should rise and fall, not just your chest. Try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth for ten practiced breaths when you feel nervous, stressed, or just tired.

Positive Stress is Good -- Remember that not all stress is bad, but all stress has the same effect on your body. Some stress can encourage you to try harder. For instance if you feel stress about a test, or about a report that you need to turn in, or even about a fun party, you'll automatically work harder to either do well, or to have fun. Stress can be a huge motivating factor in your life if you learn to use it correctly.

Pushing yourself to work too hard, staying up too late, eating too much, or constantly worrying are not only stressful to the mind but to the body and can lead to heart disease, cancer and a variety of life altering illnesses. But it doesn't have to be that way. It's your choice. Be good to yourself and to your business by doing small things every day to live a stress free life.