3 Keys to Overcome Stress and Achieve More Success Practical solutions for a more productive you.
By Matt Fore
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You don't have to be a psychologist to know your emotional health is directly related to your success. It affects your ability to cope, think rationally, problem-solve and maintain healthy business and personal relationships.
The worry and overwhelm of daily life, on the other hand, can hold you captive to patterns of thought that can limit your capacity to grow, accomplish your entrepreneurial goals and even think freely.
The good news is, you have more control over your emotional wellbeing than you may realize. Just as a captor has the keys to the prison gate, you have access to practical keys that can liberate you from the emotional bondage that keeps you in check.
Related: When Does the Cost of Success Become Too High?
How would your world change if you found a way above even a few of the pressures that bring you so much angst? How would that affect your relationships, your income and even your outlook on life?
Here are three powerful keys to help you take control of your own emotional health and achieve greater success regularly.
1. Find a healthy disconnect
What keeps you up at night? Besides your business, it could be your less-than-stellar relationships or possibly your investments that are retiring before you are of age. The constant stress of coping can create a circular pattern of thought that rarely finds a place to rest and regenerate.
How can you stop the madness? In her Harvard Review article, Emma Codd discusses the importance of disconnection from the "always-on" culture. This disconnection could open your mind to new solutions and its application is as simple as it is practical.
What will it take for you to put your angst and worries completely out of your mind? A temporary disconnection is often the answer.
Perhaps you need a weekend away in a challenging and unfamiliar territory. The secret is to engage in an activity that requires all your mental juices. Surf the wave, play racquetball, skydive, run with the bulls — whatever it takes to create a complete disengagement.
Don't be afraid to try it. You might be surprised how much this action energizes you to carry on and how much it creates a fresh perspective when you return.
Related: How to Stop Getting Distracted and Regain Your Focus
2. Stay ahead of the stressors
Time is the culprit. If it weren't for time pressure, your tasks would often become relatively easy. Do you have bills and projects due? The real problem is that clients and creditors look on with bated breath like crocodiles that lurk anxiously by the Nile.
"Don't be late and do not let us down," is the threat spoken clearly, though offered in a professional tone. In addition, emails await and voicemails must be returned while TikTok promises to take you away from the pressure, if for only a few minutes.
Take control. Choose the night before what you must do to have a successful day, then blindly get those tasks done first thing in the morning even while the notifications scream threats, emergencies loom and the earth is being destroyed with fire.
But what about those emergencies? Surprisingly, they wait patiently for you. By tackling the income-producing priorities first, you will reduce much of the pressure and more easily find the time to handle the fires with less anxiety.
3. Know your goal
Imagine a new kind of marathon where the runners are told to jog in circles. There's no one to keep track of the time or distance and there's no pesky finish line. It sounds ridiculous, yet you may find yourself in a similar occupational race.
What keeps runners motivated is a goal worth attaining, mental mile markers along the way and an upcoming jubilant feeling of accomplishment.
Have you ever spent a day trying much and accomplishing little? You struggled at your desk all day and when it was finally over you were depleted. Compare that to the day you hiked for hours to reach the summit and though you were physically exhausted, you felt more alive than ever. And you were ready for more.
Related: 7 Traits All Great Business Leaders Share
The mind, without a place to focus, becomes stressed and restless. It's emotionally exhausting to go around in mental circles without a specific goal toward a well-deserved reward.
In his Psychology Today article, "The Science of Accomplishing Your Goals," Ralph Ryback, MD, discusses the importance of the "feel-good neurotransmitter." It's that shot of dopamine your brain receives every time you make another small accomplishment.
To keep your mind energized and moving forward, challenge yourself with a sizeable goal then break that down into smaller goals to get that "feel good" energy boost all the way to the end.
Sure, there's never a shortage of troubles to keep you enslaved to the cycle of overwhelm and stress but, with the proper keys, you can unlock the gate, step outside and inhale the fresh air of clarity, control and optimism.
