Stress - A Major Obstacle to Progress

We all know it: stress is a killer. But

long before it gets that bad, it’s still bad! Stress reduces our ability to think creatively and often contributes to hasty decisions that we pay for later. At the most elemental level, stress is a thief that can, if allowed, rob us of enjoying life moment by moment. Kind of like this video . . .

Information Overload Syndrome?

So . . . like so many other things that come our way daily, stress must be managed.

Okay . . . This Works!

I’d like to use this posting to share a strategy that I’ve found to be very effective in taming the lion of stress–bearding it, as it were.

I learned to apply this technique when I was in the middle of that desert of lost hope called a doctoral dissertation. I had chosen a research methodology called “grounded theory.” This method could best be likened to pulling in everything you can find out about your research topic and then plowing through all of it hoping to find the pony. If something doesn’t come up out of the muck—and your continued appointment as a professor depends upon it—you’re out on the streets. I had to face the lion of fear and hopelessness or stay curled up in the mental fetal position I often found myself in and be out on the sreets shortly.

Enough verbiage! Here is the technique.

I talked to the fear that kept knocking on the door of my mind as if it were a living creature. It sure felt as if it was real because it kept talking to me saying things like, “You’re a loser; you’re never going to get this done” and “You’re going to lose your job.” Although it was very difficult to ignore such convincing and oh so helpful encouragements that echoed through my mind, I fought back.

When I would hear the knock at the door of my mind with the temptation to be paralyzed with fear, I would speak to it the following statements:

Image via Wikipedia

1.  I will not give you a minute’s attention.

2.  I will not open the door.

3.  I will not invite you in.

4.  I will certainly not sit down with you on the sofa and carry on a conversation with you.

5. I WILL ignore you and turn my attention to things that make progress.

Whew! I could not believe how hard this was to do the first few times I DISCIPLINED myself to manage this stress and keep the lion away! Every bit of our nature wants to dwell on the negative–to have a relationship with failure–but we have to deny that very strong pull!

Since then, long after my dissertation was completed and successfully defended, I’ve had to manage stress and resist the temptation to carry on a warm relationship with fear, doubt, and insecurities many times by using this same technique.

Try it the next time something is threatening to overwhelm you. It works best if you speak out loud but, of course, you also have to manage the possible perception on the part of your co-workers that you might be stark, raving mad.

P.S. - in addition to the somewhat metaphysical approach above, I also have incorporated breathing techniques into my multi-faceted approach to managing stress. Hey, the stress comes at me from all sides, why not attack it with many strategies? If you’d like to learn more, here is the link to what I use to lower my blood pressure.

by Dr. Richard Porr

richporr

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