2 Tips to Drastically Reduce Stress Right Now
Self-Improvement → Stress Management
- Author Dan Low
- Published March 21, 2008
- Word count 741
Most company employees are stressed today. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury. Stress lowers productivity, increases frustration, and irritability, and does not help you remain psychologically fit. So what should you do?
1: Leave your Bag of "Potatoes" in the junkyard.
Imagine a man carrying a 20-kilo bag of potatoes on his back when he is having lunch with a client, talking to colleagues, arriving home... Imagine him taking a bath with his potatoes still on his back, and later sleeping with them.
Ain’t it uncomfortable? Not to say downright exhausting and a pain in the neck? Well, if at the end of the day, you are having these same feelings, you are carrying a psychological bag of potatoes.
Metaphorically speaking, "potatoes" are things you think as VERY IMPORTANT. They can make your daily life hell, and they add unnecessary pressure. In fact, "potatoes" are simply illusions.
What was it that was so important to you 10 years ago? Can you remember? What about 5 years ago? Two, one... last month? Can you remember what happened last month that upset or worried you? How can something be THAT important and be forgotten a few days, weeks, or months from now? Don't you feel that you have been through a series of illusions?
Here’s an example of a man whose stress caused him to be abandoned by his wife and kids. He had suffered three years of sheer frustration and discontent because he wasn’t promoted at work. He thought the promotion was so important to his career that he took it out on his wife and kids when things weren’t going well at the office. He also took life too seriously. Everything was VERY important! His kids’education, his social standing, his beliefs, and his principles...
He was often aggressive or defensive when opposed, and eventually he fell into depression. Three months after losing his job, he received a letter from a notary public informing him that he was now the sole heir to a vast fortune left by one of his uncles.
He also suddenly realized that the heavy bag he’d been carrying was just a bag of "potatoes," or illusions – of what he thought was important: his job, promotion, success... But it was too late; his potato-driven behavior had inflicted too much damage on his loved ones, who no longer wanted him, even if he was rich now.
So, if you want to reduce stress drastically, bury your bag of "potatoes" in your junkyard when you wake up in the morning. This way you'll be able to breeze through the day with a smile.
2: Make a lightning visit to the 3 Worlds.
The 3 Worlds are different states of mind. Don't miss out on them!
The first "World" is a world of detachment where you project yourself from a distance and look back at your physical body in the room or wherever you happen to be. Imagine you’re a spider on the wall, or better still, you're dead and floating on the ceiling. Then look back at yourself. Now, how important is this life that you're living, now that you are dead?
After a few moments, enter the second "World" – be here and now. Look around you as if you had just landed from Mars. Focus intently on the things you see around you as if for the first time. You’re now entering a "World" of awareness. This moment is the moment where you can see, hear, and feel. You’re conscious of the present. You're here and now!
Next, a quick visit to the third "World," an ocean of subconscious thoughts. Surf on a few positive ones: think of what you have and what you can do with what you have. Just think for a moment about the marvelous things you can do with what you have right now. If you're thirsty, you can drink; if you want to call someone, you can. If you desire to go see a movie, you can... The list can be a mile long, but just surfing one or two appreciative thoughts is enough to make you feel extremely good. And then, go back to the first "World"...
This round trip to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd "Worlds" can be repeated as many times as you wish. You will be investing only a few minutes each time, but you'll feel much lighter and relaxed throughout the day.
Dan Low, a self-improvement and behavioral expert at SelfGrowth.com, is also a corporate trainer. He spent more than 25 years helping individuals control negative emotions and life situations through Eastern/Western behavioral modification techniques and is the author of "Maximize Your Potential with Powerful Tools... and No Stress." Discover how at => http://www.maximizeyourpotential.info/the_book.html
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