Young Professional Development Blog Series: Stress Management

by Ann Marie Kelly | Oct 15, 2020

The Young Professional Development Blog Series is written and sponsored by: P3 Peak Performance

Our lives consist of more than just randomly occurring events and individual moments and they are more than our routines. The way a painter or writer takes days, months, even years to craft something beautiful, we too can approach each of these moments with similar finesse and style.

Stress gets in the way of our patience to see things through and it hinders our ability to look ahead. Stress often begs us to look down at each and every small step. We sometimes go like this until we are brought to our knees, consuming to make ourselves feel better; TV, alcohol, social media, food, drugs, etc. But as we all know, those are not permanent or healthy solutions.

If our vision is ahead of us and we are looking down, of course those steps feel like chores, like useless expenditures of our time, money, and energy. Likewise, we will create other games and states of mind to distract ourselves from our problems. But it is only when we are able to see that what has been is in the process of creating what will be, that we can begin to appreciate each and every moment as a moment of our own unique creation.

When we are constantly moving closer to our vision, each step feels more important, and when something is important to us, the stress becomes a motivator instead of a depressant.

How do we do this?

First and foremost, Create a Clear Vision.

Get your What Will Be extra clear. This is your vision for life! Have you no vision for your life?! Of course you do. But we forget sometimes, don’t we? If you haven’t already, create a clear vision for your life or go back and revisit one you’ve already made and adjust. Feel welcome to use the P3 commitment coaching format available for planning out each category of your life.

Additionally, Have a Silent “I” Time. SIT.

Show daily appreciation to yourself by sitting undistracted for 20-30 minutes. There are plenty of ways to do this outside of your shower, but you have to make the effort. There are hundreds of guided meditations online (headspace, youtube, podcasts) and plenty of beautiful peaceful lo-fi beats or piano compositions wherever you get your music. Just plain silence is also nice, and this time to yourself allows you a safe space to analyze your thoughts and feelings so they cannot control your day. During this time, reinterpret your emotions and thoughts and remember that they are not 100% true. You decide what your thoughts mean. Thoughts are not dictations, they are interpretations.

Lastly, Turn your emotion into motion.

Yes, there is only so much vision boarding and nirvana reaching you can do before you must move your body into action. Set physical goals that are as ambitious as your career or relationship goals and do them together. When we put ourselves to work, we can consciously choose to see ourselves manifesting something healthier and better for ourselves. This commitment to your health will carry over to your other commitments as well.