Your Stress

What is stressing you today?

Part of being an entrepreneur and small business owner is to live in a world of stress.

I have come to manage my stress with two different, yet compatible approaches.

In my business world I know I’ll always have stress, just like every other businessperson. But I do not want to have a future of health and emotional problems. So, my first approach to dealing with stress is to learn and apply stress-reducing tools to my life that will allow me to manage my stress and enjoy my life.

The list of things you can do varies and is very dependent on you and your personality. But several consistent threads are present in all stress management regimens.

First is exercise and eating right, which is not easy when you are working crazy hours and traveling over different time-zones. But with attention, it is doable.

Second is getting professional help. Help is available for eating and exercise, but in this case, I am referring to the head games that coincide with high-stress situations. Those voices in your head need attention, and you alone are not always the right person to talk to them.

Third, take a break. Plan short breaks throughout the day to get away from your desk and phone. Walk down the hall to check on a co-worker, walk around the block, or get in your car and drive aimlessly while listening to Bruce Springsteen for ten minutes. Do whatever you find helpful, but get away from your work.

Finally, in line with taking a break, get away for a week or two. For many of us, that kind of thinking is heresy, but your business will survive your absence. Go to New Mexico to paint, Colorado to climb mountains, or New York to look at art. Just get away.

The second approach to managing stress is to make the stress go away by changing your perspective on what is giving you stress.

First, address is who is in control. Consider what you can control and what you cannot control. Do something about the things you can control and let the things you cannot control go.

Second, control your influence on others. Stressful situations tend to compound. If you are stressed, others around you become stressed, and you become stressed even more. You need to influence others around you through good leadership tools so they will not add to your own stress level.

Lastly, look hard at what you have accepted as a stressor. Is there a person or circumstance that is assumed to automatically be part of your business culture that provides an undue level of stress? Force yourself to step away from the situation and decide if this person or circumstance is worth the stress, and can you change or eliminate it.

Prayer is one of the best tools for addressing stress. Through meditation of God’s Word, you can eliminate worry, doubt, fear, and stress. Learning to pray is not an overnight exercise. It will take time to develop a relationship with God and His Word to be able to pray effectively.

Matthew 11:28-30 says.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Wow, wouldn’t you like to have someone come to you and remove your burdens? If you want your stress to go away and have never prayed, find someone to teach you. Give it a try, many of us have discovered this secret, and it is available to everyone for free. And, if you want me to help you learn to pray, just email me at pwstruble@gmail.com. I’d love to help.