Friday, June 15, 2007

Men, Minimize Your Stress - 3 Simple Ways

Why are some men so happy and others are so miserable?
Why do some men seem so grateful for the gift of their life and others just take things for granted?
Why do some men go through their lives rolling with the punches and others react to very similar circumstances in very negative ways?

Richard Carlson, author of a number of books, wrote Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff for Men: Simple Ways to Minimize Stress in a Competitive World. This book is filled with short chapters of ideas to bring about a smoother life for men. I’m sharing with you some of the wisdom I found most insightful.

HAVE AN AFFAIR.

Yes, have an affair – with life! When you can recognize the miracle of life, you begin to attach great value to those everyday moments that can be so easily overlooked. For some of us, it takes a life-threatening event to shake us to this realization. Don’t wait! Have your affair now!

All the people in your world start to take on more importance, whether you are buying groceries or getting your oil changed. You appreciate little conveniences more.

When your priorities are in order, you can become less demanding of others – and yourself.

IT’S OK NOT TO KNOW THE ANSWER.

It seems to be part of the “job description” of being a man to need to know all the answers and have a response immediately. What pressure that can be!

Blurting out an immediate response without giving yourself time to think about it can create more problems. You may find yourself committing to more than you can handle or giving an inaccurate answer.

Just acknowledging that you don’t have an answer or solution yet, can have great advantages: eases the tension, clears your mind, releases worry, and opens the door for wisdom to surface.

YOU MAY NEED MORE THAN A VACATION.

When everything seems to be closing in on you and your workday never ends, your first thought may be, “I need a vacation!” That’s great, but what happens when you get back to the office?

First of all, just being away has a way of flooding you with extra work to do when you return. It’s great that you gave yourself a break, but here you are again, buried in work.

Maybe it’s time to really look around at the clutter in your schedule. Yes, clutter. Just as we collect papers or knickknacks, we can collect random tasks that we never should have taken on for ourselves. They could very well be completed by someone else, but you just haven’t taken the time to delegate. Or they may be processes that could just as well be pitched.

It’s basically the same process as when we go through stuff to declutter. There are some things we’ll keep. There are some to give away to others. And then there are some that are ready to go in the garbage.

Decluttering your schedule can certainly lower your stress level!

Is it time for you to declutter your schedule for a healthier bottom line? Get some support and great resources at http://www.exuberantproductivity.com/. Contact suzanne@suzanneholman.com for a coach who knows how to increase your exuberant productivity!

No comments: