Everyone deals with stress but some people are able to handle it better than others. While everyone has their own way of dealing with it, there are certain strategies that most “stress-free” individuals utilize – goal setting.
What Is Goal Setting
If you’re a goal oriented person, you like to give yourself some sort of objective and then work towards it paying attention to your progress along the way. One thing about stress that many people don’t realize is that it directly relates to the control that you feel you have in a situation. This is why goal setting works. When you set up a goal for yourself, you are in charge of it. You are telling yourself that you want to get to a certain point. Then you set up mini-goals to track your progress. These mini-goals can be things you do every day, every week or just a few times a month. Whatever you choose, be honest with yourself and choose what will work for you. As you accomplish your mini-goals you’ll feel a sense of pride in yourself and that gives you motivation to keep going. These successes will help you reduce your stress. Since you are in charge of every move, you’ll feel competent and powerful, which cuts down on stress.
Not only will the feeling of power help you with your stress, being able to prioritize and make a schedule will help you avoid stress. As you get used to making goals for yourself, you’ll start doing it more for other things in your life. You’ll find you have more time to do the things you need to do because you’re not always searching for what you need to do next – you’ll know because you have a goal.
Reducing stress is important for your health. By making changes to your lifestyle, you’ll be able to finally feel like you are in control of your life AND your stress.
Photo: lululemon athletica
Tue, Apr 27, 2010
Health, Stress