Managing and owning a business isn’t an easy job. It can be quite stressful as tasks begin to pile on and on. Contributor Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and cofounder of TalentSmart, writes about the importance of staying calm. The article “How Successful People Stay Calm” is featured on Forbes.com it discusses how one’s success does in fact have a direct link to do with how you handle your emotions under stress. TalentSmart consultancy conducted research with more than a million people and found 90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control. Successful people stay calm, happy and healthy. Stress isn’t something one should write off just because they don’t see the physical harm it’s doing to them. Many physical illnesses found later in life have been directly linked to leading a life full of stress.
Here is just a quick overview on how successful people stay calm and their best strategies to employ when facing stress:
~ Appreciate what you have.
This may is seem like such a simple task but it packs more power than it’s simplicity shows. When you take a minute to step back and look at all that you do already have, it can be a powerful tool in lightening the burden of your current stressful situation. To cultivate an attitude of gratitude is to improve your mood, energy and physical well-being.
~ Avoid Asking “What If”?
This phrase is a dangerous zone to plunge yourself into. “What if?” statements only add fuel to the fire and increase worrying. The less time you spend worrying, the more time you can focus on the task at hand.
~ Stay Positive.
Another simple yet powerful aid. It’s a lot easier said than done, but any positive thought can refocus your attention. Make yourself laugh or think about a exciting event that you have coming up. Keep in mind, negative thoughts will only slow you down and cloud your mind.
~ Disconnect.
Unplug yourself from any electronic device of communication. Choose blocks of time to go offline so that you can recharge yourself. Constant work makes constant stress. Even people need to be recharged, not just our devices!
~ Limit Caffeine Intake.
Drinking caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline, the source of “fight-or-flight” in us. This mechanism can override rational thinking in favor of a faster response. When caffeine puts your brain and body into this hyper-aroused state of stress, your emotions overrun your behavior.
~ Sleep.
When busy with trying to stay on track in the road to success, it’s easy to feel like there’s not enough time in the day. Your self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when you don’t get enough—or the right kind—of sleep. Sleep deprivation raises stress hormone levels on its own, even without a stressor present. You might feel like you don’t have time to sleep, but it will be an important asset into working clear-headed when you do.
~ Kill Your Negative Self-Talk.
The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. We all have them, but the good news is they are just thoughts. When it feels like something always or never happens, this is just your brain’s natural threat tendency inflating the perceived frequency or severity of an event. Understanding your pattern of thought can help you escape from the cycle of negativity that is natural in all of us.
~ Reframe Your Perspective.
It’s easy to skew your perception of events when one is stressed and worried. The main thing to remember here is that you can’t control circumstances but you can control how you respond to them. Again with the dwelling, it only brings you down and stress up. Take a minute to put the situation into perspective and to reframe the situation. A great way to do so is to list the specific things that actually are going wrong or not working out and to look at the situation from a different light and see all the things that you can actually do. Keep at it, it’s not the end of the world. The situation only gets worse if you let it.
~ Breathe.
The practice of being in the moment with your breathing will begin to train your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and get the stress monkey off your back. Take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you’ll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward. You’ll notice how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to have lodged permanently inside your brain.
~ Use Your Support System.
It’s tempting to want to do everything by yourself but this mode of work can be quite ineffective. You are only one person, putting that much stress and responsibility on yourself can wear you thin thus making you less efficient. To be calm and productive, you need to recognize your weaknesses and ask for help when you need it. Tap into your support system when a situation becomes too challenging or you feel too overwhelmed. Identify these individuals in your life and make an effort to seek their insight and assistance when you need it. Most of the time, other people can see a solution that you can’t because they are not as emotionally invested in the situation.
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