Dear stress, let’s break up!

And I mean BREAK UP. Not TAKE A BREAK just so we can be on again, off again, on again…

Aahhh…wouldn’t that be nice? To break up with stress for good!

“If stress burned calories, I’d be a supermodel” Toni, a blog post reader turned client, wrote back in response to one of my blog posts. In fact, many readers express a similar desire, ranking “living a stress-free life” high on their wish list.

Everyone experiences stress to varying degrees.

Work stress.

Financial stress.

Juggling work-from-home and learn-from-home stress.

Health stress.

Loss related stress (loss of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of a relationship, loss of a dream, loss of a business…).

The list goes on and on.

Eckhart Tolle puts it brilliantly – Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there’.

What ‘here’ and ‘there’ look like is different for everyone. But it’s the gap of where we are v/s where we want to be in life that’s the root cause of all stress.

So, how do you create a more stress-free life for yourself? Here are three of my favorite stressbusters. But first, breathe in. Breathe out. Innnn. And out. Doesn’t that feel so freakin’ good?

Let’s get to those stressbusters…

1. Choose one thought over another.

Where focus goes, energy flows. The more you focus on what’s wrong, the more you’ll notice it. Instead, choose to focus on what’s right. Yes, it’s a choice. In every given moment you have a choice – you control the decision – as to what you focus on.

I’ll share a personal example. I was walking around my neighborhood one evening last year, beating myself over how I hadn’t met my quarterly business goals. I thought “now I don’t have the financial freedom to execute this next quarter and that next year. I don’t have the freedom to grow my team. I don’t have the freedom to launch my next program…” My thoughts revolved around the lack of freedom I was experiencing to execute my plans for the upcoming months.

And then it hit me! I thought “Wait, I’m walking. My heart’s pumping blood faster. My lungs are working more efficiently. My muscles, my nerves, all my tendons, ligaments, bones…every organ in my body is working in its optimal state for me to have the freedom of movement. Isn’t that something?!! I have more freedom than I realize.”

And just like that, my perspective on how much freedom I was already blessed with changed in an instant.

2. Practice mindfulness, not mind fullness.

A picture is worth a thousand words. So, the next time your mind is swirling with thoughts, let this image from Vocal Media serve as a reminder to use your hustle mode sparingly.

3. Let go of your burdens faster.

If I give you a tiny pebble to hold and ask you to raise your hand over your head for as long as you hold on to it, how long could you carry the pebble for? 5 mins? 10 mins? 30 mins? And when you reach your breaking point of exhaustion, is it the weight of the pebble that caused that? Or the way you were carrying it?

It’s not the load that breaks us down, it’s the way we carry it and how long we carry it for. Learn to let go of your fears, negative thoughts, limiting beliefs, and past negative experiences quickly. The longer you carry them, the more they will weigh you down. Acknowledge what’s going on, feel the feelings that come up, and find ways to release them effectively.

Peace, serenity, and happiness are all inside jobs. Therefore, the solution has to come from within too.

Which of the three stressbusters resonated with you the most? Comment below and let me know.

Got favorite stressbusters of your own? Yay…please share them so we can learn from each other and grow as a collective tribe.

Finally, always remember this – A diamond is just a piece of coal that handled stress exceptionally well.

Be a diamond that’s beautiful, sparkly, and rare; not coal that is found everywhere.

Here’s to less hustle, more life…

Aviva, XO