Imagine if I asked you right now, what your three biggest stresses are. I’m sure you would find it easy to identify these.
Whilst, if I asked you to tell me what your three biggest strengths are you would struggle to answer the question easily, and almost need coerced into describing these in full.
Why do we do that?
How does that help us?
When we do this how does it make us feel?
What message are we giving ourselves?
When we’re feeling pressured, unproductive, perhaps overwhelmed and generally frustrated about things not going the way we want, the last thing we’re going to be able to focus on are the positives, our strengths, what we might have done well. Instead, we focus on what we didn’t do well or what’s gone wrong instead and stress about it.
We know that stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances, and that this manifests itself into behaviour that isn’t conducive to positive outcomes.
Whereas strength is the state or quality of being physically or mentally strong and having the ability to withstand pressure over time.
When we’re feeling stressed for a long period of time, particularly now when change is so constant, and circumstances so difficult for all of us in many different ways, affecting us in all aspects of our work and life, our strengths can diminish or abandon us altogether.
We need to bring balance back into our lives, and I don’t mean work / life balance, I mean balance between stresses and strengths.
Here are five tips on how we might do this when we’re feeling stressed:
- Write down the emotion or emotions you’re feeling
- Then write down the context of the situation that has caused the emotion(s)
- Consider what strengths might be needed to deal with the stress(es) and emotion(s)
- Out of these strengths which ones do you have (and be totally honest here!)
- Finally, write down how you can use these strengths to minimise or remove your stress, including what this will look and feel like once completed
Remember you have an opportunity to engage an accountability buddy to help you navigate change and make positive changes in your life.
Success Factor offers a complimentary one-hour consultation – help yourself to help you.
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