Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Tricks You Can Use To Stop Stress From Getting The Better Of You


Stress is a horrible plague of modern society, it affects millions of people in a variety of ways each and every day. Everywhere we go, everything we do, we are always subjected to a certain degree of stress—sometimes so little that we can just ignore and others too great to be within the realms of our coping.

Stress is a normal part of life but high levels of stress can be detrimental to health. As a matter of fact, studies have shown that 90% of visits to the doctor nowadays are stress-related, which means that we should be aware of the potentially debilitating nature of stress.  Reduce the risk of developing stress related illness, below are some ideas to help stop stress from causing damage to your health.

Set aside time for relaxation everyday. This does not necessarily mean going to a relaxing beach resort or a pampering spa, all you need to do is set aside a designated, uninterrupted time for a break from everything that you do. You may worry about not having time relax, but you should know that relaxation does not have to be time-consuming. Relaxation can include periodic 5-10 minute breaks of breathing exercises, watching your favorite show for 30 minutes or talking with people who make you happy. When choosing the best time for these relaxation breaks, consider the times in the day when your stress level is high or your energy is low. These can be ideal times to schedule in a brief relaxation session.

Drink tea. Drinking tea has traditionally been associated with stress relief, and many people believe that drinking tea helps them relax after facing the stresses of everyday life. This belief is now backed by scientific evidence. Studies revealed that although tea does not appear to reduce the actual levels of stress we experience, it has the capacity to bring stress hormone levels back to normal which reduces the occurrence of common stress induced conditions like heart attack and stroke. Give black tea a try stress relief.

Analyze your stress. Separate the things in your life that you find stressful into two categories: things you can do something about, and things you can’t. If you can do something about it, then do it! If there’s nothing you can do, then accept it and move on. Inasmuch as it would be senseless to keep on worrying about a certain thing and not do anything about it, there is also no point stressing yourself out in things or circumstances that you cannot control. Appraise your stressors appropriately and you will definitely reduce the stress levels in your life.

Whether you’re worrying about looming deadlines, job insecurity, traffic jams, or a troubled relationship, stress takes its toll on your body, emotions and mind. If you do not want stress to get the best of you, you need to learn to control it and recover from it. I hope that you have found the tips above helpful.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

3 Vital Tips On How To Improve Self Esteem

When you have low self esteem and a negative perception of yourself, you are bound to experience a life filled with pain and frustrations--you will have a hard time building healthy and lasting relationships; you are unlikely to excel in your profession and you are at high risk of developing mental and behavioral problems. I personally have encountered some of these consequences; as a matter of fact, they were what made me decide to find a way to improve my self esteem.
However, improving my self esteem was not easy, and it was not an overnight process. It took years and a great deal of work to get my self confidence to a healthy level. It involved making a lot of changes and adjustments and countless moments of frustration and discouragement. Honestly, the journey towards better self esteem is a long, winding and bumpy one; nevertheless, the rewards are great.
Undeniably, there are so many things to do to successfully transform your self esteem, however, I suggest that you work on these three things first:
1.     Start being more assertive. If you are one of those people who have acquired the habit of putting aside their own feelings, thoughts or needs for the sake of other people's happiness or satisfaction, then this tip is exactly what you need. Being passive and blatantly allowing the rights of others to be more important than your own fuels your feelings of low self worth. So stop being quiet and passive all the time and start asking for what you want and speaking up for yourself. Keep in mind that what you think and feel is no less important than anyone else's.
Choose your peers wisely. The people you choose to hang out with have a great influence on how you feel about yourself. I personally have witnessed this phenomenon. It’s like you mirror the mindset, attitude and behavior of the people around you. Thus, you need to be careful with your choice of peers. Stay away as much as you can from people who belittle you and make you feel bad about yourself. And foster stronger bonds with those people who respect you, value and appreciate your positive traits and help you come to terms with your flaws.
Eliminate depreciative self-beliefs. The self-limiting beliefs that are frequently repeating in your head considerably contributes to your feelings of inadequacy or incapacity. Doing away with these thoughts is one of the fundamental tasks for anybody who would like to raise his self esteem. Learn how to identify, challenge and refute these negative thoughts and you will see just how much you are truly capable of.
I don't think anyone wants to have low self esteem. Sadly though, experiences and circumstances that lead to the development of these deep-rooted emotional issues are generally beyond our control. Thankfully, our self esteem is not permanent--we can always work on improving it for the better. Start working on your self esteem today!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

How To Improve Self Esteem And Live A Happier Life


Numerous studies have confirmed that people who have low self esteem are likely to live unhappy and unfulfilled lives. Having struggled with low self esteem myself, I know exactly what these experts are talking about. Low self esteem has a profound effect on the quality of our lives. It makes you distance yourself from others, keep you from making full use of your abilities and put you at risk of developing behavioral and mental problems. In other words, low self esteem can deny you of some the best things in life—a happy relationship, a successful career and good health.

I am pretty sure no one wants to have a low self esteem. Although we have little control over the formation of our low self esteem, we are certainly have control over what to do with it—to let it stay as it is or improve it for the better. If you have decided to do the latter, allow me to help you get started on your journey through these simple tips on how to improve self esteem:

Make an effort to genuinely like yourself. Improving your self esteem is all about being able to appreciate yourself—your strengths, talents and abilities. You need to stop magnifying your flaws or weaknesses and start acknowledging all the positive things within you. You are free to do a mental list of your positive traits but I would say that putting things into writing is a much better option. Aside from adding things to your list and make sure to read it regularly to remind yourself of just how great you are.

Recognize your worth. In other to improve your self-esteem, you need to see that your are as important as any other person. If you have formed the habit of putting aside your needs, thoughts and emotions just to please others, then you need to stop that habit now. Learn to assert your worth and speak up what you want when you need to. If you don’t want to do something, say no. You can listen to others, but ultimately, do not let anybody force you into doing anything that you don’t want to do.

Set the right goals. How you set your goals can positively or negatively affect your self esteem. Accomplishments are said to be one of the best antidotes for low self esteem; and accomplishments stem from goals. However, some goals may lead to despair and frustration rather than a stronger self-confidence. That is why it is important to carefully consider the goals you set. To reduce chances of ending in frustration, formulate goals that are realistic, time-bounded and measurable. Have well-defined goals and work for their achievement.

Find people to support you. The journey towards a healthier self esteem can be long, rough and discouraging. That is why finding the right people to keep you company is important.  Find people you trust most—people you know who are willing you help you get through hard times, support your efforts and push you back on track whenever you falter,