Let Your History Guide You to Success

From juggling the demands of work and family to dealing with that rude driver who cut you off in traffic, there’s no shortage of reasons to seek stress relief. But when we rely solely on alleviating the effects of stress without attempting to prevent it or minimize its effects, then we can really be setting ourselves up for continuing the cycle of “get stressed, seek relief” whereby we accept that high levels of stress are inevitable, and thereby keep finding us, even though we say we don’t want it. Is that how you want to live your life? Expecting stress and then scrambling to find ways to deal with it?

Or, would you rather find ways to cope with stress BEFORE you’re at the top of (or over) your limit and find calm in the chaos?

It is possible to respond to stressful situations calmly, to not allow others’ demands or expectations to keep you down, and to allow yourself to enjoy your life. Strategies like bubble baths and massages might help you get there temporarily, but there’s other things you can do to maintain it.

The best place to learn what would be a great long-term strategy for maintaining good self care is to take a page out of history. Your history, that is. What has worked for you in the past is more likely to work for you again.

1. Take some time to write down ways you have successfully taken good care of your mind, body, and spirit. Keep in mind that successful means that you felt good about yourself and you were better able to deal with stress.
2. Once you have a list of successful self care strategies, take another look. Circle the ones that aren’t just intervention strategies (a simple “quick fix” to a stressful situation) but rather provide solutions for long-term success. These would include ways you can consistently care for yourself that are not in reaction to stress, but more for the prevention of the effects of stress.
3. Pick ONE of your success strategies and make a commitment to follow it every day for a week. Remember to pick something that you can do, that doesn’t require a lot of time. Set yourself up for success.
4. Get some support. When making changes, it can be helpful to enlist the support of others. This can aid in keeping us accountable and on track. Find one person who can be a good cheerleader as you implement your success strategy.

For additional support in your self care, please join me for the first of my monthly FREE Telseminar series, “Beyond Bubble Baths and Massages: Making Yourself a Priority in 2012.” Simply go to the REGISTRATION page and enter your name and email to get signed up.